Relatives with Prepositions

RELATIVE PRONOUNS

	subject of the following verb (cannot be omitted)	object of the following verb (can be omitted)	possession (cannot be omitted)
people	who/that He is the actor. He was awarded the Oscar	whom/who/that (inf.) There's the man. We met him yesterday.	whose That's Mr. Brown. His died last month.
He is the actor/who/that was awarded the Oscar.	There's the man (whom/who/that) we met yesterday.	That's Mr. Brown, whosewife died last month.
things/animals	which/that I bought a camera. It doesn't work properly.	which/that Here's the dog. 1 found it in the street.	whose/of which (formal) There's the camera. Itslens is broken.
I bought a camera which/that doesn't work properly.	Here's the dog (which/that) I found in the street.	There's the camera whose lens/the lens of which broken.

RELATIVE ADVERBS

time when (= in/on which)

The day when he first met Jane was the happiest of his life.

place where (= in/at/on/to which)

That's the centre where the conference is being held.

reason why (= for which)

His laziness was the reason why he was dismissed.

Notes

• That can replace when, or be omitted in an informal style. I'll never forget the day (when/that) the earthquake happened.

That can replace where, or be omitted only after the words somewhere, anywhere, nowhere, everywhere, place Have you got a place (where/that) I can store my schoolbooks?

That can replace why or be omitted only after the word reason. That's the reason (why/that) he lied to you.

• That is never used after commas or prepositions.

That's the place in which I was born.

not That's the place in that I was born.

This is Paul, who you spoke to last week.

not This is Paul, that you spoke to last week.

DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

A defining relative clause refers to the preceding noun. It gives essential information about it and cannot be omitted, as this could obscure the meaning of the main clause. A defining relative clause cannot be placed between commas. Peo ple are artists. (Which people? Everyone?)

People who paint are artists.

NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

Anon-defining relative clause refers to the preceding noun and gives extra information about it. Therefore, it can be omitted without cause or confusion or changing the meaning of the main clause, and must be put between commas.

My brother, who is studying medicine, will be 24 next week.

Relatives with Prepositions

The preposition is put in front of whom or which (formal English). However, it can be put at the end of the relative clause, thus whom becomes who. In this case that (less formal) is more commonly used instead of who/which. It is usual, though, to omit who/which/that in everyday speech and put the preposition at the end of the relative clause.

That's theman with whom I went to France, (formal)

That's the man who/that I went to France with, (less formal)

That's the man I went to France with, (informal)

where: a preposition + which when: a preposition + which

b which/that + clause + preposition b that + clause + preposition

c clause + preposition (no relative) c no relative, no preposition

That's the house where we lived for ten years. 1 964 is the year when I was born.

a That's the house in which we lived for ten years. a 1 964 is the year in which I was born.

b That's the house which/that we lived in for fen years. b 1 964 is the year that I was born in.

c That's the house we lived in for ten years. c 1 964 is the year I was born.

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