A pronoun is a word that substitutes for a noun or a noun phrase. Pronouns are classified into 6 types: personal pronouns; demonstrative pronouns; indefinite pronouns; relative pronouns; interrogative pronouns; and reflexive and intensive pronouns.
Relative pronouns create relationships by connecting phrases and clauses to other phrases and clauses. These are the relative pronouns:
|
|
The relative pronouns "who," "whom," "whose," "whoever," "whomever," and sometimes "which" and "whichever," are used to refer to people.
The relative pronouns "whose," "that," "which," and "whichever" are used to refer to animals and things.
- This is the book that I read last week. [The relative pronoun "that" refers to the noun "book," which represents a thing.]
- She is the woman who wrote the book. [The relative pronoun "who" refers to the noun "woman," which represents a person.
The relative pronouns "who" and "whoever" are subjective and can only function as the subject in a clause or sentence.
The relative pronouns "whom" and "whomever" are objective and can only function as the object in a clause, sentence, or prepositional phrase.
- She is the woman who wrote the book. [The relative pronoun "who" is the subject of the clause "who wrote the book." Replace the subjective relative pronoun with the subjective personal pronoun "he" to determine which pronoun to use: "he wrote the book."]
- She is the woman to whom I wrote a letter. [The relative pronoun "whom" is the subject of the clause "whom I wrote a letter." Replace the objective relative pronoun with the objective personal pronoun "him" to determine which pronoun to use: "I wrote him a letter."]
- Read Celebrity Quotes that demonstrate the use of "who" vs. "that" and "who" vs. "whom."
- Read more about "whoever" and "whomever."
- Read Celebrity Quotes that demonstrate the use of "whoever" vs. "whomever.".
