English as an Additional Language/Relative clauses

Relative clauses are used to expand sentences and provide extra information.

• I live with my mother.
• I live with my mother, who's very strict.

The second sentence is a relative clause. It uses a relative pronoun (who) to provide extra information about the object of the sentence (mother). In English you have a choice of relative pronouns to use. The following section lists the most common relative pronouns.

Who (or that)

Who is used to refer to people.

Which (or that)

Which is used to refer to object (including animals).

Where

Where is used to refer to places.

Whose

Who is used with people when you are referring to an object which is owned / possessed by that person.

When

When is used to refer to times and occasions.