Explanation and English practice: relative who and which - EP2-01G

(Note: you can find exercises on relative pronouns at intermediate level and above in the ‘Writing Training’ section.)

A method of joining two sentences

We use the relative pronouns ‘who’ and ‘which’ to join two sentences together. ‘Who’ is for people and ‘which’ is for things.

Look at these two sentences:

I gave the finished exercise to the teacher. The teacher checked it for mistakes.

We can put these two sentences together like this:

I gave the finished exercise to the teacher, who checked it for mistakes.

Now the same, but with a thing, not a person:

I waited half an hour for the bus. It didn’t come because of the snow.

I waited half an hour for the bus, which didn’t come because of the snow.

Adjectives and relative clauses:   how to say a lot about someone or something

So the relative clause tells me something about a person (the teacher) or about a thing (the bus). In other words, it does the same as an adjective, such as ‘old’q

Look at that tall, white-haired  woman. She is laughing with the policeman.

Look at that tall, white-haired woman who is laughing with the policeman.

See how we are saying three different things about the woman:

a) she is tall

b) she has white hair

c) she is laughing with the policeman

Any adjective goes before the woman, the relative clause goes after. Together, I use them to say a lot about what the woman is like.

Or I can talk about a cat, for example:

My friend has an old, black and white  cat. It lost part of its ear in a fight.

My friend has an old, black and white cat, which lost part of its ear in a fight.

Or about a jacket:

I wanted to buy the dark brown leather jacket. It was in the sale at half price.

I wanted to buy the dark brown leather jacket, which was in the sale at half price.

‘Who’ or ‘which’ü he, she, it, them û

 We can’t say ‘an old cat which it lost part…’  When we put in ‘which’, we must take out ‘it’: ‘an old cat which lost part…’

Last week I went to visit my new college friends. They live above a pub near the library.

Last week I went to visit my college friends, who they live above a pub near the library.

Here are two more examples.

Tomorrow we’re going to visit Brighton. It is a city in the south of England, by the sea.

Tomorrow we’re going to visit Brighton, which it is a city in the south of England, by the sea.

I must buy a present for my cousin Emma. She is getting married next week.

I must buy a present for my cousin Emma, who she is getting married next week.

Now try and do the same 

Make one sentence from two, using who or which:

1. We’re going to visit my friend Abdullah. He has a flat in the city centre.

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2. We decided to visit the museum. It has many old objects from my country.

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3. I’ve just bought a new computer game. It’s very exciting but quite difficult.

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4. Have you seen the new mobile phones? They cost around £500.

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5. This book is by a man called Richard Simpson. He is a professor at an American university.

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6. I would like you to meet my girlfriend Sara. She lived in your country for a year..

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7. I gave your address to the taxi driver. He drove me here without any problem.

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8. We may go and see that film. It‘s about the biggest robbery ever done.

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9. I am doing research about Jung Jin Wan. He is the president of Eagle Pictures.

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10. I have seen some chairs. They will look good in my living room.

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