Welcome to your Using “Whose” / “Whom” / “Where” with Relative Clauses lesson! In this topic we talk about:
• Using “whose”
• Using “whom”
• Using “where”
• More about time
• “The reason”
Take the quizzes when you’re ready! If you’re having problems, use the comment box to contact our English Teachers.
Using “whose”
“Whose” is used in relative clauses to replace his/her/their:
“We met the people whose car got stolen.“
(We met some people, their car got stolen)“I met the woman whose husband fought in WWII.“
“This is the man whose bike I borrowed.”
Compare “who” and “whose”:
“I met a man who knows you.“
(the man knows you)“I met a man whose wife knows you.“
(his wife knows you)
Using “whom”
“Whom” can replace “who” when it is the object of the relative clause:
“The doctor whom I needed to see was on holiday.“
“The teacher whom I met loves pizza.“
“Whom” can also be used with prepositions (to whom / for whom / with whom) :
“The man with whom I work won the lottery.”
“Whom” is not normally used in spoken English. We prefer to use “who”, “that” or sometimes nothing at all:
“The doctor I needed to see was on holiday.“
“The teacher that I met loves pizza.“
Using “where”
“Where” is used in a relative clause to talk about a place:
“The café where we have breakfast is closed for a month.”
(The cafe, we have breakfast there, it’s closed)“I love living in a place where it is warm all year.“
More about time
We use “the day/the time/the week” to talk about a specific moment. It’s followed directly by the action that took place at that time. You can use “that” or you can leave it out. Have a look at these time expressions:
“Do you remember the day we went to the museum?“
“The last time that I saw her she looked terrible.”
“I’ll never forget the week we spent in the mountains.”
“The reason”
We use “the reason” much like the previous time expressions. You can use “that”, “why” or nothing at all:
“The reason that I’m writing to you is I need advice.“
or
“The reason why I’m writing to you is I need advice.“
or
“The reason I’m writing to you is I need advice.“
