Grammar reference and practice 3.3

3.3 ■ Relative pronouns and adverbs: who, whose, which, that, when, where

Relative pronouns and adverbs link two ideas.

There is a vending machine. It sells frozen food.

There is a vending machine that sells frozen food.

NOT There is a vending machine that it sells … .

The relative pronoun who refers to a person, and which refers to a thing. The pronoun that can refer back to both people and things.

There is a vending machine which / that sells frozen food.

I know someone who / that lives near you.

We can leave out who, which or that if they are followed by another pronoun or a noun. We can't leave out who, which or that if they are followed by a verb.

An additive is a thing (which / that) we put in food.

BUT

An additive is a thing which / that is put into food.

We use the relative pronoun whose to refer back to a person who owns something.

There's my neighbour. We found his dog.

There's my neighbour whose dog we found.

The relative adverb when refers to a time at which something happens.

I was happy when I was a child.

Sunday is the only day when I can relax.

The relative adverb where refers to a place in which something happens.

I want to show you the house where I was born.

Britain is one of the few countries where people drive on the left.

1Choose the correct words. In which sentence can the relative pronoun be left out? 

• 1The place wherethat we're spending our holidays is near the beach.

• 2Let's meet in the café thatwhere is in the square.

• 3Did you meet the boy whowhose parents are both chefs?

• 4Do you know the name of the new girl whowhich sits next to Jack?

• 5We're looking forward to the day whenwhich we leave school.

• 6The shop thatwhose we buy our school uniforms from is very expensive.

• 7Saturday is the only day whichwhen I don't have to do homework.

• 8A concert hall is a place wherewhose you can listen to live music.

• 9My grandma remembers a time thatwhen these streets were all countryside.

• 10The area wherewhich we live is very quiet.

• The relative pronoun that can be left out in sentence .

2Which sentences need a relative pronoun and which do not? Rewrite the sentences that do not need a relative pronoun. 

You need to use normal letters and capital letters correctly in this task. You also need to use correct punctuation.

• 1The girl that lives next door to me is in my class.

  Needs a relative pronounDoes not need a relative pronoun

• 2Mrs Taylor isn't a person that I know very well.

  Needs a relative pronounDoes not need a relative pronoun

• 3The family whose cat destroyed our flowers are buying a dog.

  Needs a relative pronounDoes not need a relative pronoun

• 4The cinema which we go to every week is closing down.

  Needs a relative pronounDoes not need a relative pronoun

• 5Our teacher is a person who everyone respects.

  Needs a relative pronounDoes not need a relative pronoun

• 6Our teacher is a person who expects a lot of her students.

  Needs a relative pronounDoes not need a relative pronoun