Relative pronouns

Rules

• Rule 1: who → people

  Use who for people. In everyday speech that works too.

  Pattern: person + who / that + …

  Example: A pilot is a person who flies planes.

  Example: I know a boy who can juggle.

• Rule 2: which / that → things and animals

  Use which or that for things and animals. In American English, that is more common in clauses without commas. (If we think of a pet as a person, who is fine too.)

  Pattern: thing / animal + which / that + …

  Example: I have a parrot which can talk.

  Example: The jacket that I bought is too big.

• Rule 3: where → places (+ a full clause)

  Use where for something that happens in a place; a subject + verb follows (we play, I live). But if the place itself is the subject or object of the verb, use that / which.

  Pattern: place + where + subject + verb · place + that + verb

  Example: This is the café where we eat pancakes.

  Example: This is the café that sells pancakes.

• Rule 4: Extra information with commas → no that

  When we only add extra information about a noun, we use commas. After the comma we use who (people), which (things) or where (places), never that.

  Pattern: noun, who / which / where …, …

  Example: My grandma, who is a nurse, loves gardening.

  Example: Ankara, which is the capital of Turkey, is in the middle of the country.

Common mistakes

• The man which lives here is a vet. → The man who lives here is a vet.

  man is a person → who.

• This is the house which I live. → This is the house where I live.

  Living in a place + a full clause (I live) → where.

• The boy who he won is my cousin. → The boy who won is my cousin.

  who already means the boy; don't repeat he.