Sentence structure: Relative clauses: who, which, that

In this chapter

• Which word?

  who is for people, which for things and animals, and that for both (very common in everyday English). where is for places, and whose shows possession.

• Before in Turkish, after in English

  In Turkish the describing part goes before the noun; in English it goes after it (the boy who…).

  Example: the boy who is wearing a red hat

  Example: the cake that my mom made

• Color-coded examples

  The relative clause comes right after the noun (the girl); the main verb (plays) comes after it.

  Example: The girl who lives next door plays the violin.

  Example: I read the book that you gave me.

• Patterns

  Person: I have a friend who speaks four languages. · Thing, animal: This is the bus that goes to the beach. · Place: This is the park where we play. · Possession: She's the girl whose brother is in my class.

• When can we drop that?

  We can drop who / which / that when it is the object of the verb after it: the book (that) you gave me. We can't drop it when it is the subject: the girl who lives next door.

• Tip

  Don't repeat the pronoun in a relative clause: “the book that I read it” is wrong → the book that I read. who / which / that already stands for the noun.