Prepositions
| Formal | Everyday |
|---|
| the cabin in which we spent the summer | the cabin (that) we spent the summer in / the cabin where we spent the summer |
| the colleague to whom I sent the report | the colleague (who) I sent the report to |
Never put a preposition before that or who: not the cabin in that…, not the colleague to who…
Quantity + of whom / of which
some, many, most, all, none, both, neither, one, the first, the latest… + of whom (people) or of which (things): Forty people applied for the job, none of whom had any experience. The band made five albums, the last of which sold best.
Other relative words
| Word | Use | Example |
|---|
| which (after a comma) | the whole idea before it | My phone died during the call, which was embarrassing. (not what) |
| whose | his, her, its, their: people and things | a coworker whose desk is always messy; an old car whose doors don't lock |
| when / where | a time / a place | the summer when (or that) we met; the park where we used to play (= we played there) |
Use where only when it means in / at / to which. When the place is the object of the verb, use that or which: the city (that) I love, not the city where I love.
Dropping the pronoun
In a clause without commas, you can drop who / which / that when it is the object: the shoes (that) I bought. You can't drop it when it is the subject (the woman who called), and you can never drop it in a clause with commas.
Clauses with commas use who, whom, which, whose, where or when, never that. Whom and preposition + which are formal: they are common in writing, speeches and the news, less common in conversation.
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