Who, which, that

  • A2 · Elementary
  • Grammar lesson
  • 60 min
  • relative clauses

Relative clauses that say which person or thing: who for people, which for things, that for both. It's a person who fixes cars. It's a thing that keeps food cold. From a word game and its job ad to the student explaining words and making a job ad of their own.

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whowhichthat

What's in the lesson

  1. 1Warm-up
  2. 2In this lesson
  3. 3Reading: What's the Word?Reading comprehension
  4. 4What does it mean?Grammar exercise
  5. 5Find who, which and thatGrammar exercise
  6. 6How who, which and that workGrammar rule
  7. 7who or which?Grammar exercise
  8. 8Write the cluesGrammar exercise
  9. 9Questions for your teacherGrammar exercise
  10. 10Find the mistakeGrammar exercise
  11. 11Say it naturallySpeaking practice
  12. 12What's the difference? Then the adSpeaking practice
  13. 13About youGrammar exercise
  14. 14Wrap-up

Homework

  1. 1Homework: babysitter wantedGrammar exercise
  2. 2Homework: which is correct?Grammar exercise
  3. 3Homework: build the sentencesGrammar exercise
  4. 4Homework: your own job adDiscussion

Two slides from the lesson

Warm-up

A few questions about you before we start.

  1. Do you play word games or quizzes, on your phone or with friends?
  2. Think of a job in your family. What does that person do every day?
  3. You can't remember the English word for something. What do you do?

Grammar rule

How who, which and that work

who, which, that

PeopleThings and animals
whoa man who sells fruit at the market—
which—a key which opens the back door
thata girl that sings in a band (common when we speak)a key that opens the back door (the usual choice in American English)

Use: the who / which / that part comes right after a noun and tells us which person or thing, or what kind: a man who sells fruit (not any man).

Two patterns:

  • who / which / that + verb: a man who sells fruit (who = he: He sells fruit.)
  • who / which / that + a person or thing + verb: the song that my dad sings in the car (that = it: My dad sings it.)
Don't add he, she, it or them: not a man who he sells fruit, not the song that my dad sings it. who, which or that already stands for that person or thing.
who is for people (not a key who…), and which is only for things and animals (not a girl which…). Never what: not the key what I lost.
The verb matches the noun: a girl who sings · girls who sing.

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