Relative clauses: who, whose, where

  • B1 · Intermediate
  • Grammar lesson
  • 60 min

Relative clauses with commas for extra information (Ida B. Wells, who was born in 1862, moved to Memphis, where she worked as a teacher.), whose, where and when, and leaving out who or that (the facts she found). From the life of Ida B. Wells to a person from the student's country who deserves a street of their own.

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whowhosewhere

What's in the lesson

  1. 1Warm-up
  2. 2In this lesson
  3. 3Reading: Ida B. WellsReading comprehension
  4. 4What does it mean?Grammar exercise
  5. 5Find the extra informationGrammar exercise
  6. 6Relative clauses: the next stepGrammar rule
  7. 7Commas or no commas?Grammar exercise
  8. 8The carousel in the parkGrammar exercise
  9. 9Can you leave it out?Grammar exercise
  10. 10Find the mistakeGrammar exercise
  11. 11Questions for your teacherGrammar exercise
  12. 12Say it naturallySpeaking practice
  13. 13Name a streetSpeaking practice
  14. 14About youGrammar exercise
  15. 15Wrap-up

Homework

  1. 1Homework: which is right?Grammar exercise
  2. 2Homework: my grandfather's photoGrammar exercise
  3. 3Homework: build the sentencesGrammar exercise
  4. 4Homework: a person worth knowingDiscussion

Two slides from the lesson

Warm-up

A few questions about you before we start.

  1. Which person from history would you like to meet? Why?
  2. Are any streets or schools in your town named after famous people? Who are they?
  3. Who chose your name, and why?

Grammar rule

Relative clauses: the next step

Extra information: commas

WordExample
PeoplewhoOur landlord, who lives upstairs, fixes everything himself.
ThingswhichOur car, which is twenty years old, still runs well.
PlaceswhereWe spent a week in Savannah, where my aunt has a small hotel.
TimeswhenI met him in 2019, when I was living in Austin.
PossessionwhoseMy neighbor, whose garden is full of tomatoes, gives us bags of them.
  • The clause adds extra information about a person or thing we already know (a name, my mother, our car). Without it, the sentence is still complete.
  • Put a comma before it, and another after it if the sentence goes on.
  • Never that after a comma: my laptop, that I bought last year, … → my laptop, which I bought last year, …
  • Never leave out who or which in a clause with commas.

whose, where, when

  • whose = his, her, its or their, with a noun after it: a friend whose parents own a pizza place (her parents).
  • where = in, at or to that place (there): the park where we play soccer. When you would say "it", not "there", use which or that: Memphis, which she left in 1892 (she left it).
  • when = at that time (then): the summer when we moved. After a time word, you can also say that, or nothing: the week (that) I started this job.

Leaving out who, which or that

In a clause without commas, you can leave it out when another subject comes right after it: the photos (that) I took · the teacher (who) we liked. You can't leave it out when it is the subject of the clause: the woman who called me (not the woman called me).

Watch out: whose is not who's (= who is / who has). And no extra pronoun: the photos I took (not the photos I took them), the city where she lives (not where she lives there).

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