Relative pronouns: choose the right word

Find the noun the relative clause describes, then check the pronoun's role in that clause. Who commonly refers to people; which commonly refers to things and animals. In defining clauses, that can refer to people as well as things. Whose expresses possession or a connection. The type of noun helps, but it does not decide every choice by itself.

Use who when the relative clause describes a human being acting as the subject of the clause verb. In everyday spoken English and standard professional correspondence, who connects the person directly to their action. You will notice that who is immediately followed by a verb such as manages, helped, or organized. Testing the clause as an independent statement helps verify this role: if he or she fits naturally, who is the correct connector.

You can practise this again in Reflexive Pronouns: Choose the Right Form and Synonyms in English: Choose the Right Word.

Use whom when a person receives the action of the verb or follows a preposition in formal English. In relaxed daily speech, native speakers frequently replace whom with who, especially when the preposition moves to the end of the clause. However, formal academic papers and official business letters still expect whom directly after prepositions like to, with, or about. If you can substitute him or her into the clause, whom is the formal target form.

Choose which whenever the antecedent is an inanimate object, an animal, or an abstract idea. This pronoun never refers to individual human beings. You will encounter which both in clauses that define essential characteristics and in clauses set apart by commas that provide background details. When reading or listening, treat which as a clear signal that the speaker is expanding on a non-human noun previously mentioned.

Use that in defining relative clauses that provide indispensable information needed to identify a specific noun. Without this clause, the sentence loses its intended meaning or leaves the listener wondering which item or person you mean. In modern American English, that is preferred over which for defining clauses about things, and it frequently replaces who in informal talk about people. Importantly, that never follows a comma.

Use whose before a noun phrase to show possession or a connection. It can refer to people, animals, organizations, or things. An adjective can come between whose and the noun, as in whose damaged roof. Do not put a or the after whose in this pattern. Who's is different: it means who is or who has.

A non-defining relative clause adds information about someone or something already identified. Set it off with commas. Use who for a person acting as subject, which for a thing, whose for possession, or whom as a formal object form. Do not use that or omit the relative pronoun in this kind of clause. The commas mark the structure; speech does not always include a clear pause at each one.

In a defining relative clause, you can often omit an object pronoun: 'the jacket I bought' has the same identifying meaning as 'the jacket that I bought.' Keep a pronoun that is the subject of its own clause. Do not omit a pronoun immediately after a preposition, or in a non-defining clause marked with commas. Check the pronoun's role rather than just the next word.