What you'll learn
By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to choose between who, which, that, whose and where, and to drop the pronoun when it is the object.
When do I use it?
Choose the pronoun by what it refers to:
- who — people: "the teacher who taught me"
- which — things: "the app which I use"
- that — people or things (common, less formal): "the car that I bought"
- whose — possession: "the writer whose books I love"
- where — places: "the town where I grew up"
When the pronoun is the object of the clause, you can drop it (especially in speaking): "The film that I saw" → "The film I saw". You cannot drop it when it is the subject: "The man who called" keeps "who".
How do I form it?
person + who / that thing + which / that possessor + whose place + where
- The engineer who designed the bridge won an award.
- The laptop that/which I bought is fast. (object — could drop it)
- That's the woman whose son studies with me.
- This is the beach where we go in summer.
- The friends who visited us left yesterday. (subject — keep it)
Common mistakes for Spanish speakers
Spanish "que" does almost everything, so speakers overuse "that": "el sitio que vivo" must become "the place where I live", and "la persona que" is "the person who/that", never "the person which". "Cuyo" is almost always avoided in spoken Spanish, so "whose" is often skipped in English too — but it is the only way to say "the man whose car is red". Finally, object pronouns are droppable in English, but Spanish speakers rarely drop them, which makes sentences sound more formal than intended.
Person → who/that. Thing → which/that. Place → where. Possession → whose. Object pronoun → can drop.
Practice
Multiple Choice
B1Which sentence is correct?
Fill in the Blank
B1That is the author books I have read.
Hint: 'Whose' expresses possession.
Find the Error
B1Multiple Choice
B1Which sentence can drop the relative pronoun?
Practice Speaking
Apply what you've learned in a real conversation with AI feedback.
Level: B1