Test your understanding of relative pronouns with this grammar exercise.
1. He was loved and respected by the people ...................................
Prepositions can come either before relative pronouns or at the end of relative clauses.
2. This is the house .............................. I was born.
In relative clauses 'where' can be used instead of 'in which'.
3. In that year she met James, ....................... she was later to marry.
Whom is the correct option here, but who is also possible in an informal style.
4. Is this all ........................... is left?
After quantifiers like all, every, some and any, we prefer 'that' to 'which'.
5. It is the best film ................................ has ever been made about dementia.
After superlatives, we prefer 'that' to 'which'.
6. All ............................. you say is true.
What cannot be used instead of that.
7. I saw a girl .................................. beauty took my breath away.
Whose is a relative possessive word used before nouns in the same way as his, her, its or their.
8. He has launched a business .....................………. I have forgotten.
Instead of whose, we can use of which
9. ..................... she said made me angry.
What means the things which.
10. The only thing ……………….. keeps me awake is coffee.
'What' can only be used to mean ‘the things which’.
11. We have …………………. we need.
That which is possible here but it is unusual in modern English.
12. He got married again a few months later, ..................... .. surprised everybody.
Which can refer to the whole of a relative clause.
Answers
1. He was loved and respected by the people with whom he worked / that he worked with.
2. This is the house where / in which I was born.
3. In that year she met James, whom she was later to marry.
4. Is this all that is left?
5. It is the best film that has ever been made about dementia.
6. All that you say is true.
7. I saw a girl whose beauty took my breath away.
8. He has launched a business whose name / the name of which I have forgotten.
9. What she said made me angry.
10. The only thing that keeps me awake is coffee.
11. We have what we need.
12. He got married again a few months later, which surprised everybody.
