Relative Pronouns

Relative pronouns are words like who, whom, whose, which, and that used to introduce relative clauses -- clauses that give more information about a noun. At this mastery level, you will sharpen your ability to distinguish between who and whom, use whose accurately for possession, and handle all types of relative clauses confidently for the PSLE.

What You'll Learn

How to choose correctly between who and whom depending on whether the pronoun is the subject or the object of the clause
How to use whose to show possession in relative clauses
How to form and punctuate defining (restrictive) and non-defining (non-restrictive) relative clauses
How to combine sentences using relative pronouns for synthesis and transformation questions

When to Use

You already know that who, which, and that join clauses together. Now you need to apply them precisely, especially in tricky PSLE-style sentences:

Subject of the clause (who): "The student who scored the highest will receive a prize."
Object of the clause (whom): "The teacher whom we admire most is retiring this year."
Possession (whose): "The boy whose bag was left at the hawker centre came back to collect it."
Things and animals (which/that): "The MRT line which connects Jurong East to Punggol is very long."
Combining two sentences into one: "Mr Tan is our neighbour. His daughter won the science competition." becomes "Mr Tan, whose daughter won the science competition, is our neighbour."

How to Form

Choosing the Right Relative Pronoun

Refers to	Subject of clause	Object of clause	Possession
People	who	whom	whose
Things / Animals	which / that	which / that	whose / of which

The Who vs Whom Test

Use this two-step method to decide between who and whom:

Find the relative clause (the part the pronoun introduces).
Replace the pronoun with he/she or him/her:
- If he/she fits, use who (subject).
- If him/her fits, use whom (object).

Sentence	Test	Answer
The girl _ won the race is my classmate.	"She won the race" -- she fits	who
The man _ I spoke to was very helpful.	"I spoke to him" -- him fits	whom
The author _ wrote this book is from Singapore.	"He wrote this book" -- he fits	who
The volunteer _ the principal praised worked very hard.	"The principal praised her" -- her fits	whom

Defining vs Non-Defining Relative Clauses

Type	Purpose	Punctuation	Example
Defining (restrictive)	Identifies which noun we mean -- the sentence needs this clause to make sense	No commas	The boy who sits beside me is good at mathematics.
Non-defining (non-restrictive)	Adds extra information -- the sentence still makes sense without this clause	Commas before and after	My sister, who is studying at NUS, visits us every weekend.

Important: You cannot use that in non-defining clauses. Use who (people) or which (things) instead.

Combining Sentences with Relative Pronouns

Follow these steps for synthesis and transformation:

Identify the shared noun in both sentences.
Replace the second mention of that noun with the correct relative pronoun.
Insert the relative clause immediately after the noun it describes.
Check punctuation: add commas if the clause is non-defining.

Original sentences	Combined sentence
The woman is a doctor. She saved the boy's life.	The woman who saved the boy's life is a doctor.
I met a journalist. The principal had invited him.	I met the journalist whom the principal had invited.
The building was built in 1920. Its roof collapsed last week.	The building whose roof collapsed last week was built in 1920.
The durian is a tropical fruit. Many tourists find it smelly.	The durian, which many tourists find smelly, is a tropical fruit.

Key Rules

Who = subject; whom = object: If the pronoun does the action, use who. If the pronoun receives the action (or comes after a preposition), use whom. "The girl who helped me" vs "The girl whom I helped."
Whose = possession for both people and things: Whose replaces "his," "her," "its," or "their" in the relative clause. "The school whose library was renovated won an award." (The school's library -- a thing, not a person, and whose is still correct.)
That cannot follow a comma: In non-defining clauses, never use that. Write "My father, who is a pilot, travels often" -- not "My father, that is a pilot, travels often."
That vs which in defining clauses: Both that and which are acceptable in defining clauses. However, that is more common in everyday writing, and which is preferred in formal contexts. "The cake that she baked was delicious." / "The cake which she baked was delicious."
Preposition + whom: In formal writing, the preposition can come before whom. "The teacher to whom I wrote a letter replied immediately." In less formal writing, the preposition can be placed at the end: "The teacher whom I wrote a letter to replied immediately."
Place the clause next to the noun it modifies: A misplaced relative clause changes the meaning. "The man saw the dog that was barking" (the dog was barking) is different from "The man who was barking saw the dog" (the man was barking -- probably not what you mean!).

Common Mistakes

Wrong	Right	Why
The teacher whom teaches us Science is strict.	The teacher who teaches us Science is strict.	"Who" is the subject (she teaches us), not "whom."
The boy which won the race is my friend.	The boy who won the race is my friend.	Use "who" for people, not "which."
My mother, that works at a hospital, is a nurse.	My mother, who works at a hospital, is a nurse.	"That" cannot be used in non-defining clauses (after a comma).
The girl whose she bag was stolen reported to the teacher.	The girl whose bag was stolen reported to the teacher.	"Whose" already replaces "her" -- do not add an extra pronoun.
The man who I spoke to was kind.	The man whom I spoke to was kind.	"I spoke to him" -- the pronoun is the object, so use "whom."
The house whom roof was damaged has been repaired.	The house whose roof was damaged has been repaired.	Use "whose" for possession, even for things. "Whom" does not show possession.

Clue Words

Signals to use who (subject):

the person/student/man/woman/child + [does something]

Signals to use whom (object):

to, for, with, about, from + [a person]; I/we/they/he/she + verb + [the person]

Signals to use whose (possession):

his, her, its, their + noun -- replace the possessive word with "whose"

Signals to use which or that (things/animals):

the thing/place/animal/object + [clause about it]

Tip: When you are unsure between who and whom, quickly substitute "he" or "him" into the clause. If "him" sounds right, pick "whom" -- both end with the letter m.

Practice Tips

The he/him test: For every who/whom question, mentally replace the pronoun with "he" or "him." If "him" fits, use whom. This works every time.
Circle the commas: If there are commas around the relative clause, it is non-defining. Make sure you have not used that -- switch to who or which.
Underline the shared noun: In synthesis and transformation, underline the noun that appears in both sentences. That noun is where the relative clause will be attached.
Read the combined sentence aloud: After combining two sentences, read the result aloud. Check that the relative clause sits right next to the noun it describes and that the sentence still sounds natural.

Quick Reference

Pronoun	Use for	Role	Example
who	People	Subject of clause	The nurse who treated me was kind.
whom	People	Object of clause / after preposition	The artist whom we interviewed was talented.
whose	People / Things	Possession	The student whose project won first place was overjoyed.
which	Things / Animals	Subject or object (defining & non-defining)	The book, which I borrowed from the library, was fascinating.
that	People / Things / Animals	Subject or object (defining only)	The film that we watched was about wildlife conservation.

Clause Type	Commas?	Can use "that"?	Example
Defining (restrictive)	No	Yes	Students who work hard will succeed.
Non-defining (non-restrictive)	Yes	No	Mrs Lee, who teaches English, organised the book fair.

Relative Pronouns (P6) (Primary 6)