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Using who, whom, whose, which and that correctly.
Relative pronouns introduce relative clauses and connect them to the noun or noun phrase they modify.
The main relative pronouns are who, whom, whose, which, and that. Their choice depends on meaning, grammatical role, and register.
Who is commonly used to refer to people in relative clauses.
For example, The woman who lives next door is a doctor.
Who functions as the subject of a relative clause when it represents the person performing the action.
For example, The man who called me left a message.
Who can also function as the object of a relative clause in common modern English.
For example, The person who I met yesterday was very helpful.
Whom is traditionally used as the object form of who when referring to people.
For example, The person whom I met yesterday was very helpful.
Who is much more common than whom in ordinary modern English, while whom is more common in formal writing and after prepositions.
Compare The person who I spoke to with The person to whom I spoke.
Which is used primarily for things and animals in relative clauses.
For example, The car which I bought is very reliable.
Which can function as the subject of a relative clause referring to a thing or animal.
For example, The car which caused the accident was damaged.
Which can function as the object of a relative clause referring to a thing or animal.
For example, The book which I bought was expensive.
That can introduce defining relative clauses referring to people, animals, or things.
For example, The person that I met was helpful and The book that you recommended was excellent.
That can function as the subject of a defining relative clause.
For example, The dog that lives next door is very friendly.
That can function as the object of a defining relative clause.
For example, The movie that we watched was excellent.
In defining relative clauses, both that and which can commonly refer to things, although that is especially common in informal and neutral English.
For example, The book that I bought and The book which I bought are both standard defining constructions.
That can refer to people in defining relative clauses, although who is generally more natural and common for people.
For example, The woman who called me and The woman that called me are both possible in defining contexts.
That is not normally used to introduce non-defining relative clauses.
Use who, whom, whose, or which instead when the clause is separated by commas.
Whose introduces a relative clause expressing possession or association with a person, animal, organization, or sometimes thing.
For example, The woman whose car was stolen called the police.
Whose can be used with things and organizations as well as people, especially when expressing an attribute or part associated with them.
For example, A company whose products are popular can expand quickly.
Whose is generally more natural than of which for expressing possession in many modern contexts, while of which remains possible in formal writing.
For example, a company whose offices are in London can also be expressed more formally as a company, the offices of which are in London.
The grammatical role of the relative pronoun determines whether another subject is needed after it.
Compare The woman who lives here with The woman who I met yesterday.
Relative pronouns can follow prepositions, especially in formal English.
For example, The person to whom I spoke and The system on which the software runs.
Whoever refers to any person who meets the condition expressed by the relative clause.
For example, Whoever finishes first can leave early.
Whatever refers to anything of any kind or to any thing or situation that satisfies the implied condition.
For example, Take whatever you need.
Whichever refers to any one of a limited or known set of alternatives.
For example, Choose whichever option you prefer.
What can introduce a fused relative construction meaning something that or the thing that.
For example, I understand what you mean means approximately I understand the thing that you mean.
Relative pronouns can occur after expressions such as all, some, none, many, and the only one.
For example, All those who applied were interviewed and The only person who complained received a refund.
Whom is especially common when a preposition directly precedes the relative pronoun in formal English.
For example, The colleague with whom I worked has moved abroad.
The relative pronoun itself does not determine the verb form independently; agreement follows its grammatical role and the antecedent or meaning expressed by the clause.
For example, The people who live here and The person who lives here.
Choose a relative pronoun according to whether the antecedent is a person, thing, possession, and whether the pronoun is functioning as subject or object.
For example, who for people, which for things, whose for possession, and that in many defining clauses.
Relative-pronoun choices vary according to register, with whom and preposition + whom or which being more formal than many conversational alternatives.
For example, The person to whom I spoke is formal, while The person I spoke to is common in everyday English.
Use the relative pronoun that matches the antecedent, grammatical role, and type of relative clause.
Common mistakes include using that in non-defining clauses, confusing who and whom in formal writing, using which for people, confusing whose with who, and using the wrong pronoun after a preposition.