Grammar-Quizzes › Clauses › Relative Clauses › Who(m) & That Clauses

Who, Whom and That Clauses

Add a modifying clause to a personal (animate) noun

Relative Pronouns for People — Who / Whom / That

SUBJECT PRONOUNS
Who replaces a personal subject noun in a modifying clause. That is used informally as a personal (animate) noun and which is not used at all.
The woman who called you is my friend.
The woman that called you is my friend. (informal)

OBJECT PRONOUN
Whom or who replaces a personal object noun in a modifying clause. That is used informally for a personal (animate) noun and which is not used.
The woman whom/ who you called is my friend.
The woman that you called is my friend. (informal)

Forming a Who-Clause

Replacing the Subject or Object Noun

Who / Whom

SUBJECT PRONOUN OF CLAUSE
Who replaces the repeated personal subject noun in the modifying clause. Then the clause is placed after the personal noun that it modifies.
The woman is my friend. The woman called you. The woman is my friend. She called you.
	SUBJECT of MOD CLS
The woman	The woman called you.	is my friend.
	who / that
The woman	who called you	is my friend.

OBJECT PRONOUN OF CLAUSE
Whom / who / that replaces the repeated personal object noun in the modifying clause. Whom is more formal. Optionally, who, whom or that can be omitted (deleted).
The woman is my friend. You called the woman. The woman is my friend. You called her.
	OBJECT of MOD CLS
The woman	You called the woman	is my friend.
	who / whom / that
The woman	who(m) you called whom you called	is my friend.

Add commas if the clause adds extra information that is not essential to identifying who the person is. (a non-identifying, non-restrictive clause) See Some or All

Who / Whom Clause

Clause Position

Modifying the Subject of the Main Clause

WHO – SUBJECT OF THE CLAUSE
The who-clause is placed directly after the personal noun that it modifies.
SUBJECT	SUBJ of MOD CLS
The woman	who called you She called you.	is here.
The woman	*that called you She called you.	is here.

WHOM – OBJECT OF THE CLAUSE
The who(m)–clause is placed directly after the personal noun that it modifies. The object pronoun can be omitted.
SUBJECT	OBJ of MOD CLS
The woman	who(m) you called You called her.	is here.
The woman	*that you called You called her.	is here.

Modifying the Object of the Main Clause

WHO – SUBJECT OF THE CLAUSE
The who-clause is placed directly after the personal noun that it modifies.
	OBJECT	SUBJ of MOD CLS
Here is	the woman	who called you She called you.
Here is	the woman	*that called you She called you.

WHOM – OBJECT OF THE CLAUSE
The who(m)–clause is placed directly after the personal noun that it modifies. The object pronoun can be omitted.
	OBJECT	OBJ of MOD CLS
Here is	the woman	who(m) you called You called her.
Here is	the woman	*that you called You called her.

comp. / complement – a word, phrase or clause which is necessary in a sentence to complete its meaning
omit (V) – delete; leave out
*informal usage

Omitting Object Pronouns

Allowing the

When can you omit who?

SUBJECT PRONOUN OF CLAUSE
When who takes the place of the subject noun/pronoun in a modifying clause, it cannot be omitted (deleted).
The guy who is talking is the leader. — The guy is talking — (subject)
The doctor who looked at my arm was young. — The doctor looked at my arm— (subject)
Two girls who rang my doorbell sold me cookies. — Two girls rang my doorbell — (subject)

OBJECT PRONOUN OF CLAUSE
When who takes the place of the object noun/pronoun in a modifying clause, it can optionally be omitted (deleted).
The guy (whom) you spoke to is the leader. — you spoke to the leader — (object)
The doctor (whom) I preferred was young. — I preferred the doctor— (object)
Two girls (whom) I chatted with sold me cookies. — I chatted with two girls — (object)

How do you know if who is an object pronoun?

FOLLOWED BY A VERB
If the relative pronoun is followed by a verb, then the relative pronoun is probably the subject of the clause. It cannot be deleted.
The guy — who showed us his car — seems fair. — who → verb — (It's likely the subject.)
The driver — who hit his car — is apologetic. — who → verb — (It's likely the subject.)
The girl — who lives next door — drives a Honda. — who → verb — (It's likely the subject.)

FOLLOWED BY A SUBJECT NOUN / PRONOUN
If the relative pronoun is followed by a subject noun or pronoun – I, we, he, she, they – then who is probably the object and it can be deleted.
The guy –– who we spoke to — seems fair. — who → we… — (It's likely the object.)
The driver –– who she ran into — is upset. — who → she… — (It's likely the object.)
The man — who you met — drives a Jeep. — who → you… — (It's likely the object.)

apologetic (Adj) – sorry; giving of apologies

likely – highly probable

See Terminology: Semantic Roles

causer/agent — the thing (inanimate) that or the person (animate) who causes the action to occur. (He sang a song. The wind blows.)

direct object (DO) — (usually a noun phrase) the person or entity (thing, concept, etc.) that undergoes the action expressed by the predicate. (He sang a song.)

Who/Whom-Clause

Punctuation

An identifying vs. Nonidentifying Clause

IDENTIFYING CLAUSE
A clause that identifies the noun before it (tells you which one) is not set off with commas.
The man that lives next door is a marathon runner.
Jack hired the gardener (whom) you recommended.

NONIDENTIFYING CLAUSE
A clause that adds extra, nonidentifying information is set off with comma(s). The object pronoun cannot be omitted.
Jack Trainer, who lives next door, is a marathon runner.
Jack hired Mr. Lee, whom¹ you recommended.

An identifying clause adds information or narrows (limits) the noun to a specific one, group or lot. The clause helps by telling us which one. No commas are used. It is also called restrictive, essential , or necessary clause. See That vs. Which Some or All.

A nonidentifying clause adds extra information about a noun already identified by other means, for example, by name, by shared knowledge or context. The clause, a comment, is set off with commas (before and, if necessary, after the clause). It is also called nonrestrictive, nonessential, or unnecessary clause. See Commas – comments.

¹An object relative pronoun cannot be omitted from (left out of) a nonidentifying clause.

Modifying Clauses

Preposition Placement

AT END OF CLAUSE
When the verb accepts an indirect object, the object preposition is likely to occur at the end of the clause. Leaving the preposition at the end may be considered informal use.
The police officer whom I gave my passport to took down my information. I gave my report to the officer.
The police officer who I gave my passport to took down my information.
The police officer that I gave my passport to took down my information.
The passport which he was looking at had expired the week before.
The passport that he was looking at had expired the week before.

BEFORE THE RELATIVE PRONOUN
When using whom or which, a preposition belonging to the indirect object may be placed before the relative pronoun. This is formal use (academic and business).
The police officer to whom I gave my passport took down my information. I gave my report to the officer.
The police officer *to who I gave my passport took down my information. (Use whom.)
The police officer *to that I gave my passport took down my information. (Use whom.)
The passport at which he was looking had expired the week before.
The passport *at that he was looking had expired the week before. (Use which.)

*Yellow highlighted words are examples of incorrect usage.

Common Mistakes

Errors and Solutions

Error and Solution

ERROR
*The guy is here who wants to play football.
*The man which you are talking about isn't a friend.
*There's a man on the phone wants to talk with you. missing relative pronoun
The man whom I believe lives next door to you is a pilot.

SOLUTION
The guy — who wants to play football — is here. The who-clause must be next to the word it modifies.
The man whom/ who/ that you are talking about isn't a friend. Which is not used as a personal pronoun for a person. Use that.
There's man on the phone who wants to talk to you. A subject pronoun cannot be omitted.
The man who, I believe, lives next door to you is a pilot. The man who lives next door to you is a pilot, I believe. I believe, the man who lives next door to you is a pilot.

*Yellow highlighted words are examples of incorrect usage.

Practice 1

Selecting Courses

Which relative pronoun(s) can complete each sentence?

Select the response from the list that best completes the sentence.
Compare your response to the feedback by clicking the "check" or the "check 1-10" button at the bottom.

My friend told me about a student. The student has taken the TOEFL test twelve times!
My friend told me about a student has taken the TOEFL test twelve times!

Feedback 1

The advisor didn't know the answer to my academic question. I talked to the advisor.
The advisor I talked to didn't know the answer to my academic question.

Feedback 2

I was looking for a good English program. The program offers a lot of writing and composition.
I am looking for a good English program offers a lot of writing and composition .

Feedback 3

Some of the courses have been very useful. I took the courses last semester.
Some of the courses I took last semester have been very useful.

Feedback 4

My friend studies with me in the afternoon. My friend is in my mathematics class.
My friend is in my mathematics class studies with me in the afternoon.

Feedback 5

All students have to take Algebra101 and Statistics101. All students want to graduate.
All students want to graduate have to take Algebra101 and Statistics101.

Feedback 6

A friend thinks the courses will be useful. I trust this friend.
A friend I trust believes the courses will be useful.

Feedback 7

I would like to find an instructor. The instructor teaches creative writing.
I would like to find a instructor teaches creative writing.

Feedback 8

The group prefers to study at night. I study with the group.
The group I study with prefers to study at night.

Feedback 9

10.

We would all like to take the writing course. The new instructor will be teaching the course.
We would all like to take the writing course the new instructor will be teaching .

Feedback 10

Practice 3

Childhood Food Allergies

Read for errors

The number of children that have food allergies has been increasing. A recent study of kids under age 18 who has allergies found that 8% of kids are allergic to at least one food. That is up from a previous study in 2009 which found that 4% had allergies.

Pediatricians who see children with allergies report that there is an increasing number of kids who allergic to peanuts. Some allergies that used to occur in childhood now seem to carry over into teen years. Preschoolers whose between the ages of 3 and 5 have the highest occurrence of food allergies.

Boys in this study who have allergies are more likely to experience severe reactions. This is because they don't want to appear different from other kids, and so they eat forbidden foods.

Food allergies become dangerous in kids that they ignore warnings and eat foods they aren't supposed to eat.

At school, children often have to sit and eat at the "peanut-free" table who have peanut allergies, which makes them feel like outcasts. And when they go to birthday parties, they have to bring their own cupcakes which are allergen free.

Parents have children with allergies say that it changes everything: how they buy, store, prepare and serve food.

One family that researchers studied had two separate kitchens so that they could keep one kitchen allergen free.

Unless researchers can understand why the number of allergies is increasing among kids, the kids who suffer from allergies will have to hope to outgrow them.

allergen (N) – a substance that causes an allergy

allergic(Adj) – having an allergy

allergy (N) – a medical condition in which you become ill or in which your skin becomes red and painful because you have eaten or touched a particular substance

forbidden (Adj) – not permitted

occurrence (N) – something that happens; event; incident

outcast (N) – a person who is separated from the rest of society

outgrow (V) – to leave behind or lose as one becomes older

pediatrician (N) – doctor who treats children (Pediatrics)

Goodman, Brenda "Food allergies in Kids More Common Than Thought" WebMD

Edit for Errors

Edit the sentence(s) in the text box.
Compare your response to the feedback by clicking the "check" or the "check 21-30" button at the bottom.

21.

The number of children that have food allergies has been increasing.

Edit 21

Feedback 21

22.

A recent study of kids under age 18 who has allergies found that 8% of kids are allergic to at least one food. That is up from a previous study in 2009 which found that 4% had allergies.

Edit 22

Feedback 22

23.

Pediatricians who see children with allergies report that there is an increasing number of kids who allergic to peanuts.

Edit 23

Feedback 23

24.

Some allergies that used to occur in childhood now seem to carry over into teen years. Preschoolers whose between the ages of 3 and 5 have the highest occurrence of food allergies.

Edit 24

Feedback 24

25.

Boys in this study who have allergies are more likely to experience severe reactions. This is because they don't want to appear different from other kids, and so they eat forbidden foods.

Edit 25

Feedback 25

26.