4.7.1.1.1.1.1.1.1: Relative Clauses (Who, Whom, Which)

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Don Bissonnette
South Seattle Community College

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Relative Clauses (Who, Whom, Which)

Exercise 28: Combine the following sentences by making the second sentence a relative clause. In other words, make the second sentence part of the first sentence.

1. The book fell on the floor. My brother gave me the book for my birthday.

2. The Vietnamese boy lost his fishing pole. He was fishing with his friend.

3. I spoke to the girl’s father. I had met him many years ago.

4. The workers had to eat lunch late yesterday. Their boss thanked them very much.

5. My car needs a tune up very badly. I may take it to the mechanic this weekend.

6. The protestors are going to Italy this week. They are protesting the globalization of the world economy.

7. The business needs to make some changes in its practices. It is losing money.

8. The new teacher gave the students an exam. She wrote the exam the night before.

9. The children had the runs. They had eaten a lot of green apples.

10. My wife gave my sons noodles for lunch. They were very hungry.

11. I took the report to my employer when I got back from my trip. The report concerned finances for next year.

12. The child had been crying. I picked her up and held her until her mother came for her.

13. Shirley Temple was a very famous movie star as a child. She became a US ambassador.

Whose is a relative pronoun that replaces possessive nouns, possessive pronouns, and possessive adjectives. Possessive nouns end in an ‘s for singular nouns and irregular plural nouns and an s’ for regular plural nouns. The possessive pronouns are mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs. The possessive adjectives are my, your, his, her, its, our, your, their. Possessive pronouns are never followed by a noun. Possessive adjectives are always followed by a noun.

Examples:

Possessive Nouns Possessive Pronouns Possessive Adjectives

The teacher’s book His His book

The children’s toys Theirs Their toys

Don’s garden Mine My garden

My students’ teacher Yours Your teacher

My family’s house Ours Our house

Sample Sentences:

I sent a letter to my sister. Her husband opened the letter.
My sister and her mean the same person.

I sent a letter to my sister whose husband opened the letter.

My dog was small and very fat. His name was Lucky.
My dog and his refer to the same dog.

My dog, whose name was Lucky, was small and very fat.

I called Graham last night. Graham’s father is an old friend of mine.
Graham and Graham’s refer to the same person.

Last night I called Graham, whose father is an old friend of mine.