A practical english grammar - Vyssaja skola 1978
Use of relative pronouns, except THAT
Sound symbols
Notice that who and whom are used only of persons; which is used only of things; and whose may be used of either.
a student who sat near the window
a man whom we had seen before
a book which costs a lot
a book which I like
Whose, which expresses possession, requires its noun to be the next word, whether this noun is the subject or the object of the verb in its clause:
the man whose son called yesterday
the man whose son I called yesterday
Adjectives may intervene: a man whose youngest son .. .
Use of THAT. The relative pronoun that can be either subject or object of the verb and it may refer either to persons or fo things, though many writers prefer not to use it for persons.
the man that told me the address
the man that I saw
the book that costs the most
the book that I like best
That can not be used after prepositions, but it can be used to introduce a clause that ends with a preposition.
This is the book that I was asking about.
Restrictive and non-restrictive clauses. As has been mentioned already, this is an important distinction and affects not only the punctuation of the sentence in writing, but also the choice of relative pronoun and the way the sentence is spoken. A restrictive clause is one that identifies its noun. A non-restrictive clause is one that adds information that may be interesting or useful, but is not needed in order to identify the noun.
Restrictive:
That’s the car I like.
Theн have a clock that strikes the hour.
Non-restrictive :
Mr. Smith, who is Charles’s father, will drive.
Radium, which is a rare element, is used in medicine.
The important rules regarding these clauses are these:
1) All non-restrictive clauses have introductory words.
2) That is used in restrictive clauses, rarely in non-restrictive.
3) That is more idiomatic than which in restrictive clauses.
Omission of the relative pronoun as object. If the verb in the relative clause has a subject, and if the relative clause is restrictive, the relative pronoun may be omitted altogether, and in fact usually is in informal speech and in most writing.
the man we saw
the book I read first
If the relative clause is non-restrictive, then whom or which must be used.
Professor Ellis, whom the students dislike, ...
the Capitol, which we had seen before, ...
Relative pronouns with prepositions. If the relative clause includes a preposition, there are two ways of arranging the words. The preposition may occur at the beginning of the clause, before the relative pronoun, or it may be put after the verb in the clause.
If the preposition occurs at the beginning, the relative pronoun must be either whom, which, or whose.
the man to whom we spoke
the book in which I read that
This style is preferred in formal speaking or writing.
If the preposition occurs at the end of the clause (and the clause is restrictive), the relative pronoun that may be used, or there may be no pronoun at all.
the man we spoke to the man that we spoke to
the book I read that in the book that I read that in
This style is preferred in informal speaking and writing.
It is possible to use whom or which with the preposition at the end of the clause, but this is not the best style: the man whom I spoke to, the book which I read that in.
Whose may come after a preposition if its following noun is the object of the preposition.
the man to whose son I spoke yesterday or:
the man whose son I spoke to yesterday
If the relative clause is non-restrictive, that can not be used, and the best style is to put the preposition first.
Professor Ellis, to whom you spoke yesterday, . . .
Don Quixote, in which we meet Sancho Panza, . . .
The student will see that the behavior of prepositions in relative clauses is similar to that of prepositions in questions. (See Chapter 7.)
Quite formal: To whom did you speak?
“Correct” semi-formal: Whom did you speak еo?
Informal: Who did you speak fo?