Grammar Practice in Context - David Bolton, Noel Goodey 1997

98 The relative pronouns where, whose, what

Quick reference

• We use the relative pronoun where to describe places. That’s the house where I was born.

We can sometimes leave out where and add a preposition to the verb.

That's the house I was born in.

We can use where without identifying the place it describes. Here it means ’the place where/to a place where/in a place where’. This is where I live. I want to go where it’s sunny.

• The relative pronoun whose for possession is always followed by a noun. It can be the subject or object of the verb.

She 's the girl whose dog bit me. (Subject) He 's the man whose wife we met. (Object)

We use whose mostly for people, but we can also use it for things.

India is a country whose culture has influenced the whole world.

• The relative pronoun what means 'the thing(s) that’.

He doesn’t like what I do. (Object) His dishonesty is what worries me. (Subject)

We can start a sentence with what if we want to emphasise something.

What worries me is that l can't speak any foreign languages.

What we need is a new government.

Note that we don't use what after everything and all.

All you can do is be patient. (not All what you can do)

Have you got everything you need? (not everything what you need)

1 Rebecca is showing her holiday photos to a friend. Rewrite the sentences in brackets, using where.

1 (I stayed at this hotel.) This is the hotel ...

2 (I had breakfast on this balcony.) This is the balcony ...

3 (We ate at this taverna in the evening.) ...

4 (I spent most of my time on this beach.) ...

5 (I met Angelo at this night club.) ...

2 Amy lives near a famous singer. She is always trying to meet him. She has written down a lot of information about him. Her friend Hannah is asking about the things she has written. Read the dialogue and complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first, using where each time.

Hannah: What’s this address?

Amy: He lives there. (1) That’s ...

Hannah: Is this the name of a pub?

Amy: Yes, he often has a drink there. (2) Yes. that’s ...

Hannah: What's this place marked with an ’X’ on the street plan?

Amy: He often parks his car there. (3) That's ...

Hannah: Is this the name of the newsagent's?

Amy: Yes, he buys his newspapers there. (4) Yes, that’s ...

3 A police officer is talking to newspaper reporters about a robbery at a wine store.

Look at the information in the brackets, and complete what the officer says, using whose.

Example: (Somebody’s car was parked outside the store last night) We want to identify the person whose car was parked outside the store last night.

1 (The boot of the car is probably full of wine.)

We’re looking for a red Ford Mondeo ...

2 (We found somebody’s jacket in the store.)

We’d like to talk to the person ...

3 (Somebody’s fingerprints are on the door of the safe.)

We’re looking for the person ...

4 (We found somebody’s gloves near the store entrance).

We’d like to interview the person ...

4 Sasha met Nick this evening. Carl, her boyfriend, is very jealous. Complete the dialogue, using what, that or no word at all.

Carl: I want to know where you went and the things (1) ... you did.

Sasha: I’ve told you (2) ... we did. We simply had a drink together.

Carl: What did you talk about?

Sasha: You know (3) ... we talked about. I’ve told you everything (4) ... we said.

Carl: Do you like Nick?

Sasha: Yes, I do, but that doesn’t mean (5) ... you think it means. You don’t believe (6) ... I'm saying, do you? I’ve told you everything (7) ... happened. That’s all (8) ... I can do.

5 Luke Bird is complaining about public transport. Read the text and find sentences where What could be used to give more emphasis. Rewrite the sentences, using What.

It really depresses me that public transport is so poor. Yesterday I went to Plymouth by train. The cost really annoyed me. All public transport should be cheap. When I got off the train in Plymouth I had to wait two hours for a bus. It amazes me that the buses and trains aren’t integrated. We badly need an integrated system of transport. I wrote a letter to the Ministry of Transport. It shocked me that they said it wasn’t their problem. They didn't seem interested. They said I should write to the bus company. I really don’t understand why we have a Ministry of Transport.

Example: What really depresses me is that public transport is so poor.

1 ...

2 ...

3 ...

4 ...

5 ...

6 Write a description of your town or area and the people who live there. Use the relative pronouns where, whose, what. Check your description with a teacher.

Examples: The place inhere I live is very industrial. It's a town whose population is growing fast.

I don't like what's happening here; the town's getting too big.