🔳PRONOUNS


A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun or a noun phrase. If we didn't have pronouns, we'd have to keep repeating our nouns and that would make our sentences cumbersome and repetitive. Pronouns are usually short words.

When most people think of pronouns, words like he, she, and they spring to mind, but there are nine different kinds of pronouns, including:


1️⃣#Personal_pronouns (e.g., he, they)
2️⃣#Demonstrative_pronouns (e.g., this, these)
3️⃣#Interrogative_pronouns (e.g., which, who)
4️⃣#Indefinite_pronouns (e.g., none, several)
5️⃣#Possessive_pronouns (e.g., his, your)
6️⃣#Reciprocal_pronouns (e.g., each other, one another)
7️⃣#Relative_pronouns (e.g., which, where)
8️⃣#Reflexive_pronouns (e.g., itself, himself)
9️⃣#Intensive_pronouns (e.g., itself, himself)


Let's look at each type one at a time.🙂


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7️⃣ Relative Pronouns


🔻What Are #Relative_Pronouns?

In English grammar, a #relative_pronoun is a pronoun that introduces an adjective clause (also called a relative clause) which follows a noun:

(1) To identify it.

➖The man who won the lottery is outside.

(2) To tell us something interesting about it.

➖Inspector Smith, who won the lottery, is outside.

The standard #relative_pronouns in English are which, that, who, whom, and whose.

✨Who and whom refer only to 👉🏻people.
✨Which refers to 👉🏻things, qualities, and ideas—never to people.🚫
✨That and whose refer to 👉🏻people, things, qualities, and ideas.

➖The girl who stole your phone is outside.

➖I rode the bike that Jack gave me back home.

➖Mrs Miggins, who owns a pie shop, is outside.

➖I rode my bike, which now had two flat tyres, back home.


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#relative_pronouns

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✨Here are the 5️⃣ most frequently asked questions related to #relative_pronouns:👇🏻

(1️⃣) Do you put a comma before which?

The answer is sometimes yes and sometimes no. This applies to all relative pronouns, not just which. (Actually, it doesn't apply to that, but we'll cover that point later.) Look at these two examples using who:

➖The man who won last week’s lottery gave all his money to a donkey sanctuary.

➖My neighbour, who won last week’s lottery, gave all his money to a donkey sanctuary.

These two sentences are nearly identical, but one has commas and one doesn’t. They are both correct.☑️

It all depends whether the adjective clause (the bold text) specifies its noun. If it does (like in the first example, where it specifies the man), then don’t use commas. If it doesn’t (like in the second example, where it’s just additional information about my neighbour), then use commas. Now look at this example:

➖My neighbour who won last week’s lottery gave all his money to a donkey sanctuary.

This is also correct. This time the adjective clause is specifying my neighbour. We’re now talking about my lottery-winning neighbour as opposed to any neighbours who didn’t win the lottery. So, you have to think carefully about whether an adjective clause specifies or doesn’t.

💡Here’s a good tip:

Treat the commas like brackets. If you’d happily put brackets around the adjective clause, then use commas because the clause will just be additional information. If you'd happily delete the clause, then it must be just additional information, meaning you should offset it with commas.

So, the question was about using a comma before which, but the answer used examples with who. There is a good reason for that. Lots of Americans, and increasingly Brits, insist on using that instead of which without a comma (i.e., when which heads an adjective clause that specifies its noun). Look at these examples:

➖The dog which bit the postman has returned.☑️
➖The dog that bit the postman has returned.☑️

Both of these are correct, but lots of people find the top one a little awkward. (When a clause specifies its noun, it is called a #restrictive_clause. When it’s just additional information, it’s called #nonrestrictive_clause.)

So, which can head a #restrictive_adjective_clause (without commas) or a #nonrestrictive one (with commas), but, if you’re writing to Americans, use that for the former.

➖My dog gives a trust which is total.
➖My dog gives a trust that is total.
(These are both #restrictive_adjective_clauses.)
➖My dog gives total trust, which is very endearing.
(This is a #nonrestrictive_adjective_clause.)

You can’t use that to head a #nonrestrictive_adjective_clause. So, if the question had been “Do you put a comma before that?” It would have been a much quicker answer. No.


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#relative_pronouns

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(2️⃣) Can you use whose for inanimate things?

Yes. Who is used for people. Which is used for things. Whose is used for people and things.

➖Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died. (Author Erma Bombeck)

➖An intellectual is someone whose mind watches itself. (French philosopher Albert Camus)

(In each example, whose is used with a person.)

➖An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come. (French poet Victor Hugo)

➖I could a tale unfold whose lightest word would harrow up thy soul. (from Hamlet by William Shakespeare)

(In each example, whose is used with a thing.)

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(3️⃣) When do you use whom?

✨Here’s the rule: 👉🏻 Use who when it’s the subject of verb, otherwise use whom.

➖Never lend your car to anyone who calls you mum.
(Who is the subject of the verb calls.)

➖Never lend your car to anyone whom you have given birth to. (Author Erma Bombeck)
(Whom is NOT the subject of a verb.)

➖I'm just someone who likes cooking and for whom sharing food is a form of expression. (Maya Angelou)
(Who is the subject of the verb likes. Sharing food is the subject of the verb is. Whom isn’t the subject of anything; therefore, whom is correct.)


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#relative_pronouns

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(4️⃣) Can you use that for people?

That, like whose, can be used for people or things.

➖The dog that bit the postman.
(Here, that is used with a thing (dog).)

➖The postman that bit the dog.
(Here, that is used with a person (postman).)

Try to use who instead of that with people (especially in #formal writing) because a fair proportion of your readers might find that with people a little uncouth.

➖The postman who bit the dog.
(This is far more acceptable…well, grammatically at least.)


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#relative_pronouns

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(5️⃣) Should you avoid ending a sentence in a preposition?

Here's the quick answer: 👉🏻NO.
Here's the longer answer: 👇🏻

When whom or which is the object of a preposition, you can start the adjective clause with the preposition.

➖We have to put up with most from those on whom we most depend. (Spanish philosopher Baltasar Gracian)
(The preposition is on.)

➖I operated on the assumption that there was an absolute scale of values against which art could be measured. I didn't trust my own subjective responses. (Playwright Tom Stoppard)
(The preposition is against.)

Starting an adjective clause with a preposition is done to avoid ending the sentence with a preposition, which is still considered by many to be a grammar crime. Let's be clear on this. It's okay to end a sentence in a preposition, but some of your readers might think it's wrong or too informal. So, in #formal writing, try to avoid ending a sentence in a preposition. Don't think of it as a rule. Think of it as a word game. However, if avoiding a sentence-ending preposition makes your sentence sound stilted, then either reword your sentence or stop playing and leave your preposition at the end.


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#relative_pronouns

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🔻Who, Which, That, and the Zero Relativizer


"Three #relative_pronouns stand out as being particularly common in English: who, which, and that. The zero relativizer [or dropped relative pronoun] is also relatively common. However, . . . the #relative_pronouns are used in very different ways across registers. For example: In general, the #relative_pronouns that begin with the letters wh- are considered to be more literate. In contrast, the pronoun that and the zero relativizer have a more colloquial flavor and are preferred in conversation."
(Douglas Biber, Susan Conrad, and Geoffrey Leech, Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Pearson, 2002)

That and zero are the preferred choices in conversation, although relative clauses are generally rare in that register. Fiction is similar to conversation in its preference for that. In contrast, news shows a much stronger preference for which and who, and academic prose strongly prefers which.


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#relative_pronouns

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