Defining Relative Clauses in English: How to Use Who, Which, That and Where 🔗

A defining relative clause gives essential information about a noun - it tells us which person, thing or place we are talking about. Without this clause, the sentence loses its meaning or becomes unclear. We connect it to the main clause with a relative pronoun: who, which, that, or where. 🎯

1. Which relative pronoun to use 📋

Pronoun	Used for	Example
who	People	The teacher who taught me Spanish was from Mexico. ✅
which	Things and animals	The book which I recommended is on the shelf. ✅
that	People OR things (informal)	The film that everyone is talking about is amazing. ✅
where	Places	The café where we met is now closed. ✅

2. How to build a defining relative clause 🔧

A defining relative clause comes immediately after the noun it describes. Think of it as combining two sentences into one:

• I have a friend. + She speaks four languages. → I have a friend who speaks four languages. ✅
• I lost my phone. + I bought it last week. → I lost the phone that I bought last week. ✅
• She works in a hospital. + People go there for surgery. → She works in a hospital where people go for surgery. ✅

3. That vs which vs who 🔍

• that can replace both who and which in defining clauses - it is very common in spoken English.
• who is only for people - never for things.
• which is only for things - never for people.
• where is only for places - never use which or who for places.

4. Common mistakes ⚠️

✅ Correct	❌ Wrong
The man who called you is outside.	The man which called you is outside.
The bag which I lost had my keys in it.	The bag who I lost had my keys in it.
The town where I grew up is very small.	The town which I grew up is very small.
She is the person who helped me most.	She is the person that she helped me most. (no double subject)

Relative clauses are the glue that holds complex sentences together! 🚀