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Alligators and crocodiles together: relative clauses with who and where

This A2 ESL lesson plan teaches relative pronouns who, which and where for people, animals and places in the Everglades.

Grammar
Defining relative clauses with who for people (a person who drives a boat), which or that for animals and things, and where for places: a place where alligators rest.
Topic
South Florida, the only place where American alligators and crocodiles both live, seen from an Everglades airboat, with words such as snout, swamp, sawgrass and mangrove.
Activities
A notice from an airboat dock, a ride with its captain, a viewer's question, self-checking drills, a word game in a chat and guessing games in open boxes.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Welcome to the Everglades!

    • PictureUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and answerSpin the wheelUnlock
    • Study the words: in the EvergladesVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and chooseChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2Let's read: alligator or crocodile?

    • Look at the photo: two snoutsPictureUnlock
    • Read the notice at the airboat dockReal-life documentTry it
    • Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Read again and choose the right answerQuizUnlock

  3. Chapter 3Let's listen: on the airboat!

    • Listen to Nora and AaronListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and choose the right answerQuizUnlock
    • Listen to the Viewer's QuestionListeningUnlock
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Grammar: a person who…, a place where…

    • Study the scheme: who, which / that, whereGrammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the correct optionChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: who, which / that or where + the verbFill in the gapsTry it
    • Fill in the table: make one sentenceFill in the tableUnlock
    • Choose the right sentenceQuizUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Let's talk: guess the word!

    • Choose the right replies: Maya's word gameChatTry it
    • Open a box and answer: guess the word!Open the boxUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Homework

    • Match the words and the meaningsMatchUnlock
    • Unscramble the wordsAnagramUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps with the words from the lessonFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Sort the words into the correct columnsSort into columnsUnlock
    • Choose the correct wordChoose the optionUnlock
    • Put the words in the correct orderUnjumbleUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: a person, a thing or a place?Fill in the gapsUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: Aaron's word listChoose the optionUnlock
    • Drag the words into the gaps: Nora's postDrag and dropUnlock

30 exercises in 6 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

Vocabulary

10 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+7 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • captain
  • alligator
  • crocodile
  • snout
  • swamp
  • sawgrass
  • mangrove

Grammar: who, which, that and where in relative clauses

Relative pronouns open a clause that explains a noun, and the noun decides which one: who for people, which or that for animals and things, and where, strictly a relative adverb, for places. On an airboat ride past alligators and mangroves, learners explain words with a person who… and a place where…, make the verb agree and drop an extra he or there.

A person who…, a place where…

who for people, which / that for animals and things, where for places

Who, which or that, where

Let the noun choose: people take who, places take where, and animals and things take which or that: A crocodile is an animal that likes salty water. That works for people as well (a person that drives a boat), though who is more usual.

ForUseExample
people 🧑who (or that)A captain is a person who drives a boat.
animals 🐊 and things 🚤which or thatA crocodile is an animal that likes salty water. An airboat is a boat which has a giant fan.
places 🌿whereThe Everglades is a place where alligators live.

A place where + someone + a verb

After where comes a full clause with its own subject: a bank where alligators rest, a town where my aunt lives. But when the place does the action, use that or which: a park that has airboats, never a park where has airboats.

A place where…

a placewheresomeone or somethinga verb

a bank where alligators rest

a town where my aunt lives

a place where it's warm in winter

A place: where or that?

After where, say who or what does the action: a bank where alligators rest (alligators rest there). When the place itself does the action, use which or that: a park that has airboats (the park has them). (Not: a park where has airboats.)

A person who drives, people who drive

The verb agrees with the noun before the clause: a person who drives a boat, people who drive boats; an animal that lives in a swamp, animals that live in swamps. After where, the verb follows its own subject: a place where alligators rest.

OneTwo or more
a person who drives a boatpeople who drive boats
an animal that lives in a swampanimals that live in swamps
a place where an alligator restsa place where alligators rest

No extra he, no extra there

Who already stands for he or she, and where already means there, so neither word comes back inside the clause: the man who drives, not the man who he drives; a place where it's warm, not a place where it's warm there.

Don't say it twice!

After who, which and that, don't add he, she, it or they: the man who drives (not: the man who he drives). After where, don't add there: a place where it's warm (not: a place where it's warm there).

Common mistakes

  • A captain is a person which drives a boat.

    A captain is a person who drives a boat.

    people: who

  • It's a place which alligators live.

    It's a place where alligators live.

    a place + someone or something + a verb: where

  • It's a place where it's warm there.

    It's a place where it's warm.

    no there after where

  • I know a man who he drives an airboat.

    I know a man who drives an airboat.

    no he, she or they after who

In the Everglades

  • Aaron is the captain who drives our airboat.
  • Marco is the person who screams at every fish!
  • A gator hole is a place where animals find water in the dry season.
  • The mangrove coast is the place where crocodiles like to live.
  • Marjory Stoneman Douglas was a writer who loved the Everglades.
  • Sawgrass is a plant that grows in the Everglades.

More lessons on this grammar: Relative clauses lessons and exercises

Try the relative pronouns exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

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What's in the lesson

  • 17 auto-checked exercises
  • 4 games
  • 1 real-life document
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 2 audio clips
  • 2 pictures
  • 2 transcripts

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • describe people with who: A captain is a person who drives a boat.
  • describe places with where and a full clause: A swamp is a place where trees grow in the water.
  • choose who, which / that or where and make the verb agree: people who drive boats, a place where an alligator rests
  • explain a word in a guessing game without saying it: It's an animal that has a wide, U-shaped snout.

Lesson 26 comes second in Amazing animals, unit 7 of English A2.2 · Curious Minds. It builds on lesson 25, which joined two sentences with which and that for things and animals; now people get who and places get where. A boat tour is full of people and places to explain, from the person who drives the airboat to the bank where alligators rest.

To warm up, students spin for questions about wild animals, boats and national parks; the ten word cards that follow, with pictures and audio, include spot, snap, sawgrass and mangrove. A notice at the airboat dock shows how to tell an alligator from a crocodile, with true-or-false and multiple-choice questions after it. In the first listening, Nora rides with Aaron, the airboat captain; in the second, Esther, a viewer from Minnesota, sends the question and a challenge (both AI-voiced). The scheme opens the grammar chapter, and its four drills give feedback on every answer, including a gap-fill with who, which / that or where. Then students play Maya's word game in a chat and open boxes about people, places and animals, some of them guessing rounds for a partner.

Homework is nine self-checking tasks: word work with a match, an anagram and gaps, a sort of words into who, where and which / that columns, two sets of choices, one of them a guide's word list, word order, a gap-fill on people, things and places, and a drag-and-drop post.

Grammar:
relative clauses · who for people · where for places · which / that for animals and things
Topic:
the Everglades · alligators · crocodiles · airboats · Marjory Stoneman Douglas · Alligator Alley · Tamiami Trail · Curious Minds

Teaching tips

  • Sort nouns before the drills: write captain, swamp, crocodile, ranger and airboat on the board, and students call out who, where or which for each one.
  • Draw two snouts before the notice, one wide and U-shaped, one narrow and V-shaped, and ask which belongs to the alligator. The notice gives the answer and a second clue, the teeth.
  • Pause the airboat dialogue at each clause: students repeat a place where alligators rest or the guy who screams at every fish and say what where or who stands for.
  • Race through the open boxes in teams: one player explains a word with It's a person who… or It's a place where… without saying it, and the first team to guess opens the next box.

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The whole course: English A2.2 · Curious Minds

32 lessons that pick up where English A2.1 ends, in simple American English, from the present perfect to used to, have to and relative clauses. Eight units cover nature, tech at home, heroes, healthy habits, fashion, school, animals and traditions. Pictures and definitions replace translations, and the practice exercises check themselves.See the course

  1. Unit 1 Wonders of nature

    the present perfect with ever and never, been to, superlatives with I've ever, articles with place names

    1. Lesson 1Have you ever seen the sky dance?The present perfect for experiences
    2. Lesson 2Have you been to the Grand Canyon?Present perfect vs past simple
    3. Lesson 3The longest cave in the worldSuperlatives with the present perfect
    4. Lesson 4The first national parkArticles with place names

  2. Unit 2 Clever tech at home

    the present perfect with just, already and yet, phrasal verbs, subject and object questions

    1. Lesson 5The chocolate bar that meltedThe present perfect with just
    2. Lesson 6Has my lunch arrived yet?Already and yet with the present perfect
    3. Lesson 7Turn it on, turn it offPhrasal verbs with it and them
    4. Lesson 8The girl who tests waterSubject and object questions

  3. Unit 3 Everyday heroes

    the past continuous, when and while, adjective order, story linkers

    1. Lesson 9When the pager beepsThe past continuous with was and were
    2. Lesson 10The man who planted apple treesPast continuous and past simple with when and while
    3. Lesson 11What's in the lost and found?The order of adjectives
    4. Lesson 12The dogs who saved NomeStory linkers

  4. Unit 4 Healthy and happy habits

    will for predictions, the zero and first conditionals, so do I and neither do I

    1. Lesson 13Why does school start later in California?Will and won't for predictions, decisions and offers
    2. Lesson 14Brain freeze!The zero conditional for facts
    3. Lesson 15Doctor's orders: go to the park!The first conditional with if and will
    4. Lesson 16Walking in the mall at 7 a.m.Agreeing with So do I and Neither do I

  5. Unit 5 Style through time

    used to, didn't use to, made of and made from, still and not anymore

    1. Lesson 17Why did everyone use to wear a hat?Used to for past habits and states
    2. Lesson 18Jeans used to be work clothesUsed to in negatives and questions
    3. Lesson 19Quilts made from old clothesMade of, made from and made by
    4. Lesson 20Cowboy boots, still made by handStill, not anymore and no longer

  6. Unit 6 School in America

    have to, must and mustn't, be allowed to, had to

    1. Lesson 21Do you have to wear a uniform?Have to and don't have to for rules
    2. Lesson 22Stop for the yellow bus!Must, mustn't and don't have to
    3. Lesson 23A class trip to the SmithsonianBe allowed to and can for permission
    4. Lesson 24One room, one teacher, every gradeHad to and didn't have to for past duties

  7. Unit 7 Amazing animals

    relative clauses with which, that, who and where, look and sound + adjective, adjectives with prepositions

    1. Lesson 25The bird that copies car alarmsRelative clauses with which and that
    2. Lesson 26 · you're hereAlligators and crocodiles togetherWho, which, that and where in relative clauses
    3. Lesson 27Sailors thought it was a mermaidLook, sound and feel as linking verbs
    4. Lesson 28Beagles at the airportAdjectives with prepositions

  8. Unit 8 Traditions we love

    invitations, will vs going to, so and such, one and ones

    1. Lesson 29Come to our cookout!Making, accepting and refusing invitations
    2. Lesson 30Is spring going to come early?Will vs going to for the future
    3. Lesson 31From turnips to pumpkinsSo and such for emphasis
    4. Lesson 32Giant balloons over ManhattanOne and ones in place of a noun

Questions about this lesson

What are relative pronouns?
Relative pronouns are the words that start a relative clause: who for people, which for animals and things, that for both, and whose for belonging. Where, strictly a relative adverb, does the same job for places. So: A captain is a person who drives a boat. Sawgrass is a plant that grows in the Everglades. The A2 lesson Alligators and crocodiles together on edio.ai practices who, which, that and where.
What's the difference between who and that?
For people, who and that are both correct in a clause without commas, but who is more common and sounds more careful: A ranger is a person who works in a national park. That also works for animals and things; who doesn't: an animal that likes salty water. After a comma, only who works for people: My aunt, who lives in Florida, loves airboats.
When do you use who, which and where?
Use who for people, which for things, where for places: The captain is the person who drives the airboat. An airboat is a boat which has a giant fan. A swamp is a place where trees grow in the water. Which also covers animals, and that can replace who or which. It can't replace where on its own: a place where alligators rest, not a place that alligators rest.
Is it "who" or "which" for animals?
For animals, the usual choice is which or that: An alligator is an animal that snaps its jaws shut. Who is for people: Rangers are people who work in national parks. Many speakers do use who for a pet or an animal with a name, so it isn't always wrong there. For things, who is always a mistake: a boat that has a giant fan, never a boat who has.
Is it "a place where" or "a place which"?
It depends on the clause: use where when a new subject follows, as in a place where alligators live. Use which or that when the place itself is the subject (a park that has airboats) or when a preposition ends the clause: a bank that alligators rest on. So a place which alligators live is wrong. The drills of Alligators and crocodiles together, an A2 lesson on edio.ai, test exactly this choice.
Is it "the man who drives" or "the man who he drives"?
It's the man who drives, without he, because who already stands for him. The same rule covers she, it and they: alligators are animals that help other animals, not that they help. With places, where already means there: a place where it's warm, not a place where it's warm there. Several wrong replies in the chat of Alligators and crocodiles together on edio.ai add exactly that extra word.
How do you explain the meaning of a word in English?
Start with its group, then narrow it down with a clause: A captain is a person who drives a boat. A swamp is wet land where trees grow in the water. Pick who, where or that to match the word, and the listener can guess it without hearing it. The word cards of Alligators and crocodiles together, an A2 lesson on edio.ai, work the same way: sawgrass, a tall plant that grows in wet land.
How do I teach who, which and where to A2 students?
Teach the three words through definitions, which need all of them: A pilot is a person who flies a plane. A library is a place where you can borrow books. A camera is a thing which takes photos. Once the choice feels easy, add verb agreement and the rule against an extra he or there. Here, a dock notice and an airboat ride come before the scheme, and four drills lead into a word game.
What's a good game for practicing relative clauses with who and where?
A guess-the-word race is quick to set up: a player explains a word with It's a person who…, It's a place where… or It's an animal that…, and the others shout the answer. It's an animal that has a V-shaped snout. – A crocodile! The open boxes of this lesson set up rounds like this, and one asks about a place where you love to relax.
How do you practice relative pronouns one-to-one?
Swap definitions in turns: the teacher says a word, such as ranger or gator hole, and the student explains it with who, which, that or where, then they switch. Between classes, the chat in Alligators and crocodiles together, an A2 lesson on edio.ai, plays the same game: Maya gives a word, and the student picks the right definition, such as A ranger is a person who works in a national park.
What's good homework for practicing who, which and where?
Good homework makes students decide between person, thing and place again and again: sorting words like captain, swamp and airboat into who, where and which / that columns, filling in definitions such as A bakery is a store where people buy bread, and putting clauses in order. This lesson's homework has nine tasks, and each one checks itself.
Are there interactive exercises for relative pronouns?
Yes: interactive drills catch a wrong pronoun the moment it's chosen. This page plays four parts of Alligators and crocodiles together, an A2 lesson on edio.ai, with no account needed: the notice at the airboat dock, Nora's ride with the airboat captain, a gap-fill with who, which / that or where and the verb, and Maya's word game in a chat. The other drills stay locked.
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