Relative clauses: the person who, the place where – relative clause exercises for people, things and places

This B1 drill lesson gives relative clause exercises for saying which person, thing or place you mean: who, which, that, where and whose, and when the pronoun can go.

Grammar: Who and that for people, which and that for things, where + subject + verb for places, whose for possession, whose or who's, and leaving out object pronouns.
Topic: Room for rent: a roommate profile on Roomlark, an invented app, with a reply from Leif, a former roommate's reference, house rules and a chat with Hetty.
Activities: True or false, sorting, choices, sentence joining, definitions to match, drag-and-drop, word order, tables, quizzes, memory games, an anagram and a chat.

What's inside

Chapter 1The rule
- PictureUnlock
- Study the scheme: relative clausesGrammar schemeTry it
- Is the sentence correct? Mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
- Sort the phrases: which word fits the gap?Sort into columnsTry it
- Choose who, which, where or whoseChoose the optionUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: people, things, placesFill in the gapsUnlock
Chapter 2Who, which or that?
- Choose the right word: people or things?Choose the optionTry it
- Write one sentence: join the two sentencesFill in the gapsUnlock
- Match the words and the definitionsMatchUnlock
- Drag the words into the gaps: singular or plural verb?Drag and dropUnlock
- Put the words in the right orderUnjumbleUnlock
- Find the mistake and choose the right wordsQuizUnlock
- Read Cordelia's post and fill in the gapsFill in the gapsUnlock
Chapter 3Where or whose?
- Choose the right word: where or which?Choose the optionUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: placesFill in the gapsTry it
- Choose the right word: whose or who's?Choose the optionUnlock
- Write one sentence: his, her or their becomes whoseFill in the gapsUnlock
- Find the matching pairs: placesMemory gameUnlock
- Choose the correct sentence: places and peopleQuizUnlock
- Read Dunstan's blog post and drag the words into the gapsDrag and dropUnlock
Chapter 4Can we leave it out?
- Sort the phrases: can you leave out that?Sort into columnsUnlock
- Write one sentence: leave out the pronounFill in the gapsUnlock
- Find the mistake: which words are right?QuizUnlock
- Drag the words into the gaps: no pronoun neededDrag and dropTry it
- Fill in the table: the missing wordFill in the tableUnlock
- Put the words in order: no pronounUnjumbleUnlock
- Choose the right words: do we need a pronoun?Choose the optionUnlock
Chapter 5Real life: Room for rent
- Read Henrietta's Roomlark profileReal-life documentUnlock
- Read the profile again: true or false?True or falseUnlock
- Read Leif's message and fill in the gapsFill in the gapsUnlock
- Read Agathe's reference and drag the words into the gapsDrag and dropUnlock
- Read Hetty's house rules and choose the right wordsChoose the optionUnlock
- Choose the right replies: Hetty writes to youChatTry it
- Test yourself: choose the right answerQuizUnlock
Chapter 6Homework
- Choose the right word: at my new jobChoose the optionUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: old family photosFill in the gapsUnlock
- Sort the sentences: can you leave out who, which, that, where or whose?Sort into columnsUnlock
- Put the words in the right order: relative clausesUnjumbleUnlock
- Match the words and the definitions: jobs and thingsMatchUnlock
- Fill in the table: join the two sentencesFill in the tableUnlock
- Choose whose or who's: at the partyChoose the optionUnlock
- Unscramble the words: what is it?AnagramUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: a trip to the mountainsFill in the gapsUnlock
- Find the mistake in each sentenceQuizUnlock
- Find the matching pairs: people and their jobsMemory gameUnlock
- Drag the words into the gaps: a school reunionDrag and dropUnlock
- Read Isidore's email and fill in the gapsFill in the gapsUnlock
- Read the forum thread and drag the words into the gapsDrag and dropUnlock
- Choose the correct sentence: relative clausesQuizUnlock

Grammar: relative clauses: who, which, that, where, whose

A relative clause comes right after a noun and says which person, thing or place you mean: the woman who lives next door, the café where we met. Each word has its own job: people, things, places or possession.

Relative clauses: who, which, that, where, whose

Say which person, thing or place you mean: the woman who lives next door, the café where we met.

Who, which or that?

Who is for people and which for things; that works for both. What never follows a noun: the book that I read, not the book what I read.

Which one? Add a relative clause

person / thing / placewho · which · that · where · whosethe rest of the clause

I have a friend who speaks Thai.

This is the café where we met.

She's the girl whose dad is a pilot.

Which word?

Word	Use it for	Example
who	people	the woman who lives next door
which	things	the bike which I bought
that	people and things	the man that called · the bus that goes downtown
where	places: where + subject + verb	the town where I grew up
whose	possession: his, her, their	the boy whose bike was stolen
what	never after a noun	the book that I read (not: the book what I read)

That or which for things

For things both are correct, but American English uses that more often: the car that I drive. For people, choose who or that, never which.

that or which?

For things, that and which are both correct here. In American English, that is more common: the car that I drive. For people, use who or that, never which.

Where or which?

Where means in or at that place, and a subject and verb follow it: the town where I grew up. When the place is the object, use that or which: the city (that) I visited.

where = in or at that place

the town where I grew up (I grew up there)
the café where we met (we met there)
After where comes a full clause: subject + verb.

which / that = the place is the subject or object

the city (that) I visited (I visited it)
the museum which opened in May (it opened)
Not: the city where I visited

Leaving the pronoun out

An object pronoun can go: the phone (that) I bought. A subject pronoun stays, and its verb agrees with the noun: the kids who live upstairs. Where and whose always stay.

Subject: you need it

The word does the action: the woman who lives next door (she lives there)
the bus that goes downtown (it goes downtown)
Not: The woman lives next door is a nurse.
The verb agrees with the noun: the man who lives · the kids who live

Object: you can leave it out

Someone else does the action: the woman (who) I met (I met her)
the phone (that) I bought (I bought it)
the book I'm reading = the book that I'm reading
Never leave out where or whose.

Whose, who's, and saying it once

Whose + noun takes the place of his, her or their: the girl whose mom is a doctor. Who's is who is or who has. Don't name the person twice: the man who lives here, not who he lives here.

Don't say it twice · whose or who's?

Don't say the person or thing twice: the book that I bought (not: the book that I bought it), the man who lives here (not: the man who he lives here). whose + noun = his / her / their: the girl whose bag… who's = who is / who has: the girl who's sitting there, a friend who's been to Peru.

Common mistakes

the man which lives upstairs
the man who / that lives upstairs
which is for things
the city where I visited
the city (that) I visited
I visited it: no where
the girl who her mom is a doctor
the girl whose mom is a doctor
whose = his, her, their
the book what I bought
the book (that) I bought
never what after a noun

Examples

The man who sold me this bike was very kind.who: a person
We need a sofa that fits in the van.that: a thing
The coat (which) I want is on sale.object: you can leave which out
This is the park where I learned to ride a bike.where: a place
I have a neighbor whose son is a firefighter.whose = her son
He's the guy who's always late.who's = who is

More lessons on this grammar: Relative clauses lessons and exercises

Try the relative clause exercises

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

What's in the lesson

40 auto-checked exercises
6 games
1 real-life document
1 grammar scheme
1 picture

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

use who or that for people and which or that for things: A vet is a doctor who looks after animals.
keep where for a full clause: the café where we first met, but the city that I visited, not the city where I visited
join sentences with whose and tell it from who's: That's the man whose car was stolen. Ask the man who's standing at the door.
leave out an object pronoun but keep a subject one: The pizza we ordered was cold. I have a friend who lives in Rome.
say the noun only once: the laptop that I bought last year, not the laptop that I bought it or the book what I bought

Grammar:: relative clauses · who / which / that · where / whose · leaving out the pronoun
Topic:: grammar practice · roommates · apartments · people and places

Teaching tips

Play a guess-the-word game: a student defines a job or an object with a relative clause (a person who fixes pipes, a thing that opens a door) and the class names it.
Write your own roommate ad: after Hetty's profile, pairs describe the roommate and the room they want with someone who…, a room which… and a place where…
Stand up when the pronoun can go: read pairs like the cake that I made and the cake that has nuts; students stand if that can be left out and stay seated if it can't.

Liked it?

Teach the whole lesson in edio

46 exercises in 6 chapters, ready to teach. edio is an online platform for language schools and teachers: ready-made interactive lessons, live classes, homework and student progress in one place.

Start a free trial
7 days, no credit card.
Open the lesson
Find it in the library of 621 ready lessons. Teach it as it is, or copy any chapter into your own lessons.
Teach it live or as homework
Students work in their own accounts, in sync with you during the lesson, and the practice exercises check themselves.

Teach it free for 7 days

The whole course: English Grammar Practice · B1

English Grammar Practice · B1 has 28 drill lessons, one grammar point each: the present perfect continuous, narrative tenses, future forms, modals of deduction, the second conditional, the passive, relative clauses, reported speech, question tags and linkers. Each has the rule as a scheme, 43 to 47 exercises that check themselves, 15 of them for homework, and no new words.See the course

Unlock full lesson