Relative clauses: whose, whom, prepositions
Use relative clauses with prepositions, whom, whose, quantifiers (some of whom) and which to comment on whole ideas.
In this lesson you will
- Use prepositions with relative pronouns
- Use whom and quantifier + of whom/which
- Reduce relative clauses
Learn
Prepositions: informal — preposition at the end: the person I spoke to*; formal — preposition before whom/which: the person to whom I spoke; the project on which we worked. (Never to who* or to that.)
whom is the formal object form for people, mainly after prepositions: the candidate with whom* we were most impressed*.
Quantifier + of whom / of which in non-defining clauses: She has three brothers, all of whom* live abroad. We tried five hotels, none of which had rooms.*
Reduced clauses: the man (who is) standing there → the man standing there; the report (which was) published yesterday → the report published yesterday.
Examples
- This is the book about which I told you.
- The students, most of whom were tired, left early.
- The woman whose car was damaged called the police.
- People living near the airport complain about noise.
Vocabulary
whom
formal object pronoun for people
impressed
admiring someone
reduced clause
a shortened relative clause
candidate
a person applying for a job
damaged
harmed, broken
Practice
The colleague ___ I share an office is very quiet. (formal)
Speaking
Describe your family, colleagues or classmates using quantifiers (most of whom, some of whom), and describe objects with prepositional relative clauses.
Writing
Write a formal paragraph (120–150 words) describing an organisation or team, using whom, whose, quantifier + of whom/which and reduced clauses.
Lesson quiz
The topic ___ I wrote my thesis was climate policy.
Review
Key points
- Preposition + whom/which (formal) or at the end (informal).
- all/most/none of whom/which.
- Reduced clauses with -ing and past participles.
What you learned
- ✓ I can use advanced relative clauses.
- ✓ I use whom correctly.
- ✓ I can reduce clauses.
Grammar reference: Relative clauses: who, which, that, where, whose