Skip to main content
English Step Up
B1 Intermediate
05

Relative Clauses

The person who called, the book that I read.

Visual Explanation

Noun + relative pronoun + clause

noun+who / which / that+clause

Examples

The woman who lives next door is a dentist.

I read the article that you recommended.

This is the cafe where we first met.

When to Use

who / that (people)
Use 'who' or 'that' for people: 'The colleague who helped me was very kind.'
which / that (things)
Use 'that' for things in everyday speech: 'The film that we watched was brilliant.' You can also drop the pronoun when it's the object: 'The film we watched was brilliant.' 'Which' is grammatically correct too, but sounds more formal.
where / when
Use 'where' for places and 'when' for times: 'The year when I graduated.'

Tip

You can drop 'who,' 'which,' or 'that' when they are the object: 'The book (that) I bought' is fine. But you cannot drop them when they are the subject: 'The man who called' — never 'The man called.'

Practice Exercises

  • Multiple Choice

    Read the prompt and pick the correct answer from four options. A good way to test recognition before producing language yourself.

    Coming soon

  • Fill in the Blanks

    Complete sentences by typing the missing word or phrase. Tests active recall and spelling accuracy.

    Coming soon

  • Scrambled Sentences

    Drag words into the correct order to form a grammatically correct sentence. Builds structural intuition.

    Coming soon