Relative clauses (3)

UNIT 86 Relative clauses (3) whose, Relative whom and where

A.   Whose
We use whose in relative clauses instead of  his/her/their:
                               
we saw some people  their car had broken down
                                          ||
We saw some people whose car had broken down.

We use whose mostly for people:

• A widow is a woman whose husband is dead. (her husband is dead)

• What's the name of the girl whose car you borrowed? (you borrowed her car)

• The other day Imet someone whose brother I went to school with. (I went to school with his brother)

B.   Whom is possible instead of who (or people) when it is the object of the verb in the relative clause:

• The man whom I wanted to see was away on vacation. (I wanted to see him)

You can also use whom with a preposition (to/from/with whom, etc.)

• The woman with whom he fell in love left him after a few weeks. (he fell in love with her)

But we do not often use Whom. In spoken English we normally prefer who or that.

• The man (who/that) I wanted to see . . .

• The woman (who/that) he fell in love with . . .                       

C.   Where
You can use where in a relative clause to talk about places:

the hotel - we stayed there - wasn't very clean
                                         ||
The hotel                  (where) we stayed wasn't very clean.

• I recently went back to the town where I was born. (or the town (that) I was born in)

• I would like to live in a country where there is plenty of sunshine.

D.   We use that (or we leave it out) when we say the day/the year/the time, (etc.) that something happened:

• Do you still remember the day (that) we first met?

• The last time (that) Isaw her, she looked very well.

• I haven't seen them since the year (that) they got married.

E.   You can say the reason why something happens or the reason that something happens. You can also leave out why and that:

• The reason (why/that) I'm calling you is to invite you to a party.