Questions tagged [relative-pronouns]
A "relative pronoun" is a pronoun referring to an earlier noun, sentence, or part of a sentence.
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"His teacher friend Sam helped me a lot." Is it grammatically correct?
Kindly suggest which sentence is most correct.
His teacher friend Sam helped me a lot.
His friend Sam, a teacher...
His friend Sam who is a teacher...
Which is the suitable construction?
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When & That difference
A man and a woman are talking on the phone:
I'm sorry, but can you please cancel my appointment for today?
Sure thing.
Is there another day when you can come in?
How about Saturday? The morning is ...
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A function of a relative pronoun
I knew that a relative pronoun functions a conjunction and a pronoun at the same time.
I wonder whether the following is correct or not.
The story is about Elsa, who has a magic power and whose ...
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Why is it ungrammatical to put the preposition at the end of the sentence in "preposition+relative pronoun" sentence?
This is my house which I live in.
This is my house in which I live.
What makes the first ungrammatical here? To me, a non-native speaker, both seem totally fine. Does the first one go against some ...
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3answers
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Present simple with "that" vs. a participle
I know the subordinate conjunction that is often omitted. Here are two sentences:
Select the course containing the exercises you want to repeat.
Select the course contains the exercises you want to ...
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2answers
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What does the "which" refer to in this sentence?
I'm an English learner struggling to decipher the following sentence:
To a medical student the final examinations are something like death: an unpleasant inevitability to be faced sooner or later, ...
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2answers
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What does the "which" refer to in this sentence?
I'm an English learner struggling to decipher the following sentence:
To a medical student the final examinations are something like death: an unpleasant inevitability to be faced sooner or later, one'...
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Can "who" function as a conjunction
My teacher told me that "who", in the following, functions as a conjunction.
The one who is teaching now is my brother
And functions as a relative pronoun in the following:
A man who ...
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"which called", "which is called", "which was called"
Which version is better to say? What's the difference among them? I would like to understand the best version for this sentence and also under what circumstances I may use "which called", &...
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Is it correct to say ... "is that when"?
Consider the following sentence:
One disadvantage of exams is that students feel really irritated if
they mess up one.
Is it correct if I change it to this one?
One disadvantage of exams is that ...
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People aren’t inanimate features of a building
For example, if you were afraid of standing on balconies, you would start on some lower floors and slowly work your way up(literally) to higher ones.
Facing your fears isn’t as easy or tidy when it ...
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Is "that" a conjunction or relative pronoun in the following sentence? [closed]
It comes as no surprise that Taiwan has the highest density of convenience stores in the world.
Is "that" a conjunction or relative pronoun in this sentence?
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Do we use preposition + whom and not preposition + who?
According to the Cambridge Dicitonary, in some formal styles, we place the preposition before whom.
Mr. Lee, to whom I spoke at the meeting, is very interested in our proposal
My question is, can we ...
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2answers
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What does the ‘that which’ mean here?
This is a paragraph from the English version of ‘Ich und Du’ by Martin Buber published by Bloomsbury on page 19. Can anyone tell me what do the ‘that’ and ‘it’ in ‘with that which meets it’ refer to?
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With whom I have a common class
Can I say "common class" in the context of being in the same class with someone?
Like "with whom I have Literature as a common class?"
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1answer
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by which or in which in this sentence?
I have read a weird selection question on preposition:
"September 30 is the day ___ which you must pay your bill".
The four given options are:
A.by. B.for C.with D.in
I cross the ...
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2answers
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Is "that" being used as a relative pronoun or conjunction in this sentence?
looking for some help on explaining the use of "that" in this sentence. Is it being used a relative pronoun or conjunction in this context?
There are so many hot springs that visitors can ...
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Omit relative pronoun
Is this acceptable:
The cat I see has a short tail.
Or is the “that” necessary
The cat that I see has a short tail.
I don’t know why, but in past tense it sounds to me as if it was ok. Like:
The ...
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2answers
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what does this who mean in this context?
The following sentence, who wander off the beaten track seems strange to me.
Does it mean 'The Internet is full of traps, so the people who seek information often wander off the beaten track?
Or does ...
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1answer
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Can "which" refer to a part of a sentence?
When he went to Japan to meet his friends, he bowed a little to them instead of having handshakes, which is the Japanese way of greeting people.
Is this sentence correct?
It seems that the "...
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1answer
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Is relative pronoun 'which' missing?
(1) This has caused a lot of damage to the environment. This damage leads to a loss of biodiversity.
(2) This has caused a lot of damage to the environment, which leads to a loss of biodiversity.
(3) ...
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2answers
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How to understand "for whom" structure in a sentence?
From a TED talk, starting at 2:11:
In the first, we have animals that display stereotyped, predictable behaviors towards their dead, and for whom much of what we understand about them comes from ...
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Is this relative pronoun correct here?
"And a number of twentieth-century writers have assumed, like Hanslick, that fixed pitches are among the defining features of music. Now it is true that in most of the world’s musical cultures, ...
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Can 'that' replace 'which' in this sentence?
Is which a non-identifying relative pronoun because of the preceding Pride and Prejudice?
Or, is it an identifying relative pronoun in the following first sentence? If so, it can be replaced with ...
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usage of demonstrative pronouns
I am writing an article. I have two sentences. The first sentence introduces a thesis. In the second sentence there is a reference to it. Should I use the relative pronoun "this" or "...
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"Percentage of time that.." vs "Percentage of time.."
Which one of the following is grammatically correct?
Percentage of time that the system will be available to the users
OR
Percentage of time, the system will be available to the users
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Should I use who or which? "a nurse is someone who/which always helps sick people." [duplicate]
Is it "a nurse is someone who always helps sick people." or " a nurse is someone which always helps sick people."?
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Doubts on the usage of the pronoun *which*
I have a few questions about the use of the pronoun which.
In the sentence:
A statistical model is a family of probability distributions of a random variable which is smoothly parametrized by a ...
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1answer
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When to skip which?
When can I skip the relative pronoun "which" in a sentence?
Let's take the following:
[...] Where along the long shore, which is full of white sands, the gloom of evening engulfs my heart.
...
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1answer
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Is the use of the pronoun "who" correct in the following sentence?
Sentence: "There was some doubt as to who the child's real father was."
I have a feeling I should use whom instead: "There was some doubt as to whom the child's real father was."
...
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1answer
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What does a relative pronoun refer to in the preceding sentence
Are both of these correct? I.e., can a relative pronoun refer to anything in the preceding sentence, or even earlier in the paragraph?
"Bob went to Costco to buy some bread. It was delicious.&...
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3answers
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"The Land That Time Forgot" - is it grammatical to omit "that"?
As I know, the relative pronoun can only be omitted when it is the object of the clause; when the relative pronoun is the subject of the clause, it cannot be omitted.
I try to understand whether the ...
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their or whose?
I'd like to know whether I should use "their" or "whose" in the following. And why should I use one over the other?
Those politicians, whose hands seem to be made to take bribes, ...
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One of usages of the verb "know": know object to V or know object V
They know the designs to work. vs 2. They know the designs work.
(quoted and varied from "previous designs that they know work")
Is there any difference between 1 and 2?
PS. I found this ...
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What does "that" indicate here? "data" or "range"
A less obvious drawback is the limited range of data that the experiment can generate.
I wonder what does "that" indicate here?
range
data
I think "that" is an objective case of ...
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3answers
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Does "it" refer to the bacterium or a desireable chemical?
What does the bold "it" in the italicized line refer to, the bacterium or a desirable chemical?
Anyway the sentence containing it evades me. What does the sentence mean?
A bacterium is so ...
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Question word(s), subject and verb of subordinate-clause in "Could you tell me which flight he will be on"
I'm trying to find subordinate-clauses' subjects and verbs, but there's something that confuses me:
For example when I'm looking for the question word, subject, and verb in:
"I don't know who ...
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Question on relative clause
I've been reading a online book where I saw this sentence:
Even though I'm living alone, just by looking at your lifestyle which everything has to be done perfectly, personally I wouldn't follow it ...
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Is "where" a relative pronoun or a subordinating conjunction in this sentence?
In this sentence is the word "where" a relative pronoun or a subordinating conjunction?
Every year, my school hosts a sports day where each group has a chance to win a great prize.
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Whoever/Whatever... + Relative pronoun + Clause?
From time to time, I see this type of sentence:
Whatever/However/Whoever... + Clause
Whoever wrote this should win a prize.
But aren't we supposed to put the relative pronoun that (or other relative ...
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1answer
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a story whose end
The speaker uses "whose end" rather than "the end of which", why? What rhetorical device does he apply? Since "who" refers usually to humans, I guess the device is ...
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2answers
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missing "his" before "tears" and "a couple of feet"
I have stumbled onto two sentences in my book and I wonder to know why there is missing "his" before "tears" and "a cople of feet". The texts are
Then, as he tried to ...
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1answer
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What does "whose" refer to in the sentence? Is it miswritten?
Below is a line from a JAPANTODAY news article.
The mini-series comprising six one-hour episodes will be based on a
screenplay supervised by Mark Goffman, whose was a writer for "The
West Wing&...
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1answer
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the woman whom I couldn't remember the name (of)?
I'm learning about relative pronouns, and I saw a sentence in my workbook as below:
He was talking with the woman the name of whom I couldn't remember.
I guess this sentence could be rewritten as ...
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1answer
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Can compound relative pronoun be omitted?
The sentence "we can do to keep them down is great", which I used the grammar webpage to check. The grammar webpage is showing it is correct. But I think the more correct sentence would be &...
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Concerning a preposition relative pronoun
use of an unspecified value, or other behavior where this International Standard provides
two or more possibilities and imposes no further requirements on which is chosen in any
instance
This ...
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"Prefer X ones over Y ones" vs. "Prefer X over Y ones"
Inside functions, prefer superlocal variables over local ones and local ones over global ones; outside functions, prefer global ones over superglobal ones.
Inside functions, prefer superlocal ...
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Omitting relative pronoun in a conditional clause
Though it's generally discouraged, this approach is acceptable in some rare cases.
Though generally discouraged, this approach is acceptable in some rare cases.
"it" in the first sentence ...
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What should I use, 'them' or 'those'?
What and why should I use to mean websites or organizations, 'them' or 'those'? Should I use those in every case, except if I'm indicating a group of persons?
Example Sentence: There are many ...
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'who' or 'whom'?
I'm learning relative pronoun and I'm using Cliffs Toefl as a reference book. As this book says, relative pronoun who should be followed by a verb and whom should be followed by a noun. According to ...
