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Relative pronouns
Relative pronouns are grammatical words used to link sentences in order to avoid the repeated information they involve.
When two sentences are linked by a relative pronoun, they form the combination of: main clause + relative clause.
e.g. * Police stopped the car. The car was driving fast.
* Police stopped the car that/which was driving fast.
Main clause: Police stopped the car
Relative clause: that/which was driving fast
Relative pronoun (a substitution to avoid repetition): that/which
We have different types or relative pronouns. Each type may substitute: a person, an animal, a thing, a place, a thing that belongs to someone, or a person who is related to someone else.
1- Relative pronouns substituting a person:
Who, that
e.g. * This is my father. My father works in the American embassy.
* This is my father who works in the American embassy.
* This is my father that works in the American embassy.
2- Relative pronouns substituting an animal :
That, which
e.g. * The dog was barking all the night. The dog didn't let me sleep adequately.
* The dog, that was barking all the night, didn't let me sleep adequately.
* The dog, which was barking all the night, didn't let me sleep adequately.
3- Relative pronouns substituting a thing:
That, which
e.g. * She has a book. Everybody was looking for that book.
* She has the book that everybody was looking for.
* She has the book which everybody was looking for.
4- Relative pronouns substituting a place:
Where
e.g. * I dream of going to Malaysia. In Malaysia there's coupling of urbanism and beauty of nature.
* I dream of going to Malaysia where coupling of urbanism and beauty of nature is there.
5- Relative pronouns substituting a thing that belongs to someone:
Whose
e.g. * I visited my sister. My sister's leg is broken.
* I visited my sister whose leg is broken.
6- Relative pronouns substituting a person who is related to someone else:
Whose
e.g. * He's a doctor. The brother of the doctor died of a mere flu.
* He's the doctor whose brother died of a mere flu.
The relative pronoun 'That' is complicated as we can't use it anywhere, but we have to use it after a superlative for instance.
Thus, it is not used very much in that test.
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