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	> Similar tests: - Placement test : grammar for beginners - This / That / These / Those - Relative pronouns: Who/whose/whom/which/of which - Relative pronoun - Who's... / Whose... - Relative pronouns - What, which and all that - Relative Pronouns-That or Who
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Relative pronoun That

The relative pronoun 'that' seems easy to use, and yet its use can sometimes be problematic.

-> that can be used in place of other relative pronouns.

-> that can sometimes be omitted.

The relative pronoun 'that' is required after certain words such as:

-> everything, anything, nothing, the thing

-> only, all

-> superlatives

 To understand how to use relative pronouns, it is necessary to understand the notion of essential and non-essential clauses.

An essential relative clause is one that is essential for the understanding of the sentence.

Compare :

a) The men who/that are working here are scientists.

If you omit who/that are working here you have the sentence: the men are scientists, which doesn't make any sense by itself, so this relative is essential.

b) The man named Henry, who is working here, is a scientist.

If you omit who is working here you have the sentence: the man named Henry is a scientist,  which makes sense on its own, so this relative is non-essential.

When a relative pronoun 'that'/'who' is essential to the understanding of the sentence, you can use either that or who.

The boy that gave you this book yesterday is my cousin.

The boy who gave you this book yesterday is my cousin.

-> The two phrases that / who gave you this book yesterday are essential to the sentence

     The red-haired boy, who is laughing, is my cousin.

-> The clause who is laughing is not essential, it doesn't add anything. In this case, you cannot use 'that'.

In the 3 examples below, there are definining clauses. You can use "whom", "that" or omit it entirely:

The girl whom he met last week  is very nice. (defining clause)

The girl that he met last week is very nice. (defining clause)

The girl he met last week is very nice. (defining clause)

 Whereas :

The old lady, whom you saw yesterday, was a famous actress. (non-defining clause)

His new computer, which he bought last week, is very expensive. (non-defining clause)

In the two examples above, the relative clauses are non-defining. We can't omit the relative pronoun and we can't use "that".

Let's go to the exercise!

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1. This is the only film whothatwhichI don't know scares me.

2. This handsome man, thatwhowhomI don't know drives the red car, is my boss.

3. This is the most gorgeous evening whomthatwhichI don't know I could spend with him!

4. He can guess everything whothatwhichI don't know you are thinking.

5. When I see Mike next Monday I'll tell him all whichthatwhatI don't know I think of him.

6. The house whothatwhichI don't know has such a beautiful garden is my son's.

7. Mrs Smith, thatwhowhichI don't know is very rich, has bought a castle.

8. Sorry, I can't give you the only thing whomwhichthatI don't know I haven't got.

9. Oh, Tommy, this is the best idea thatwhichwhomI don't know you've ever had!

10. His old car, whichwhomthatI don't know is being repaired, will soon be mine.