UNIT 93 Relative clauses (3)--whose/whom/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 man whose car you borrowed? (you borrowed his car)

* A few days ago I met someone whose brother I went to school with. J went to school with his/her brother)

Compare who and whose:

* I met a man who knows you. (be knows you)

* I met a man whose sister knows you. (his sister knows you)

B. Whom

Whom is possible instead of who when it is the object of the verb in the relative clause (like the sentences in Unit 92B):

* The woman whom I wanted to see was away on holiday. (I wanted to see her)

You can also use whom with a preposition (to whom/from whom/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 usually prefer who or that, or nothing (see Unit 92). So we usually say:

* The man I saw. or The man who/that I saw.

* The woman he fell in love with. or The woman who/that he fell in love with.

For whom see also Units 94-95.

C. Where

You can use where in a relative clause to talk about a place:

the hotel--we stayed [there]--wasn't very clean

-> The hotel [there] we stayed wasn't very clean.

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

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

D. We say:

the day/the year/the time(etc.) something happens or the day/the year/the time(etc.) that something happens

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

* The last time (that) I saw her, she looked very well.

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

E. We say:

the reason something happens or the reason that/why something happens

* The reason I'm phoning you is to invite you to a party. (or The reason that I'm phoning.../The reason why I'm phoning...)