Relative Pronouns

1. Introduce a subordinate clause (dependent clause—cannot stand alone, must be married to an independent CLAUSE) Relative Pronouns: THAT WHICH WHO WHOM WHOSE She is the lady who brings us cookies every Monday afternoon. The cat that ate your pet mouse is unfriendly. Relative Pronouns

2. Nominative case: who, whoever • Objective case: whom, whomever • The use of who or whom in a subordinate clause depends on how the pronoun functions in the clause Relative Pronouns

3. Use WHOM for indirect/direct objects or objects of the preposition; use WHO for the subject or predicate nominative WHO= used as a subjectWHOM= used as an object

4. 1. Use WHO when you could replace it with HE. • Ex: Who/m is standing by the gate? • You would say, He is standing by the gate; so who is correct. • Marvin wished he knew who/whom won. He knew is a clause; he won would be correct, so the correct pronoun is who. Informal methods of determining who/whom…

5. 2. Use WHOM when you could replace it with HIM. • Ex: To who/whom am I speaking? • Turn the sentence around to, I am speaking to who/whom. We would say, I am speaking to him, so whom would be correct. • Ex: Jacob wanted to know on who/m the prank was pulled. • Turn the sentence: The prank was pulled on who/m. You would say, him; correct answer=whom Who vs. Whom

6. 3. Use ever on the end of who/whom when who/whom fits in both clauses. • Ex: Give it to ________ asks for it first. We would say, Give it to him, or He asks for it first. So, who/whom fit into both clauses. he/him combination=whoever Him/him combination=whomever So answer for above example is WHOEVER. Whomever or whoever?

7. Ex: we will hire _________you recommend. • We would either say, We will hire him, or You recommend him. We know to use ever, and this time have a him/him combination Answer: We will hire whomever you recommend. Whomever or whoever?

8. Turn questions into a statement to determine the correct pronoun. • Ex: Who/m should I invite to the dance? • I should invite – her – to the dance. • Since the correct pronoun is her/him/them, WHOM is correct. What about questions?

9. Who/m should I ask to the dance? • Sarah hasn’t decided who/m should be appointed as her dance partner yet. • I am looking for a dance partner on who/m I can depend. • Jason is the dancer who/m will display his brilliant choreography at our ten-year reunion. Review