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Relative clause with whose/whom/where. Part 3
1. 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:
What’s the name of the man whose car you borrowed?
She met someone whose brother she went to school with.
Compare two words: who and whose.
I met a man who knows you. (he knows you)
I met a man whose sister knows you. (his sister knows you)
2. Whom is also possible instead of who when it is the object of the verb in the relative clause.
The woman whom I wanted to see was away.
You may use whom with a preposition (to whom/from whom/with whom).
The people with whom I play golf are wonderful.
As for spoken English, we don’t use whom. We usually prefer who or that, or nothing.
The woman I wanted to see… or The woman who/that I wanted to see.
3. Where is used in a relative clause when you talk about a place.
I recently went back to the town where I grew up.
I would like to live in a place where there is a warm climate.
4. Useful phrases:
the day/the year/the time something happens or that something happens
Do you remember the day that we went to the zoo?
The last time (that) I saw her, she looked good.
5. Structure with ‘the reason’.
The reason (that/why) I’m phoning you is to ask about the project.
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