Relative pronoun  

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A relative pronoun marks a type of subordinate clause called a relative clause while also modifying the referent in the main clause of a sentence.

An example is the word that in the sentence "This is the house that Jack built." Here the relative pronoun that marked the relative clause "that Jack built," which modifies the noun house in the main sentence. That has an anaphoric relationship to its antecedent "house" in the main clause.

In English the following are the most common relative pronouns: which, that, whose, whoever, whomever, who and whom.

In linking a subordinate clause and a main clause, a relative pronoun functions similarly to a subordinating conjunction. Unlike a conjunction, however, a relative pronoun does not simply mark the subordinate (relative) clause, but also plays the role of a noun within that clause. For example, in the relative clause "that Jack built" given above, the pronoun "that" functions as the object of the verb "built." Compare this with "Jack built the house after he married," where the conjunction after marks the subordinate clause after he married, but does not play the role of any noun within that clause.

In relative clauses, relative pronouns take the number (singular or plural) and the person (first, second or third) of its antecedent.

For more information on the formation and uses of relative clauses—with and without relative pronouns—see Relative clause. For detailed information about relative clauses and relative pronouns in English, see English relative clause.

See also




Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Relative pronoun" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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