Page 200 - English Grammar in Use

Unit
94 Relative clauses 3: whose/whom/where

A whose
Study this example situation:

When we were driving home, we saw some people standing by the
road. Their car had broken down, so we stopped to help them.

We helped some people whose car had broken down.
(= their car had broken down)

We use whose mostly for people:
A widow is a woman whose husband is dead.
(her husband is dead)
I met someone whose brother I went to school with.
(I went to school with his/her brother)
Compare 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)
Do not confuse whose and who’s. The pronunciation is the same, but who’s = who is or who has:
I have a friend who’s learning Arabic. (who’s = who is)
I have a friend who’s just started learning Arabic. (who’s = who has)
I have a friend whose sister is learning Arabic.

B whom
Whom is possible instead of who when it is the object of the verb (see Unit 93B):
George is a person whom I admire very much. (I admire him)

You can also use a preposition + whom (to whom / from whom / with whom etc.):
It’s important to have friends with whom you can relax. (you can relax with them)
Whom is a formal word and we do not often use it in spoken English. We usually prefer to say:

a person I admire a lot or a person who/that I admire a lot
friends you can relax with or friends who/that you can relax with

C where
We use where in a relative clause to talk about a place:
I recently went back to the town where I grew up. (I grew up there)
The restaurant where we had lunch was near the airport.
I would like to live in a place where there is plenty of sunshine.

D the day, the time, the reason …
We say ‘the day we got married’, ‘the year I was born’, ‘the last time they met’ etc. :
I can’t meet you on Friday. That’s the day I’m going away.
The last time I saw her, she looked great.
You can also use that:
The last time that I saw her, she looked great.
We say ‘the reason I’m calling you’, ‘the reason she didn’t get the job’ etc.
The reason I’m calling you is to ask your advice.
You can also use that:
The reason that I’m calling you … or The reason why I’m calling you …

188 Relative clauses 1–2 ➜ Units 92–93 Relative clauses 4–5 ➜ Units 95–96 whom ➜ Unit 96