Relative Clauses with Prepositions: Who and Whom

Relative Clauses with Prepositions

• Who is used as the subject of the relative clause, e.g., "The student who is sitting in the front row is my friend."
• Whom is used as the object of the relative clause or as the object of a preposition, e.g., "The student whom the teacher praised is very happy."
• To decide between who and whom, replace with he/him in the sentence: if he sounds correct, use who; if him sounds correct, use whom
• Whom can also be used as the object of a preposition, e.g., "The student with whom I am studying is very smart."

Which/That

• That is used for essential clauses (providing essential information), e.g., "This is the book that I recommended."
• Which is used for non-essential clauses (providing additional information), e.g., "This is the book, which I borrowed from the library."
• That is often used with superlatives, e.g., "The city that I love is Paris."
• Which is often used with prepositions, e.g., "The city in which I live is very big."
• Note: In formal writing, that is generally preferred for essential clauses, but in informal writing and spoken English, which is often used instead of that.

Relative Clauses with Prepositions

At Which

• Use "at which" to refer to a specific point or place
• Examples:
  • The hotel is the place at which we will be staying
  • The conference is the event at which we will be presenting our research

In Which

• Use "in which" to refer to a specific situation or circumstance
• Examples:
  • The project is the one in which we invested the most money
  • The year is the one in which the company experienced its biggest growth

From Whom

• Use "from whom" to refer to the person who gives or provides something
• Examples:
  • The teacher is the person from whom I learned the most
  • The company is the one from whom we received the donation

For Whom

• Use "for whom" to refer to the person who benefits or receives something
• Examples:
  • The gift is for the person for whom it was intended
  • The charity is the one for whom we are raising money

With Whom

• Use "with whom" to refer to the person with whom you do something or have a relationship
• Examples:
  • The colleague is the person with whom I worked on the project
  • The friend is the one with whom I went to the movies

General Tips

• Remember to use the correct preposition depending on the context and meaning of the sentence
• Pay attention to the word order and grammar when using relative clauses with prepositions
• Practice using these constructions in different sentences to improve your fluency and accuracy