Ch 13 · Lesson 10English · Chapter 13 · Lesson 10 · Grammar primer
The book I read: leaving out who, which or that
When a new subject comes next, the relative word can go: the book (that) I read. When a verb comes next, it stays.
The short version
Drop the pronoun when a new subject follows
.
Why?Hide
In a defining clause you can leave out who, which or that when it is the object, which means when another subject comes straight after it. You cannot drop it when it is the subject, because nothing would be left to do the action. Look at the word right after the pronoun: a verb means it must stay.
Leaving out who, which or that
Look at the word after who, which or that. Is it a new subject (I, you, she, we)? Then you can leave the relative word out:
| With the word | Without |
|---|---|
| |
| |
Is it a verb? Then the word must stay:
The man called is my boss is wrong: who does the calling, so it stays. After a comma, the word always stays.
A clause can get shorter still: the man sitting by the door. That is on participle clauses.
Common mistakes
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| the man who he lives | the man who lives | . |
| the film I saw it | the film I saw | . |
| my car, that is red, | my car, which is red, | comma. |
| the teacher which... | the teacher who... | : . |
| who's bag | whose bag | : . |
| a car what I like | a car that I like | noun. |
What means the thing that, and it cannot follow a noun in standard English. It has its own job: What I need is time. See cleft sentences.
Going further: Who, which and that: people and things and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
Practice
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One question at a time, mixed across the exercises in this lesson. Miss one and it comes back round before the end.
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