Relative Pronoun

Definition of Relative Pronoun
A relative pronoun is a type of pronoun that links the relative clause to every other clause in a sentence, and introduces the relative clause or an adjective clause. It typically acts as a subject of the relative clause. A relative pronoun can stand by myself as a topic or object of the sentence. The most commonplace relative pronouns are:

whom
whomever
whoever
whose
who
which
that
For instance, within the sentence “On the plus side, demise is one of the few matters that can be done simply as easily lying down” (The Early Essays, by Woody Allen), the word “that” is a relative pronoun.

Common Use of Relative Pronoun
This is a book that Anne has written.
“That Anne has written” is a relative clause, and the relative pronoun “that” has linked it to the primary clause.

The man who stands inside the center hits the car.
Here, the word “who” is a relative pronoun, that's serving as a subject of the verb “stands.” It also introduces the relative clause “stands inside the center,” which acts as an adjective that modifies “guy.”

I shall open whichever offers comes first.
Here, the word “whichever” is a relative clause that introduces the relative clause “whichever gives comes first.” This clause is functioning as a right away object of the compound verb “shall open.”

Whoever broke the pot will should bring a brand new one.
In this line, the word “whoever” works as a subject of the verb “broke.”

The boy whose hand turned into bruised in a cricket fit is my brother.
In this line, the word “boy” is a topic, “whose” is a relative pronoun, and they introduce the relative clause, “whose hand changed into bruised,” which modifies the problem “boy.”

Examples of Relative Pronoun in Literature
Example #1: The Man Who Disliked Cats (through P. G. Wodehouse)
“He became a Frenchman, a melancholy-searching guy. He had the arrival of 1 who has searched for the leak in life’s gas-pipe with a lighted candle; of 1 whom the clenched fist of Fate has smitten beneath the temperamental 0.33 waistcoat-button.”

In this example, there are relative pronouns underlined. The first, “who,” acts as a topic of the compound verb “has searched,” and the second, “whom,” one acts as an object of the challenge noun phrase “the clenched fist.”

Example #2: Farewell to Manzanar (with the aid of James D. Houston and Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston)
“The those who had it hardest during the primary few months had been younger couples, a lot of whom had married simply before the evacuation began, in order not to be separated and sent to one of a kind camps … All they had to use for room dividers were those army blankets, of which were barely sufficient to keep one character warm. They argued over whose blanket need to be sacrificed and later argued about noise at night.”

In this lengthy excerpt, the relative pronouns are:

who
whom
which
whose
First 3 relative pronouns (underlined) are performing as direct gadgets of the auxiliary verbs “had” and “had been.” The final relative pronoun is acting as an object of the noun “blanket.”

Example #3: Black Lamb and Grey Falcon: A Journey thru Yugoslavia (via Rebecca West)
“Franz Ferdinand would have long gone from Sarajevo untouched had it now not been for the moves of his staff, who with the aid of blunder after blunder contrived that his car need to be bogged down and that he need to be offered as a stationary target in front of Princip, the one conspirator of real and mature deliberation, who had completed his cup of coffee and turned into strolling back via the streets, aghast at the failure of himself and his friends …”

In this passage, the relative pronoun “who” provides more facts about the difficulty, “staff,” and modifies it. The second “who” acts as an object.

Example #4: The Great Gatsby (via F. Scott Fitzgerald)
“I had a dog – as a minimum I had him for a few days till he ran away – and an vintage Dodge and a Finnish woman, who made my bed and cooked breakfast and muttered Finnish understanding to herself over the electric stove.”

Here, the relative pronoun “who” is functioning as a subject of the verb “made.” It has brought a relative clause to complete the sense of the sentence.

Function
The basic characteristic of a relative pronoun is to introduce the relative clause, that's a “subordinate”, or “dependent,” clause. Without a relative pronoun, a relative clause can't exist. It additionally modifies a word, phrase, idea, or major clause. In addition, the relative pronoun plays five syntactic capabilities within a sentence. It can feature as a topic, an instantaneous item, a prepositional complement, a possessive determiner, or an adverbial phrase.

Reflexive Pronoun Semicolon