Defining relative clauses – who, which, that, where

Defining relative clauses

 
We use defining relative clauses to specify which person, thing or place we are talking about.
 

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who, which, where

 
We use who for people.

• He met the police officer who saved his life.

We use which for things and animals.

• He put on the suit which he wore for special occasions.

We use where for places.

• This is the hotel where we spent our honeymoon.

that

 
We can use that instead of who or which. But we often use who for people and which/that for things.

• He’s the neighbour who/that helped us to move out.
• Change the cable which/that connects the computer to the printer.

Be careful with these common mistakes!

 
We cannot use *what or an expression like *that he/she etc. in this type of relative clauses.

• That’s the student that/who I told you about. (NOT the student what I told you about)
• That’s the man that/who tried to steal my wallet. (NOT the man that he tried to steal my wallet.)