{"id":1785,"date":"2015-05-21T09:00:50","date_gmt":"2015-05-21T16:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?p=1785"},"modified":"2020-12-10T13:45:54","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T21:45:54","slug":"hard-relativizers-that-which-who-and-whom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/hard-relativizers-that-which-who-and-whom\/","title":{"rendered":"Hard Relativizers: That, Which, Who, and Whom"},"content":{"rendered":"

In my last post on this subject<\/a>, I gave you an overview of relativizers<\/em>, words that add extra information about a noun in a sentence. That, which, who, <\/em>and whom<\/em> can be especially tricky relativizers. Sometimes, that<\/em> and which<\/em> have the same meaning and use. At other times, these two relativizers are used very differently. The same goes for who<\/em> and whom<\/em>. Below, we\u2019ll look at these two pairs of relativizers, and see exactly how they should be used.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Difference Between \u201cThat\u201d and \u201cWhich\u201d as Relativizers<\/h2>\n

\u201cThat\u201d as a categorizer: <\/em><\/strong>\u201cThat\u201d can ONLY be used to categorize a noun. <\/em><\/p>\n

Examples:<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

1) Don\u2019t buy a car that doesn\u2019t have a warranty. (\u201cThat\u201d is used to categorize \u201ccar\u201d into a group of cars that don\u2019t have warranties.)<\/em><\/p>\n

2) Let\u2019s go to the restaurant that serves 100 different kinds of cheese. (\u201cThat\u201d categorizes the restaurant into a one-item category— a unique restaurant that serves 100 different kinds of cheese.)<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhich\u201d as a specifier:<\/em><\/strong>\u201cWhich\u201d can be used to add specific information to a noun. When \u201cwhich\u201d is used in this way, it nearly always appears in an intervening clause<\/strong>, a clause that appears in the middle of a sentence and has a comma at its beginning and end. <\/em><\/p>\n

Examples:<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

1) Grapes, which can be either red or green, are a kind of fruit. (\u201cWhich\u201d is used to add extra information about color to the word \u201cgrapes.\u201d)<\/em><\/p>\n

2) The telescope, through which you can view stars, is on the table near the window. (\u201cWhich\u201d is used to add extra information about the use of \u201cthe telescope.)<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhich\u201d as a categorizer: <\/em><\/strong>\u201cWhich\u201d can also be used to categorize a noun rather than add information. However, this only works if \u201cwhich\u201d is in a prepositional phrase. <\/em><\/p>\n

Examples:<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

1) This is a hole through which mice are getting into the house. (\u201cWhich\u201d is used to categorize \u201chole\u201d into a group of holes that mice use to enter a house.)<\/em><\/p>\n

2) Her boyfriend is the person in which she most often confides. (\u201cWhich\u201d is used to categorize the noun \u201cperson\u201d into a category of one— the category of the single person who she confides in most.)<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhich\u201d and \u201cthat\u201d in very similar sentences:<\/em><\/strong> Sometimes \u201cwhich\u201d and \u201cthat\u201d can be used in sentences that are otherwise identical. In this case, the sentences have similar but slightly different meanings. <\/em><\/p>\n

Examples:<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

1) The picture, which hangs on my kitchen wall, is a Pablo Picasso original paining. (This means that there is a Pablo Picasso painting hanging on your kitchen wall, and there may be other paintings hanging on your kitchen wall as well.)<\/em><\/p>\n

2) The picture that hangs on my kitchen wall is a Pablo Picasso original. (This means there is only one picture hanging on your kitchen wall, and it\u2019s a Pablo Picasso original.)<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The difference between \u201cwho\u201d and \u201cwhom\u201d as relativizers<\/h2>\n

\u201cWho\u201d as a the subject of a sentence or clause:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cWho\u201d may be the subject of a sentence or clause. (\u201cWhom\u201d may NOT be the subject of a sentence or clause.) <\/em><\/p>\n

Examples:<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

1) Who said that? (\u201cWho\u201d is the subject of the question.)<\/em><\/p>\n

2) Go talk to the person who is knocking at the door. (\u201cWho\u201d is the subject of the clause \u201cwho is knocking at the door.\u201d)<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWho\u201d and \u201cwhom\u201d as objects of sentences or clauses:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cWho\u201d and \u201cWhom\u201d may both be used as objects of sentences. When \u201cwhom\u201d is used as an object, the tone of the sentence will seem more formal. <\/em><\/p>\n

Examples:<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

1) Informal: <\/em>Who did he see? OR Formal: <\/em>Whom did he see? (\u201cWho\/Whom\u201d is considered to be object of the question, because the answer<\/strong> to the question word \u201cwho\u201d would be the object of a sentence. Possible answers include \u201cHe saw his supervisor,\u201d or \u201cHe saw nobody.\u201d)<\/em><\/p>\n

2) Informal:<\/em> That woman is the person who he saw. OR Formal:<\/em> That woman is the person whom he saw. (\u201cWho\/Whom\u201d indicates the object of the verb \u201csaw.\u201d)<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhom\u201d as a prepositional object:<\/em><\/strong> In a prepositional phrase, you must use \u201cwhom\u201d and not \u201cwho.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

Examples:<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

1) Professor Dawkins, in whom many people trust, is a respected authority on environmental science.<\/p>\n

2) I am the student with whom Professor Dawkins met this morning.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In my last post on this subject, I gave you an overview of relativizers, words that add extra information about a noun in a sentence. That, which, who, and whom can be especially tricky relativizers. Sometimes, that and which have the same meaning and use. At other times, these two relativizers are used very differently. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13603],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[13630],"class_list":["post-1785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grammar"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHard Relativizers: That, Which, Who, and Whom - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/hard-relativizers-that-which-who-and-whom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hard Relativizers: That, Which, Who, and Whom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In my last post on this subject, I gave you an overview of relativizers, words that add extra information about a noun in a sentence. 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Additionally, he's helped students with TOEIC, PET, FCE, BULATS, Eiken, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT. David has a BS and MA from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/david-recine\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCra3KQoJlOP7RYwaCyH2qew"],"knowsAbout":["TOEFL","IELTS","TOEIC","PET","FCE","BULATS","Eiken","SAT","ACT","GRE","GMAT"],"knowsLanguage":["English","Italian"],"jobTitle":"Content Creator","worksFor":"Magoosh","url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/author\/davidr\/"}]}},"authors":[{"term_id":13630,"user_id":80,"is_guest":0,"slug":"davidr","display_name":"David Recine","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b70c17ee6f3ef87dc4cc5dbdebda911d6dd30dfe15845e4b1d459a3e1b33ef98?s=96&d=mm&r=g","user_url":"","last_name":"Recine","first_name":"David","description":"David is a Test Prep Expert for Magoosh TOEFL and IELTS. Additionally, he's helped students with TOEIC, PET, FCE, BULATS, Eiken, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT.\r\n\r\nDavid has a BS from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. His work at Magoosh has been cited in<a href=\"https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C50&q=Recine+magoosh&btnG=\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> many scholarly articles<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/minds.wisconsin.edu\/handle\/1793\/65479\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> his Master's Thesis<\/a> is featured on the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.readingwithpictures.org\/2013\/09\/research-highlight-teaching-english-language-learners-with-comics\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Reading with Pictures<\/a> website, and he's presented at the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.witesol.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/2014-WITESOL-Program-FINAL-10-28-14.pdf\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> WITESOL (link to PDF)<\/a> and<a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/interoff\/docs\/nafsaregionv_2014conference\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> NAFSA<\/a> conferences. David has taught K-12 ESL in South Korea as well as undergraduate English and MBA-level business English at American universities. He has also trained English teachers in America, Italy, and Peru.\r\n\r\nCome join David and the Magoosh team on<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCra3KQoJlOP7RYwaCyH2qew\"> Youtube<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning\"> Facebook<\/a>, and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/magooshenglish\/?hl=en\"> Instagram<\/a>, or connect with him via<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/david-recine\/\"> LinkedIn<\/a>!"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/80"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1785"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1785\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1785"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=1785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}