the subject of a relative clause: The man who phoned a moment ago wanted to speak to Susan.
the object of a relative clause:
The second-hand car which Paul bought last year has not broken down yet.
The relative pronoun can be omitted
when it is the object of a defining relative clause:
The second hand car
(that / which) Paul bought last year has not broken down yet.
the complement of a preposition: The boy with whom Jenny goes out is a very good
sportsman.
The preposition can be put at the end of the relative clause
and then you can use who instead of whom. If there is a time
adverb / time expression, the preposition is placed before the time adverb: June,
who Peter has gone out with for three months, is very nice.
- If it is a defining relative clause, you
can omit the relative pronoun:
The boy who Jenny goes out with
is a very good sportsman.
The boy Jenny goes out with is a very
good sportsman.