Grammar basics
Relative pronouns
A relative pronoun joins two ideas into one sentence. It gives more information about a noun: who, which, that, whose, whom.
Join two sentences
I have a friend. My friend teaches English.
I have a friend who teaches English.
Which one should I use?
| Relative pronoun | Use it for | Example |
|---|---|---|
| who | people | the man who lives next door |
| which | things and animals | the app which I built |
| that | people or things | the book that I like |
| whose | the owner of something | the girl whose cat is lost |
| whom | people (formal, after a verb) | the person whom I met |
Thai uses ที่ for all of them
In Thai, ที่ works for people and things. In English, you choose: who for people, which for things, and that for both. If you are not sure, that is usually safe.
Who
Use it to give more information about a person.
I have a friend who teaches English.
Which
Use it to give more information about a thing or an animal.
This is the app which I built last month.
That
Use it for people or things. It is very common in spoken English.
This is the book that changed my life.
Whose
Use it to show who owns something.
I met a developer whose app has a million users.
Whom
A formal word for who after a verb or a preposition. In speaking, most people just say who.
The person whom I met yesterday is a designer.