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Primary English · Year 5Chapter 4 · Relative clauses and adverbials of time, place and cause
Year 5 English · Relative clauses and adverbials of time, place and cause · Lesson 4.1

Year 5 English: Relative pronouns: who, which and that

Part of the Year 5 English relative clauses and adverbials of time, place and cause chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page

4.1

Relative pronouns: who, which and that

Year 5
Use relative clauses beginning with who, which and that (G5-1, TM-Y5a)
Story. Maya is writing about her street. She wants to tell the reader about the people and things on it. She writes, The woman who sells bread lives on the corner. Her sentence has two parts joined by the word who.

Key pattern

A relative clause gives extra information about a noun. It begins with a relative pronoun.

who is used for people: the girl who sang.

which is used for things: the kite which flew.

that can be used for people or things: the bag that I packed.

Key ideas

  • A relative clause adds information about the noun before it.
  • who is for people, which is for things, and that can be used for either.
  • A relative clause cannot stand alone as a sentence.
  • The relative pronoun is the word that joins the clause to the noun.
Worked example 4.1.1
Find the relative clause in The girl who sang the song lives next door.

Method. Find the word that joins the clause to the noun.

  1. Find the noun. The noun is girl.
    girl
  2. Find the relative pronoun. Who joins the extra information to girl.
    who
  3. Find the whole clause. The clause is who and the words that follow it.
    who sang the song
  4. Write the answer.
    who sang the song

Check. The relative clause is who sang the song. ✓

Worked example 4.1.2
Which relative pronoun is used for the noun kite: who or which?

Method. Kite is a thing, not a person.

  1. Decide if the noun is a person. A kite is a thing.
    thing
  2. Choose the pronoun. Which is used for things.
    which
  3. Write the answer.
    which

Check. The kite which flew high. ✓

Worked example 4.1.3
Write the relative pronoun in The river that runs past the school is wide.

Method. Look for the word that joins the clause to river.

  1. Find the noun. The noun is river.
    river
  2. Find the pronoun. That joins runs past the school to river.
    that
  3. Write the answer.
    that

Check. That is the relative pronoun. ✓

Exercise 4A  Practice: who, which and that

1
FWrite the relative clause in The boy who found the key was pleased.
2
FChoose who or which: The farmer ____ keeps the hens woke early.
3
FChoose who or which: The kite ____ Maya made flew high.
4
FWrite the relative pronoun in The shoes that I bought are blue.
5
FWrite the relative clause in The cat that sleeps by the fire is grey.
6
FWhich relative pronoun is used for people: who or which?
7
FWrite the relative pronoun in The painting which hangs in the hall is old.
8
PSFind the noun that the relative clause in The shop that sells maps is closed describes.
9
PSJoin these two sentences with who: The man has a red van. He lives next door.
10
PSJoin these two sentences with which: The book was on the table. It was mine.
11
RAli says who can be used for a dog in a sentence. Is he right? Explain.

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