Grammar: ✨ Grammar Essentials: 🧩 Parts of Speech & 🏗️ Sentence Structure (Advanced) (B2) - Lesson 2: Advanced Relative Pronouns: "whose," "whom"

✨ Lesson 2: Advanced Relative Pronouns - "whose" and "whom"

You have mastered using 'who' and 'which' in relative clauses. Today, we will add two more advanced relative pronouns¹ to your grammar toolkit: whose and whom. Using these correctly will make your English sound much more precise and formal².

Showing Possession with "whose"

We use whose to show possession³. It connects a person (or sometimes a thing) to something that belongs to them. It replaces possessive words like 'his', 'her', or 'their'.

Example Transformation:

Two Sentences: "I have a friend. His brother is a famous artist in Battambang."

Combined Sentence: "I have a friend whose brother is a famous artist in Battambang."

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Another Example: "She is the woman whose purse was stolen outside the market."

The Object Pronoun "whom"

This can be tricky, but it's important for formal writing. We use whom when the person is the object⁴ of the verb in the relative clause (i.e., they receive the action).

• who = subject (does the action): "The man who helped me was very kind."
• whom = object (receives the action): "The man whom I helped was very grateful."

In modern informal English, many people use 'who' for both. However, there is one situation where you MUST use 'whom'.

The Golden Rule: Preposition + "whom"

This is the most important rule to remember: When a preposition⁵ (like to, for, with, about, from) comes directly before the relative pronoun, you must use whom for people.

Correct: "The manager to whom I complained was very apologetic."
Incorrect: "The manager to who I complained..."

Correct: "This is my friend from Battambang, about whom I have told you so much."
Incorrect: "This is my friend... about who I have told you..."

🧠 Practice Quiz: Who, Whose, or Whom?

Choose the correct relative pronoun to complete each sentence.

1. That is the architect _______ designs are famous all over Cambodia.
   Answer: whose (The designs belong to the architect.)
2. The colleagues with _______ I work are very friendly.
   Answer: whom (It follows the preposition 'with'.)
3. She is the student _______ won the top prize in the competition.
   Answer: who (The student is the subject who 'won'.)
4. The man _______ car you borrowed is my uncle.
   Answer: whose (The car belongs to the man.)
5. The official to _______ you must submit the application is in that office.
   Answer: whom (It follows the preposition 'to'.)

📝 Homework: Combine the Sentences

Combine these pairs of sentences into one, more advanced sentence using 'whose' or 'whom'.

1. I have a neighbour. His dog barks all night long.
   Answer: I have a neighbour whose dog barks all night long.
2. The politician was very convincing. I listened to him on the radio.
   Answer: The politician to whom I listened on the radio was very convincing.
3. My parents are my biggest inspiration. I owe everything to them.
   Answer: My parents are my biggest inspiration, to whom I owe everything.

Vocabulary Glossary

1. Relative Pronoun: (Noun Phrase) - សព្វនាមភ្ជាប់ (sâp'vĕ'néam ph'choăp) - A pronoun (like who, which, whose) that introduces a relative clause. ↩
2. Formal: (Adjective) - ជាផ្លូវការ (chéa phlɨw'kaa) - Used in serious or official situations; not casual. ↩
3. Possession: (Noun) - កម្មសិទ្ធិ (kâm'mâ'sĭt) - The state of owning or having something. ↩
4. Object: (Noun) - កម្មបទ (kâm'mâ'bât) - In grammar, the noun that receives the action of the verb. ↩
5. Preposition: (Noun) - ធ្នាក់ (tneăk) - A word that connects a noun to another word (e.g., to, from, with, about). ↩