Home Grammar Relative Clauses ExercisesThat, Whose, Where, When Exercises

That, Whose, Where, When Exercises

B1 Level

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Beyond who and which, English has several more relative pronouns for different situations. Use whose to show possession: "The girl whose bag was stolen went to the police" (the bag belongs to the girl). Use where for places: "This is the city where I was born." Use when for times: "Do you remember the day when we first met?" And that is a general pronoun that works in most defining clauses.

A common mistake is using who or which where you need whose, where, or when. "The city which I was born" is wrong — you need "where" because you are talking about a place. "The man who car is red" is wrong — you need "whose" because you are talking about possession (his car). For times, you can often use "that" or "when": "The day when we met" = "The day that we met" — both are correct. Choosing the right pronoun depends on whether you are describing a person, thing, place, time, or possession.

Quick Rule

that (general) / whose (possession) / where (places) / when (times)

1.I have a friend that speaks five languages. (that — general use for a person)
2.The boy whose father is a pilot wants to fly too. (whose — possession)
3.I remember the summer when I learnt to swim. (when — a time)
4.The dog that bit him belonged to our neighbour. (that — general use)
5.She doesn't like the town where she grew up. (where — negative sentence about a place)