Helo

Question

when we can omit relative prnoun ( witch , who , that ) and when we can not ?

Cool Breeze · Accepted Answer

1. A relative pronoun can be omitted if it is the object beginning a defining/restrictive relative clause:

He is the man [that/who/whom] I want to see.

Is this the car [that/which] you bought last week?

But: He is the man that/who wants to see me. (The relative is the subject.)

2. A relative pronoun can be omitted in a defining/restrictive relative clause if a preposition is at the end of the clause:

This is the house [that/which] he lives in.

Those two men are the ones [that/who/whom] I came with.

But:

This is the house in which he lives.

Those two men are the ones with whom I came.

3. Some authors occasionally leave out a relative even when it is the subject, but I don't recommend this usage to the average user of English. Grammarians have varying opinions about the correctness of this usage:

There's somebody [that/who] wants to see you at the door.

CB

Helo

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