Pronouns: Interrogative + Relative

INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS

Questions (i.e., interrogative sentences) frequently begin with one of the following question pronouns:

which, whichever
what, whatever
who, whom
whoever, whomever

These same pronouns sometimes cause an inverted sentence order, in which the subject of the clause (underlined) comes after the verb:

Which is the correct window to enquire, and what should I ask about?

To answer "Which" and "what" above, you'd restore the sentence order, putting the subjects "window" and "I" before their predicates:

The correct window to enquire is [which?], and I should ask [about what?].The correct window to enquire is [Window B], and I should ask about [how to exchange my ticket].

Because of this, an interrogative pronoun should be placed on a sentence diagram wherever its antecedent would go in the response to the question. You just need to rephrase the interrogative sentence as though it were declarative sentence. (See "Sentence Moods" for more info.) If the interrogative pronoun is being used for the subject of the sentence, you won't see too much difference, but if it's used as an object of a verb or preposition, then you'll notice its position is inside the sentence:

As a Subject

Which makes better sense? [Declarative form: That makes better sense.]

Whoever said money can't buy happiness?
[Declarative form: He said [that] money can't buy happiness.]

As an Object

Whomever will he invite to his party?
[Declarative Form: "He will invite them to his party."]

According to Consumer's Reports, what (or, "which") is the best coffee-maker to buy?[Declarative Form: "According to Consumer's Reports, the best coffee-maker to buy is X ."]

WHO or WHOM?

The pronouns "who" and "whoever" follow the same rules of declension as "he" and "they." "He" and "they" change to "him" and "them" in the object case (especially after a preposition). Likewise, "who" and "whoever" are strictly subject (and predicate nominate) pronouns that change to "whom" and "whomever" in the object case. When you diagram these words, "who" and "whoever" should occur only in the role of the subject, never in the role of an object. If you're uncertain, try substituting pronouns "he" or "they." Take, for example the following three questions:

Who do you know?
Whoever will she hire?
To who does this belong?

It would sound intuitively wrong to rephrase them, "Do you know he?" and "Will she hire they?" and "Does this belong to he?" because the subject pronouns in these sentences,"he" and "they," should really be the object pronouns "him" and "them." For this reason,we know that "who" and "whoever" in these examples are also wrong and should be object pronouns: "whom" and "whomever.

"Whom do you know?
Whomever will she hire?
To whom does this belong?

RELATIVE PRONOUNS

To understand relative pronouns, you first have to understand the concept of an appositive phrase. When something is apposite to something else, it's side-by-side with it, rather than "opposite" (across from it). An appositive noun or appositive noun phrase is a noun side-by-side with another nouns, in a way that renames it, or adds more detail to another nouns. See "Noun Phrases and Clauses" for more information.

The relative pronouns are used in relative clauses that behave exactly the same way as appositive phrases. The only difference is that clauses have subjects and predicates, and phrases do not. The relative pronouns are

• that*

• who, whom (for whom, with whom, by whom, etc.)

• what, whatever

• which*, whichever

• whoever, whomever

You'll note these are exactly the same as the Interrogative Pronouns with the exception of the pronoun "that." Relative Pronouns set themselves apart from Interrogative Pronouns in that they don't create questions. Rather, a relative pronoun begins a relative clause, a dependent adjective clause that relates to an antecedent noun by identifying it with more detail, sometimes even renaming it. In this regard, relative clauses are a lot like a long form of an appositive. Consider the two following sentences:

Candice, a dental technician by day, volunteers at night at a shelter for homeless youth.

Candice, who is a dental technician by day, volunteers at night at a shelter for homeless youth.

In the first sentence, "a dental technician by day" is an appositive phrase renaming "Candice" and would sit side-by-side with the subject on the diagram (but in parentheses). In the second sentence, "who is a dental technician" is a full relative clause: "who" is the subject, and "is" provides the verb (a linking verb, in this case). The pronoun "who" connects to, or relates to, the word "Candice"; hence, it is a relative clause. This is how the sentence would look diagrammed:

Be careful not to confuse relative clauses with noun clauses. Relative clauses always have an antecedent somewhere in the sentence, regardless of whether it's a subject or an object. Noun clauses are the antecedents. Consider, for instance, the following sentences:

• A. Candice believes [that] volunteerism feeds her spirit.
• B. Candice believes an ethical principle that feeds her spirit.
• C. Candice believes volunteerism is an ethical principle that feeds her spirit.

In the Sentence A, "[that] volunteerism feeds the spirit" is a noun clause. ("That" is a noun clause marker, a hybrid of the demonstrative pronoun "that" and that subordinating conjunction "that".) We know it's a noun clause because it points us to an answer to the question, "WHAT does Candice believe?": "Candice believes that."

In Sentence B, a relative clause begins with the word "that," a relative pronoun standing in for the noun "principle." It answers the question "WHICH principle?"—exactly the way an appositive would rename another noun.

Sentence C combines A and B, making the antecedent noun "principle" the predicate nominative of a noun clause using the linking verb "is."

The difference in how these three are diagrammed helps to explain how they are conceptually different:

That gets confusing!

English is a strange language sometimes. Consider, for instance, the following sentence is grammatically correct and meaningful:

It’s really that important to know that that “that” means “that which is not this” and that that other “that” means something other than that.

The word "that" has many meanings and serves as different parts of speech, including

• demonstrative adjective: that/this [e.g. "it's that important person you know")
• demonstrative pronoun: this, that; these, those (E.g., ". . . even if that means"; "That means . . .")
• adverb: so, this, that, very (e.g., "it's that important to any person you know")
• subordinating conjunction: when, if, as, while, though, that, etc. (e.g.., "in hopes that you become an important person . . . ")

Which is it?

You've probably debated as to whether or not "that" and "which" are interchangeable, or you've heard teachers argue the issue. You may have tried it, yourself, and become confused when your word processor's grammar-check underlines the word "which" for no apparent reason. There is, indeed, a good reason. "That" and "which" are not always interchangeable. As relative pronouns, "that" is used when the antecedent is a single noun or noun phrase, and "which" is used when the antecedent is an entire clause:

• A. Candice volunteers at a shelter that helps a group of homeless youth that feeds her spirit.
• B. Candice volunteers at a shelter that helps a group of homeless youth, which feeds her spirit.

These two sentences are identical except for "which" and "that"; however, the difference in meaning is radical. Sentence A states that the group of homeless youth feeds Candice's spirit. Sentence B states that the activity of volunteering at a shelter feeds Candice's spirit. Notice the comma comes before the pronoun "which" but not before the pronoun "that."

Diagramming the two should help to demonstrate the difference in semantic meaning:

Perhaps the easiest way to distinguish “that” from “which” when they are used as relative pronouns is to examine what questions they answer within the sentence.

Because “that” further describes a noun, it answers the question “Which?” or “What kind?”

Because "which" further describes a clause, it answers the question “To what outcome?” or “For what purpose?” “Which” here actually means "all of which." It’s frequently used in the following ways to introduce a logical premise or to summarize an outcome:

• the effect of which
• the result of which
• the cause of which
• the ramifications of which
• the implications of which
• the importance of which
• the suggestion of which
• the conclusions from which
• etc.