IXL | Use relative pronouns: who and whom

Complete the sentence with the best relative pronoun.

Guion S. Bluford was a pilot in the U.S. Air Force iiiiiiiiiiiiifnn later became an astronaut and, in 1983, was the first African American to travel in space aboard the space shuttle Challenger.

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question

Complete the sentence with the best relative pronoun.

In 1951, a federal judge ordered the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, iiiiiiiiiiiiifnn were convicted of passing secret information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union.

key idea

A relative pronoun introduces a relative clause that describes a noun or pronoun.

The relative pronouns who and whom give information about people.

To figure out whether to use who or whom, restate the relative clause with a personal pronoun. If the clause uses a subject pronoun (he, she, or they), use who. If the clause uses an object pronoun (him, her, or them), use whom.

The woman who lives next door grows tomatoes in her garden.

She lives next door.

Peter, whom you met yesterday, has four younger brothers.

You met him yesterday.

solution

The dependent clause gives information about people. You can restate the dependent clause with the subject pronoun they, so use the relative pronoun who.

In 1951, a federal judge ordered the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were convicted of passing secret information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union.

The dependent clause can be restated as "They were convicted of passing secret information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union."

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Work it out

Not feeling ready yet? These can help:

DD.1Identify and correct errors with subject and object pronouns

JJ.1Choose between subject and object pronouns

II.8Identify relative pronouns

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