IXL | Use relative pronouns: who and whom

Complete the sentence with the best relative pronoun.

In 1957, musician Louis Armstrong canceled a U.S. government–sponsored trip to the Soviet Union to show support for nine African American students iiiiiiiiiiiiifnn national guardsmen had blocked from entering an all-white high school in Arkansas.

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question

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.

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 a person. You can restate the dependent clause with the subject pronoun he, so use the relative pronoun who.

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

The dependent clause can be restated as "He later became an astronaut."

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Not feeling ready yet? These can help:

II.1Choose between subject and object pronouns

II.9Use relative pronouns: who and whom

II.8Identify relative pronouns

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