Relative clauses with prepositions

1. A relative pronoun (e.g. that) can be the object of a preposition (e.g. for):

e.g. This is the bus that I’ve been waiting for. (= I’ve been waiting for the bus)

e.g. The restaurant that we normally go to is closed today. (= We normally go to

the restaurant)

e.g. That’s the town that he was born in. (= He was born in that town)

2. The relative pronoun is often left out when it is the object of a preposition:

e.g. The bus that I’m waiting for is late.  The bus I’m waiting for is late.

e.g. The people that I stayed with were very kind.  The people I stayed with were very kind.

3. Typical of formal English is the use of preposition at the beginning if the relative clause before which or whom:

e.g. Was that the restaurant to which you normally go?

e.g. Electronics is a subject about which I know very little.

e.g. The Sales Manager is the person from whom I obtained the figures.

But we cannot put a preposition before that or who:

e.g. It is the subject (that) I know little about. (not: It is the subject about that I know.)

e.g. The person (who) I got the figures from. (not: the person from who I got the figures.)

4. We can use all of/ most of etc. + whom/which:

e.g. Mary has three brothers. All of them are married.  Mary has three brother all of whom are married.

e.g. They asked me a lot of questions. I couldn’t answer most of them.  They asked me a lot of questions, most of which I couldn’t answer.

5 . In the same way we can say:

None of/ neither of/ any of/ either of

Some of/ many of/ much of/ (a) few of + whom (people)/ which (things)

Both of / half of/ each of/ one of/ two of, etc.

e.g. Martin tried on three jackets, none of which fitted him.

e.g. Two men, either of whom I had seen before, came into the office.

Exercises

1. Make up sentences using a relative clause with a preposition at the end.

e.g. Mark has been looking for this letter.  This is the letter I’ve been looking for.

1. Rachel was talking about that film. 2. Laura has decided on this wallpaper. 3. David fell down those steps. 4. I was telling you about my friend Jack from Canada. 5. I’ve never been to this museum before. 6. My mother, after whom I looked for over twenty years, died last year. 7. Mark is married to this lady. 8. I don’t know anything about those people. 9. They climbed up the rock, from which they got a good view. 10. I would like to that my teacher, without whom I would never have finished the work. 11. She has now moved back to the house on Long Island in which she was born. 12. The star is to be named after Patrick Jenks, by whom it was discovered. 13. He grew up in this house. 14. He had many friends with whom he had a regular correspondence.