These questions ask you to build or judge a relative clause in which a verb, adjective or noun needs a preposition. You decide where the preposition belongs and which relative form can follow it.
Build the clause in two passes
First reconstruct the simple statement behind the relative clause and keep its preposition: guests can stand on the balcony. The balcony becomes the antecedent, while on still expresses the relationship inside the clause. Next choose placement. You can strand it in the balcony which guests can stand on, or front it in the balcony on which guests can stand. Both constructions are standard; fronting usually sounds more formal.
| Signal | Method and tiny example |
|---|---|
| The antecedent is a thing and the preposition is fronted | Put the preposition before which: a shelf above which a lamp hangs. |
| The antecedent is a person and the preposition is fronted | Put the preposition before whom: a neighbour with whom I share a garden. |
| The preposition is stranded | Leave it in its normal place after the verb: the chair that I sat on. In a defining clause, which or that may be used for a thing, and an object marker may sometimes be omitted. |
| The clause identifies or adds information | Punctuate that meaning first. Fronting works in either type: Our roof, under which bats nest, needs repair. A non-defining clause still cannot use that. |
| The wording prescribes a register or position | Follow that frame exactly. Formal fronting and ordinary stranding can express the same relationship, so style alone does not make one more grammatical. |
A quick check is to place the antecedent back into the basic clause. If the result needs a preposition, keep that relationship once, decide whether it is fronted or stranded, and then choose the relative form permitted by that position.
Where the mistakes come from
- That is placed immediately after a fronted preposition. That can work when the preposition remains later in a defining clause, but it cannot follow the fronted preposition.
- Who is used after a fronted preposition for a person. The fronted formal pattern requires the object form whom, even though who is the ordinary subject form.
- A human relative form is chosen for a nonhuman antecedent. Decide what the antecedent denotes before choosing between whom and which.
- An extra personal pronoun repeats the antecedent inside the clause. The relative form already occupies the preposition's object role, so another word such as him creates two expressions for one participant.
- The preposition or the relative link is deleted to avoid the placement decision. Rebuild the underlying statement instead; if its meaning depends on the preposition, the relative clause must preserve that relationship.
Try it
Complete the sentence with a formal relative clause beginning with to whom: Dr Chen was the consultant ___. The package was addressed to her.
Write exactly four words: begin with the two-word sequence with which, then use we as the subject and the simple past of collaborate. The research group ___ published the findings today.
Write exactly five words: begin with which, then use the technician as the subject, the simple past of rely, and the final preposition on. The procedure ___ has been revised.