Which, Where, Who, That Practice Tests with A2 Grammar Rules & Examples

Which, Where, Who, That: Relative Clauses

Sometimes we want to give more information about a person, a place, or a thing. In English, we use special words to connect this extra information to the main sentence. These words are which, where, who, and that. They are called relative pronouns and relative adverbs.

Do not worry about the grammar names! The important thing is to understand when to use each word. Let's look at some simple examples first.

• That is the man who lives next door.
• This is the book that I like.
• I want a phone which has a good camera.
• That is the school where I studied.

Each sentence has two parts. The first part gives the main idea. The second part (after who, which, where, or that) gives extra information about a person, thing, or place.

The Four Words: A Simple Guide

Here is the basic rule for choosing the correct word:

who → use for people
which → use for things or animals
where → use for places
that → use for people, things, or animals (very common in everyday English)

Word	Use for	Example
who	people	She is the woman who helped me.
which	things or animals	This is the dog which barks a lot.
where	places	London is the city where I was born.
that	people, things, or animals	He is the boy that won the prize.

Using "Who" for People

We use who when we are talking about a person or people. The word who replaces the name or the word for the person.

Imagine two sentences:

I have a friend. She speaks three languages.

We can connect them with who:

I have a friend who speaks three languages.

More examples with who:

• The boy who sits next to me is called James.
• Do you know the woman who works in that café?
• My mum is the person who cooks every day.
• Those are the students who passed the exam.

Using "Which" for Things and Animals

We use which when we are talking about a thing or an animal. It is not used for people.

Imagine two sentences:

I bought a jacket. It was very cheap.

We can connect them with which:

I bought a jacket which was very cheap.

More examples with which:

• This is the film which everyone is talking about.
• She has a cat which sleeps all day.
• He showed me the photo which was on the wall.
• I need a bag which has a zip.

Using "Where" for Places

We use where when we are talking about a place. It tells us the location connected to something or someone.

Imagine two sentences:

That is the restaurant. We had our first dinner there.

We can connect them with where:

That is the restaurant where we had our first dinner.

More examples with where:

• This is the town where my parents grew up.
• Do you remember the park where we played as children?
• That is the hotel where we stayed last summer.
• I want to visit the country where my grandmother was born.

Using "That" for People, Things, and Animals

We use that in a very similar way to who and which. In everyday spoken English, that is often used instead of who or which. It can describe people, things, and animals.

Examples with that:

• She is the teacher that helped me. (person)
• This is the book that changed my life. (thing)
• Look at the dog that is running in the garden. (animal)
• He is the man that called this morning. (person)

Note: That is very common in informal, everyday English. Who and which are also correct and are often used in more formal or written English.

Sentence Pattern

The pattern for all four words is the same. The extra information always comes after the noun (person, thing, or place) it describes:

[Main noun] + who / which / where / that + [extra information]

Look at these examples to see the pattern clearly:

Main noun	Word	Extra information
She is the woman	who	lives across the street.
I lost the keys	which	you gave me.
This is the café	where	we always meet.
He is the student	that	got top marks.

Important Differences and Special Cases

"That" or "Who"?

Both that and who can be used for people. The meaning is the same. However, who is a little more formal and is preferred in written English. In everyday conversation, that is very common.

• The man who called is my uncle. ✅ (more formal)
• The man that called is my uncle. ✅ (informal, everyday)

"That" or "Which"?

Both that and which can be used for things. In everyday English, that is more common. Which is also correct and is often used in more formal writing.

• The phone that I bought is broken. ✅ (everyday English)
• The phone which I bought is broken. ✅ (also correct)

"Where" is not "Which" or "That"

Remember: where is only for places. Do not use which or that when you need where.

• ❌ This is the park which I played as a child.
• ✅ This is the park where I played as a child.

Common Mistakes

❌ She is the woman which helped me.
✅ Who — She is the woman who helped me. (Use who for people, not which.)

❌ That is the place who we visited.
✅ Where/that/which — That is the place where we visited. (Use where for places, not who.)

❌ I want a car who is fast.
✅ That/which — I want a car that is fast. (Use that or which for things, not who.)

❌ This is the school where I studied in it.
✅ Where already includes "in it" — This is the school where I studied. (Do not add "in it" or "there" after where.)

❌ He is the man which won the competition.
✅ Who/that — He is the man who won the competition. (Use who or that for people.)

Which, Where, Who, That: Quick Summary

Here is a quick review of everything we learned in this lesson:

Word	Use for	Quick example
who	people	The girl who sings is my sister.
which	things and animals	The car which he bought is red.
where	places	That is the beach where we swam.
that	people, things, and animals	The food that she made was delicious.

• Use who for people.
• Use which for things and animals.
• Use where for places.
• Use that in place of who or which in everyday English.
• The extra information always comes directly after the noun it describes.
• Do not add extra words like "there" or "in it" after where.

Now practise which, where, who, and that in the exercises below.