What is "relative pronoun"

n. (context grammar English) A pronoun that introduces a relative clause and refers to an antecedent. Some words that can be used as interrogative pronouns can alternatively be used as relative pronouns: ''what'', ''which'', ''who'', ''whom'', and ''whose''. The other relative pronouns are ''whoever'', ''whosoever'', ''whomever'', ''whatever'', and ''that''.

n. a pronoun (as `that' or `which' or `who') that introduces a relative clause referring to some antecedent

A relative pronoun marks a relative clause; it has the same referent in the main clause of a sentence that the relative modifies.

An example is the English word which in the sentence "This is the house which Jack built." Here the relative pronoun which marks the relative clause "which Jack built", which modifies the noun house in the main sentence. Which has an anaphoric relationship to its antecedent "house" in the main clause.

In linking a subordinate clause and a main clause, a relative pronoun functions similarly to a subordinating conjunction. Unlike a conjunction, however, a relative pronoun does not simply mark the subordinate (relative) clause, but also plays the role of a noun within that clause. For example, in the relative clause "which Jack built" given above, the pronoun "which" functions as the object of the verb "built". Compare this with "Jack built the house after he married", where the conjunction after marks the subordinate clause after he married, but does not play the role of any noun within that clause.

For more information on the formation and uses of relative clauses—with and without relative pronouns—see Relative clause. For detailed information about relative clauses and relative pronouns in English, see English relative clause.