Relative Clauses 2: Whole-Sentence Which and Prepositions
By the end: I can comment on a whole event and choose a clear, appropriate position for a relative-clause preposition.
Try the activities, then check your answers.
Try the activities, then check your answers.
Choose a short recording.
Before you start
How could you add your reaction to The meeting finished early without beginning a completely separate sentence?
Useful background: Relative Clauses: defining/non-defining clauses and who/which/that.
Which can refer to a whole event
A non-defining which clause can comment on the preceding proposition, not just the nearest noun. Use a comma in writing and a natural boundary in speech. That is not used for this whole-clause comment in the standard pattern.
Everyone arrived early, which surprised the organiser.
The café had closed, which meant we needed another meeting place.
Leave the preposition at the end
In ordinary conversation, a preposition often remains at the end of a relative clause. With an object relative in a defining clause, the relative word can sometimes be omitted. Ending a clause with a preposition is not automatically an error.
That’s the colleague I spoke to.
This is the desk that I left it on.
Move the preposition for a formal style
A preposition can precede whom for people or which for things in a more formal pattern. Do not place it directly before that in this construction. Keep the preposition required by the verb or phrase.
The person to whom I wrote has replied.
The system on which we depend is changing.
Guided practice
Say or write your answer first. Compare the meaning and form; the model is one possible answer.
1. Join with whole-clause which: The train arrived early. That surprised us.
Compare a model and explanation
The train arrived early, which surprised us.
Which comments on the early arrival.
2. Correct the whole-event comment: He forgot the keys, that caused a delay.
Compare a model and explanation
He forgot the keys, which caused a delay.
Standard non-defining sentential comments use which.
3. Make conversational: The person to whom I sent it has replied.
Compare a model and explanation
The person I sent it to has replied.
The defining object relative permits omission and a final preposition.
4. Make formal: The chair I was sitting on was unstable.
Compare a model and explanation
The chair on which I was sitting was unstable.
On moves before which.
5. Correct: The colleague with that I worked has left.
Compare a model and explanation
The colleague with whom I worked has left.
A fronted preposition takes whom, not that; with who is used informally in some speech but is not this formal target.
6. Restore the required preposition: This is the software ___ which we rely.
Compare a model and explanation
on
The verb phrase is rely on.
7. Explain why a final preposition is not necessarily wrong in The person I spoke to.
Compare a model and explanation
It is a normal conversational relative-clause pattern.
Formal to whom is an alternative, not the only grammatical option.
8. Clarify the intended whole-event reaction: They cancelled the event, which annoyed the guests.
Compare a model and explanation
The cancellation annoyed the guests.
A noun-based paraphrase makes the reference explicit.
A short conversation
Listen first if you can, then open the transcript when useful.
Open the conversation transcript
A: The organiser has changed the date, which means I can attend after all.
B: Is that the organiser you spoke to last week?
A: Yes. She’s also the person to whom I sent our proposal.
B: Then you should tell her the new date works. The room we were worried about is available too.
Listening checks
Listen to each extract or open its transcript. These three questions have their own score.
Mastery quiz
Choose the best answer in each situation. Your score is out of eight.
Use it in your own words
Speaking task 1
Give an event update containing two whole-clause which comments.
Reveal a possible response
The room became available, which solved our main problem. The presenter also arrived early, which meant we could test the equipment before the guests came.
Success check: Make each which clearly refer to the intended event or situation.
Speaking task 2
Describe a colleague and a tool in conversational English, then reformulate both for a formal written note.
Reveal a possible response
She’s the colleague I worked with, and this is the tool I relied on. More formally: she is the colleague with whom I worked, and this is the tool on which I relied.
Success check: Preserve the required preposition and the original reference.
Speaking task 3
Clarify a sentence whose final which clause could be misunderstood. Give two distinct versions if the meanings differ.
Reveal a possible response
She praised the design, which pleased Maya could be unclear in context. To focus on the action, I would say that her praise pleased Maya. To describe the design, I would say that Maya liked the design she praised.
Success check: Explain the referent rather than assuming one reading must always win.
Take it with you
I can comment on a whole event and choose a clear, appropriate position for a relative-clause preposition.