Relatives ESL Worksheet

ESL Worksheet
Answer Sheet

ESL Worksheet

Answer Sheet

To access this worksheet as an online activity, view our 'Relatives' exercise.

ESL Worksheet: Relatives

Instructions: Choose the correct answer.

Q1 - The people who arrived late missed lunch

They were not the only people there

They were the only people there

Q2 - The company from whom we bought the computers has just gone into liquidation

This is formal.

Whom can only be used in written English

Q3 - The dictionary which I found on the train has been very useful to me

It is not possible to remove 'which' without making the sentence ungrammatical

It is possible to remove 'which' without changing the meaning of the sentence

Q4 - The car, which has a top speed of 190 miles per hour, costs £100,000

'Which has a top speed of 190 miles per hour' gives us the information necessary to identify the car

'Which has a top speed of 190 miles per hour' gives us some extra information about the car that might be of interest, but is not essential

Q5 - Is this one glass of fruit juice all that you left of my breakfast?

Words like all; any; every; few, little; and much are followed by 'that'

Words like all; any; every; few, little; and much are followed by 'that' or 'which'

Q6 - The wine that I brought back from Chile was excellent

It is possible to remove 'that' without changing the meaning of the sentence

It is not possible to remove 'that' without making the sentence ungrammatical

Q7 - The road which goes to the motorway is always full of traffic

It is possible to replace 'which' with 'that' without changing the meaning of the sentence

It is not possible to replace 'which' without changing the meaning of the sentence

Q8 - The boys that stole the car were caught by the police

The police only caught the boys involved in stealing the car

The police caught the boys involved in stealing the car and some others

Q9 - The people who work on cruise ships are often away from home for months on end

It is possible to remove 'who' without changing the meaning of the sentence

It is not possible to remove 'who' without making the sentence ungrammatical

Q10 - Have you got anything that he wrote?

After words like anything and superlatives, it is more usual to use 'that'

After words like anything and superlatives, it is more usual to use 'which' in writing

Q11 - The man whose company was voted the most successful in the country last year is going to give a speech tonight

The clause 'whose company was voted the most successful in the country last year' gives us some extra information, but is not essential

The clause 'whose company was voted the most successful in the country last year' tells us which man is going to give the speech; without it we have no idea who the man is

Q12 - The man to whom I spoke is coming over here

This sentence is fairly informal

This sentence is very formal

Q13 - The party, which didn't finish until dawn, was fantastic

There were a number of parties

There was only one party

Q14 - The party that gets the most votes in the election is asked to form the government

The relative clause defines the party

The relative clause fills in a few interesting details about the party and the election system

Q15 - The cat, which never stops eating, has started stealing food from the cupboards

'That' cannot be used as an alternative to 'which' in this sentence

'That' can be used as an alternative to 'which' in this sentence

Q16 - The owner of the restaurant that was closed down is going to have to go to court

'Which' cannot be used as an alternative to 'that'

'Which' can be used as an alternative to 'that' in this sentence

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