Pengertian Relative Pronoun

Relative Pronoun adalah kata ganti yang digunakan untuk memperkenalkan relative clause
yang menerangkan noun pada main clause dari suatu complex sentence. Dengan demikian,
relative pronoun merupakan bagian dari relative clause. Di dalam relative clause, relative
pronoun dapat berfungsi sebagai subject, object, atau possessive dimana pada kata ganti ini
tidak ada perbedaan pada number (singular atau plural) maupun gender (male atau female).
Pronoun ini meliputi: who, whom, whose, which, dan that dan indefinite
pronoun dengan suffix -ever, yaitu: whoever, whomever, & whichever.

Rumus Relative Clause dan Complex Sentence

Relative pronoun merupakan bagian dari relative clause yang tidak dapat berdiri sendiri,
melainkan berada di dalam complex sentence (kalimat kompleks). Sedangkan complex
sentence merupakan gabungan dari independent clause (kalimat utuh) dan subordinate
clause (relative clause). Untuk gambaran lebih jelasnya, dapat dilihat pada rumus berikut.

Relative Clause = Relative Pronoun +/- Subject +

Verb

dan

Complex Sentence = Independent Clause + Relative Clause

Contoh:

 Relative pronoun = that

 Relative Clause = that I bought last week
 Complex Sentence = It is the bicycle that I bought last week.

Contoh Kalimat Relative Pronoun

Adapun contoh relative pronoun (bold) pada relative clause (garis bawah) di dalam complex
sentence dapat dilihat pada tabel sebagai berikut.

Contoh Kalimat
Relative Pronoun Keterangan Relative Keterangan
Pronoun
Relative pronoun ini The boy who is
berfungsi playing football
menghubungkan on the yard is my Who merupakan subjek
who
noun berupa orang neighbour. dari verb= is playing dan
(siapa)
(subject/object of (Anak yang memperkenalkan adjective
whoever
sentence) dengan verb sedang bermain clause yang menerangkan
(siapapun)
pada adjective sepakbola di subjek= the boy.
clause. Di dalam lapangan adalah
adjective clause, tetanggaku.)
 relative pronoun ini I looked for the
berfungsi sebagai man who
subjek atau objek. borrowed me Who merupakan subjek
money. dari verb= borrowed dan
(Saya mencari memperkenalkan klausa
pria yang yang menerangkan the man.
meminjami saya
uang.)
Berfungsi The table which
Which merupakan subjek
menghubungkan noun was made of oak
dari verb=was made dan
benda, binatang, atau wood has broken.
memperkenalkan adjective
kadang-kadang orang (Meja yang
clause yang menerangkan
(subject/object of dibuat dari kayu
subjek= the table.
which sentence) dengan oak sudah patah.)
(yang mana) adjective
whichever clause. Which lebih He always eats Whichever merupakan objek
(yang manapun) spesifik dari what. Di bread whichever
dari verb= likes dan
dalam adjective he likes.
memperkenalkan klausa
clause, relative (Dia selalu
yang
pronoun ini merujuk makan rotu yang menerangkan direct object=
kepada subjek atau manapun dia
bread.
objek. suka.)
Relative pronoun ini The woman
berfungsi untuk whose car I want
menyatakan to buy is my old
whose kepemilikan terhadap friend.
-
(punya/milik siapa) benda maupun orang (Wanita yang
yang diterangkan mobilnya saya
pada bagian klausa- ingin beli adalah
nya. teman lama saya.)
She is the woman Whom merupakan object of
to whom I preposition ”to” serta
Whom merupakan wanted to meet. menerangkan adjective
bentuk yang lebih (Dia wanita yang clause yang
formal dari who. saya ingin temui.) menerangkan the woman.
whom
Whom sering diawali The
(dengan/untuk/kepada
oleh preposition team whom you
siapa)
(berfungsi sebagai were watching Whom merupakan object
whomever
object of has won three dari verb= were
(dengan/untuk/kepada
preposition). Relative gold medals. watching serta
siapapun)
pronoun ini berfungsi (Tim yang kamu memperkenalkan klausa
sebagai objek pada tonton telah yang menerangkan
adjective clause. memenangkan subjek= the team.
tiga medali
emas.)
Relative pronoun ini Cats that live in That merupakan subjek
berfungsi untuk the wild may dari verb= live serta
that
menghubungkan noun have a better memperkenalkan adjective
sebagai benda atau immune system. clause yang menerangkan
 kadang-kadang orang (Kucing-kucing subjek= cats.
(subject/object of yang hidup di
sentence) dengan alam liar
adjective clause.Di mungkin punya
dalam adjective sistem imun yang
clause, relative lebih baik.)
pronoun ini merujuk The laptop that I
kepada subjek atau bought five years
objek. That digunakan ago is still work That merupakan objek
pada defining clause properly. dari verb= bought serta
(restrictive). That (Laptop yang memperkenalkan klausa
cenderung informal saya beli lima yang menerangkan
(dibanding who dan tahun lalu masih subjek= laptop.
which) bekerja dengan
baik.)

Relative Pronouns

A relative pronoun is a pronoun that introduces a relative clause. It is called a "relative"

pronoun because it "relates" to the word that it modifies. Here is an example:

 The person who phoned me last night is my teacher.

In the above example, "who":

 relates to "person", which it modifies

 introduces the relative clause "who phoned me last night"

There are five relative pronouns: who, whom, whose, which, that*

Who (subject) and whom (object) are generally only for people. Whose is for possession.
Which is for things. In non-defining relative clauses, that is used for things. In defining
relative clauses (clauses that are essential to the sentence and do not simply add extra
information) that can be used for things and people**.

Relative pronouns can refer to singular or plural, and there is no difference between male and
female.

Look at these examples showing defining and non-defining relative clauses:

example sentences
notes
S=subject, O=object, P=possessive

defining S - The person who phoned me last That is preferable

relative night is my teacher.
clauses - The person that phoned me last
night is my teacher.

- The car which hit me was yellow.

That is preferable
- The car that hit me was yellow.

- The person whom I phoned last

night is my teacher.
- The people who I phoned last night
are my teachers. Whom is correct but formal. The
- The person that I phoned last night relative pronoun is optional.
is my teacher.
O - The person I phoned last night is
my teacher.

- The car which I drive is old.

That is preferable to which. The
- The car that I drive is old.
relative pronoun is optional.
- The car I drive is old.

- The student whose phone just rang

should stand up.
- Students whose parents are
wealthy pay extra.
P
- The police are looking for the car
whose driver was masked. Whose can be used with things. Of
- The police are looking for the car of which is also possible.
which the driver was masked.

- Mrs Pratt, who is very kind, is my

teacher.

non-defining S - The car, which was a taxi,

relative exploded.
clauses - The cars, which were taxis,
exploded.

O - Mrs Pratt, whom I like very much, Whom is correct but formal. Who is
 is my teacher. common in spoken English and
- Mrs Pratt, who I like very much, is informal written English.
my teacher.

- The car, which I was driving at the

time, suddenly caught fire.

- My brother, whose phone you just

heard, is a doctor.

- The car, whose driver jumped out

P just before the accident, was
completely destroyed. Whose can be used with things. Of
- The car, the driver of which which is also possible.
jumped out just before the accident,
was completely destroyed.

*Not all grammar sources count "that" as a relative pronoun.

**Some people claim that even in defining relative clauses we cannot use "that" for people
but must use "who/whom". There is no good reason for such a claim; there is a long history
of "that" for people in defining relative clauses from Chaucer, Shakespeare and the
Authorized Version of The Bible to Fowler's and Churchill.