Relative clauses: who, which, where, when, whose: what children learn
A relative clause is a part of a sentence that adds extra information about a noun. It usually begins with a relative pronoun: who, which, where, when, whose or that. In 'My aunt, who lives in Leeds, is a doctor', the relative clause 'who lives in Leeds' tells us more about my aunt. Relative clauses let writers pack more detail into a sentence without starting a new one.
In Year 5 the National Curriculum asks pupils to use relative clauses beginning with who, which, where, when, whose, that, or with an omitted relative pronoun. The key skill is choosing the right relative pronoun for the noun: who for people, which for things, where for places, when for times and whose for belonging. In the game, every sentence uses commas around the relative clause, which means 'that' would not be correct, so the choices focus on the other five.
This topic covers the Year 5 statutory requirement in the National Curriculum in England (Writing – vocabulary, grammar and punctuation): pupils should be taught to “using relative clauses beginning with who, which, where, when, whose, that or with an implied (i.e. omitted) relative pronoun”. Year 5 pupils are usually aged 9–10. The Years 5 and 6 programme of study is shared; English Appendix 2 introduces relative clauses in Year 5. The game practises who, which, where, when and whose.
For families following US standards, the closest Common Core standard is L.4.1.a, which is taught in Grade 4.
How to play
Answer 10 questions before the clock runs out. Tap an answer, or press 1 to 4. Each game has 10 multiple-choice questions and a 120-second timer. A wrong answer shows the correct one before moving on. You earn up to three stars depending on your score.
Step by step
- Find the noun. Look at the noun just before the gap. Is it a person, a thing, a place or a time?
- Match the noun to a pronoun. People take who, things take which, places take where and times take when. If something belongs to the noun, use whose: 'Mr Patel, whose car is red…'
- Check for belonging. Read the words after the gap. If they name something that belongs to the noun (car, sister, bike), the answer is whose, even when the noun is a person.
- Read the sentence without the clause. Cover the part between the commas. 'My aunt is a doctor' still makes sense, which shows the relative clause is extra information.
- Use commas to mark it off. When the relative clause adds extra information in the middle of a sentence, put commas before and after it, like brackets.
Worked examples
Example 1: The park, ____ we play football, is near my house.
Working: The noun is the park, which is a place, so the relative pronoun is where.
Answer: where
Example 2: Ravi, ____ sister is in Year 6, is in my class.
Working: The sister belongs to Ravi, so we need whose.
Answer: whose
Example 3: The castle, ____ was built long ago, is now a museum.
Working: A castle is a thing, and the clause tells us about it, so we use which.
Answer: which
Common mistakes and how to fix them
- Using which for people (the man which…). Teach the pairing: who for people, which for things. Ask 'is it a person?' before choosing.
- Choosing who when something belongs to the person. Look at the word after the gap. If it is a thing the person owns or a relative, use whose.
- Writing who's instead of whose. Who's means who is. Whose shows belonging. Say 'who is' in the sentence: if it does not make sense, use whose.
- Forgetting the second comma. A relative clause in the middle of a sentence needs a comma at both ends, like a pair of brackets.
Activities to try at home
- Describe family members with a relative clause: 'Grandma, who loves gardening, grows tomatoes.'
- Play 'add a clause': one person says a short sentence, the next adds a relative clause in the middle.
- Look for who, which and whose in a chapter book and decide what each one refers to.
- Use the printable worksheet, then try writing three sentences of your own with different relative pronouns.
Ideas for the classroom
- Give pupils a noun card (a person, place, thing or time) and ask them to choose the matching relative pronoun card and write a sentence.
- Use 'sentence expansion' in shared writing: start with a simple sentence and drop in a relative clause between commas.
- Run a sorting activity in which pupils group sentences by relative pronoun and explain the pattern.
- Use the quiz game as a starter. Ask pupils to name the noun each relative clause describes.
Printable worksheet
The printable worksheet uses the same question generator as the game, so it practises exactly the same skills. It comes with a separate answer sheet on the second page. Print it, or save it as a PDF from your browser's print menu.
Frequently asked questions
What are relative pronouns in Year 5?
The national curriculum lists who, which, where, when, whose and that. Strictly speaking, where and when are relative adverbs, but at primary school they are taught together as words that start relative clauses.
Why is 'that' not one of the choices?
Every sentence in the game has its relative clause between commas. In standard English, 'that' is not used with this kind of clause, so it would be wrong. 'That' is used without commas: 'the book that I read'.
What is an omitted relative pronoun?
Sometimes the relative pronoun can be left out: 'the book I read last week' means 'the book that I read last week'. Pupils learn to recognise this in Year 5.