Pronomes Relativos Em Inglês Exercícios

Relative pronouns in English: a pragmatic walkthrough

What you actually need to know before starting with pronomes relativos em inglês exercícios

Relative pronouns link a noun or pronoun to additional information about it. The main ones are who, whom, which, that, and whose. There is also where and when, though those are technically relative adverbs, and most textbooks don't bother making that distinction clear. Here is the quick mapping:

who — refers to people as the subject of the relative clause
whom — refers to people as the object (formal) which — refers to things or animals, non-restrictive and restrictive
that — refers to people or things, but only in restrictive clauses
whose — shows possession for people or things

where — refers to places
when — refers to times

Restrictive versus non-restrictive clauses: the part everyone gets wrong

This distinction matters more than anything else. A restrictive clause defines which specific noun you mean. Without it, the sentence loses its essential meaning. A non-restrictive clause just adds extra information. Remove it and the core sentence still makes perfect sense. The comma is your signal. If you see commas around the clause, it is non-restrictive. That means you use which, not that. If there are no commas, it is restrictive, and you can use that or which — though that is preferred in American English for restrictive clauses.

Consider these two examples: The book that I borrowed from the library is due tomorrow. (Restrictive — there are multiple books; I am specifying which one.)

The book, which I borrowed from the library, is due tomorrow. (Non-restrictive — I am talking about one specific book, and adding extra information about it.) Switching between these changes the meaning. That is why it is worth getting right before moving on to exercises.

When whom is actually required, and when it is just pretentious

Whom is used when the relative pronoun is the object of a verb or preposition within the relative clause. In formal writing, this is expected. In spoken English and informal writing, who has largely replaced whom, even when the grammatical position calls for the object form. The person whom I met yesterday was very helpful. (Formal — correct.)
The person who I met yesterday was very helpful. (Informal — widely accepted.)

If you want a quick test, substitute he/him. If him works, whom is technically correct. If he works, who is correct. This works about 90% of the time, though prepositions break the pattern slightly. There is one edge case where whom still trips people up. When a preposition comes before the relative pronoun, you must use whom for people and which for things. You cannot use that here. This is not optional.

The woman to whom I spoke was the manager. (Correct.)
The woman to that I spoke was the manager. (Incorrect — ungrammatical.) In casual speech, people restructure the sentence to avoid this: The woman I spoke to was the manager. This is perfectly natural and removes the problem entirely.

A practical workaround I learned the hard way

I once worked on a legal translation project where I had to produce a series of relative clauses involving both restrictive and non-restrictive structures with mixed antecedents — people, organizations, and documents. One sentence read something like: The report, which was submitted by the consultants who were hired after the audit, contained findings that the board had not expected. The error I kept making was treating every clause as restrictive. I would drop the commas and end up with a sentence that meant something completely different. The fix was simpler than I expected: I wrote out each clause separately and asked whether the information was defining or supplementary. If removing it changed which noun I was referring to, it was restrictive. If it was just added detail, it was non-restrictive. This cut my revision time from about four hours down to roughly forty-five minutes.

How to approach pronomes relativos em inglês exercícios effectively

Don't just fill in blanks blindly. Read the full sentence first. Identify the antecedent — the noun the relative pronoun refers to. Then determine whether the clause is restrictive or non-restrictive. Finally, choose the pronoun based on the antecedent's role in the relative clause (subject, object, possession, place, or time). Here is a straightforward set of exercises to work through:

1. The woman ___ lives next door is a doctor. (Answer: who / that — restrictive, subject position, person) 2. The house, ___ was built in 1890, needs a new roof. (Answer: which — non-restrictive, subject position, thing)

3. The man ___ I called yesterday didn't answer. (Answer: who / whom / that — restrictive, object position, person) 4. I forgot the name of the restaurant ___ we had dinner. (Answer: where — restrictive, place)

5. The company ___ products won the award declined to accept it. (Answer: whose — possessive, thing) 6. The reason ___ she left is unclear. (Answer: why — restrictive, reason; alternatively, for which in formal writing)

7. The email, ___ I received this morning, contains the schedule. (Answer: which — non-restrictive, object position, thing) 8. Is this the hotel ___ you stayed last summer? (Answer: where — restrictive, place)

9. The students ___ scores improved significantly attended extra sessions. (Answer: whose — possessive, people) 10. She only talks about the people ___ she trusts completely. (Answer: whom / who / that — restrictive, object position, person)

Common mistakes to watch out for

Using that with commas in non-restrictive clauses. This is incorrect. Never write: My car, that I bought in 2019, broke down. Use which instead. Using which for people. Which refers to things and animals, not people. Use who or that instead.

Using where after a preposition. After a preposition, use which for things and whom for people. Use where only when the relative adverb stands alone without a preposition: The city where I was born is small. vs. The city in which I was born is small. Forgetting that whose applies to things as well as people. Many learners think whose is only for people. It works for both: The company whose CEO resigned is unstable.

Limitations of exercise-based practice

Drilling relative pronouns through fill-in-the-blank exercises has a clear ceiling. It helps with recognition and basic production, but it does not train you to use these structures naturally in extended writing or spontaneous speech. If your goal is accuracy in formal writing, exercises are useful. If your goal is fluency, you will need to supplement them with reading and writing practice that exposes you to real examples in context. Some exercise sources oversimplify by ignoring the restrictive/non-restrictive distinction or by presenting only isolated sentences. When selecting material, look for exercises that include full paragraphs or dialogues where the pronouns appear in natural contexts. Also check that the answer keys explain the reasoning, not just the correct answer.

A good exercise set on pronomes relativos em inglês exercícios should include at least twenty items mixing restrictive and non-restrictive clauses, varied antecedents, and a mix of subject, object, possessive, and adverbial roles. Anything less tends to reinforce patterns without building genuine understanding.

Where to find downloadable exercises

Several educational sites offer free downloadable worksheets focused specifically on relative pronouns. The British Council, Cambridge English, and BBC Learning English all have curated exercise sets with answer keys. Look for PDFs labeled as A2–B2 level, since that is where relative pronoun control typically becomes important for exams like IELTS and TOEFL. If you prefer a more structured approach, the exercises from the International House ELT materials or the National Language Resource Center at the University of Wisconsin are solid choices. They include both gap-fill items and rewriting tasks that force you to convert between relative and non-relative structures, which is a useful way to check whether you actually understand the difference.