Write complete sentences that combine ideas with who, whose, which, that, where, when, why and how, and form irregular possessive nouns

Learning goal: Write complete sentences that demonstrate knowledge of conventions, using the relative pronouns who, whose, which and that, and the relative adverbs where, when, why and how, to join ideas correctly, and form irregular possessive nouns. This lesson teaches Ohio's 2026 English language arts standard, first implemented in the 2027-28 school year.

A complete sentence has two parts and a complete thought. The subject tells who or what the sentence is about. The predicate tells what the subject does or is, and it always contains a verb. "The librarian repaired the torn book" is complete: subject the librarian, predicate repaired the torn book. It begins with a capital letter and ends with an end mark. A group of words that is missing a subject, a predicate or a complete thought is a fragment, even if it starts with a capital and ends with a period: "Repaired the torn book." (no subject) or "The librarian who repaired the book." (no main predicate: what did she do?). A command is the exception that looks short but is complete: in "Tell me the reason," the subject you is understood.

Relative clauses add information to a noun. A relative clause is a group of words with its own verb that describes a noun in the sentence. It begins with a relative pronoun or a relative adverb. Relative clauses let you combine two short sentences into one smoother sentence without repeating words.

The relative pronouns. Use who for people: "The girl who won the spelling bee is my neighbor." Use whose to show that something belongs to a person or thing: "The boy whose bike was stolen filed a report." Use which for things and animals: "Our class pet, which is a hamster, sleeps all day." Use that for things and animals, especially when the clause tells which one you mean: "The book that I borrowed is overdue." You will sometimes hear or read that used for a person ("the girl that won"). It is not an error, but in this lesson and in careful school writing, use who for people.

Which or that, and commas. When the clause gives information needed to know which noun you mean, use no commas; for things, American writers usually use that (and for people, who): "The bus that leaves at 3:15 goes to Elm Street" (there are several buses; the clause tells which one). When the clause adds extra information about a noun that is already clear, use which (or who for a person) with commas: "Route 9, which leaves at 3:15, goes to Elm Street." If you removed the extra clause, the sentence would still point to the same bus.

The relative adverbs. Use where for a place: "This is the park where we found the fossil." Use when for a time: "I remember the day when the power went out." Use why for a reason: "Nobody knew the reason why the gate kept banging." The relative adverb connects to a noun of place, time or reason (park, day, reason).

The relative adverb how. Ohio's statement lists the relative adverbs where, when, and how. (This lesson also teaches why, which works the same way as where and when.) Use how to begin a clause that tells the way something is done or happens: "Ms. Ortiz showed us how her grandmother mixed the paint." Unlike where and when, how does not follow a noun. Write "the way her grandmother mixed the paint" or "how her grandmother mixed the paint," not "the way how."

Irregular possessive nouns. A possessive noun shows belonging. A regular plural ends in s, so its possessive adds only an apostrophe: the two girls' coats. Many irregular plurals do not end in s (children, men, women, people, mice, geese). The possessive of such a plural adds an apostrophe and s, just as a singular noun does: the children's paintings, the women's team, the men's coats, the mice's nest. Do not write childrens' or mens': there is no word childrens for the apostrophe to follow. An irregular plural that does end in s, such as wolves or leaves, adds only the apostrophe, like any plural that ends in s: the wolves' den. A possessive noun and whose do the same job, so each can check the other: the children whose paintings won are the owners of the children's paintings.

Watch for a new kind of fragment. When you add a relative clause to a subject, the sentence still needs its main predicate. "The students who planted the rain garden." is a fragment: it names the students and describes them, but never says what they did. Finish it: "The students who planted the rain garden measured the puddle after each storm." To check, cover the relative clause with your finger. What is left, "The students measured the puddle after each storm," must be a complete sentence.

Why combine? Compare two versions of the same information.

Original paragraph — Choppy version: Ms. Ortiz is our art teacher. She grew up in Toledo. Toledo is on Lake Erie. She showed us a painting. Her grandmother made the painting. We asked her about a reason. The colors were so bright for that reason.

Combined version: Ms. Ortiz, who is our art teacher, grew up in Toledo, which is on Lake Erie. She showed us a painting that her grandmother made. We asked her the reason why the colors were so bright.

The combined version keeps every fact but removes the repeated words, and each relative word points back to the right noun: who to Ms. Ortiz, which to Toledo, that to painting, why to reason. Toledo is a real Ohio city on Lake Erie; Ms. Ortiz and her grandmother are invented.

Common mistakes. Using which for a person ("my friend which lives next door") should be who. Confusing whose (belonging) with who's (who is): "The girl whose coat is red" not "who's coat." Using where for something that is not a place: "a book where the dog runs away" is informal; in formal writing, "a book in which the dog runs away" or "a book about a dog that runs away" is clearer. Remember that every sentence, however long, needs its subject, its predicate and its end mark.

The rest of this standard. Ohio's statement has two more parts: forming and using the progressive verb tenses (she is talking, she was talking, she will be talking) and using the modal auxiliary verbs can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will and would to convey various conditions. They are taught in the companion lesson on progressive verb tenses and modal auxiliary verbs.

Worked example 1 — Combine with who. "The boy found the key. The boy lives next door." The repeated noun is the boy, a person, so use who: "The boy who lives next door found the key." Cover the clause: "The boy found the key" is complete.

Worked example 2 — Combine with whose. "The dog barked all night. Its owner was away." The owner belongs to the dog, so use whose: "The dog whose owner was away barked all night."

Worked example 3 — Choose which with commas or that without. "Lake Erie ___ is one of the Great Lakes borders northern Ohio." There is only one Lake Erie, so the clause adds extra information: "Lake Erie, which is one of the Great Lakes, borders northern Ohio." In "The lake that is closest to our town is Lake Erie," the clause tells which lake, so use that without commas.

Worked example 4 — Repair a fragment. "The day when we visited the museum." This names a day but has no main predicate. Repair: "The day when we visited the museum was the coldest of the year." Cover the clause: "The day was the coldest of the year" — complete.

Worked example 5 — Relative adverbs. "We found the spot. The eagles nest there." → "We found the spot where the eagles nest." "Tell me the reason. You were late for that reason." → "Tell me the reason why you were late."

Worked example 6 — Combine with how. "The guide explained the way. The lock lifts a boat that way." The second sentence tells the way something happens, so use how: "The guide explained how the lock lifts a boat." How replaces the way; it does not follow it.

Worked example 7 — Regular or irregular possessive? "The coats of the girls" → girls is a regular plural ending in s, so add only an apostrophe: the girls' coats. "The coats of the children" → children is an irregular plural with no final s, so add an apostrophe and s: the children's coats. Check with whose: the children whose coats are wet = the children's coats.

Relative word chart (representation task): Make an eight-row chart for who, whose, which, that, where, when, why and how. For each, write what it connects to (person, belonging, thing, place, time, reason, or for how the way something is done) and one original complete sentence. Underline the relative clause and circle the noun it describes (for how there is no noun to circle, so underline the clause only).

Sentence-combining practice: Combine each pair: (1) "Our coach blew the whistle. Our coach wears a red cap." (2) "We visited the farm. Maple syrup is made there." (3) "I read the story. The story won an award." (4) "The girl smiled. Her mitten was found." (5) Write the possessive: the nest of the mice; the boots of the women; the den of the wolves.

Independent performance: Write a paragraph of six to eight sentences about a person or place you know. Include at least five relative clauses using at least three different relative pronouns and two different relative adverbs, and at least one possessive of an irregular plural. Then trade with a partner who covers each relative clause that describes a noun to test that the rest is a complete sentence (leave a how clause uncovered, because it is part of what the sentence says). Success criteria: Every sentence has a subject, a predicate, a capital and an end mark. I use who for people, whose for belonging, and which or that for things; where, when and why for place, time and reason; and how for the way something is done. For a plural that does not end in s, I add an apostrophe and s (children's, men's); for a plural that ends in s, including irregular ones such as wolves, I add only an apostrophe (wolves'). I put commas around extra information with which or who and none around needed information (usually with that for things, who for people). My partner found no fragments.