Primary English | Relative clauses who which where - tutor prep guide | Three-step merging, comma test and four common errors

Primary English | Relative clauses who which where – tutor prep guide | Three-step merging, comma test and four common errors

2026-11-04

Tutor lesson-prep guides · Primary English

Students write “The boy who he won the race” not because they do not know who, but because they merge two sentences without deleting the repeated word. This lesson drills one action: find the repeated word, delete one, and hand the gap to who, which or where.

Objectives — Students can: (1) merge two sentences in three steps – find the repeat, delete one, insert the relative word; (2) choose who, which or where from the head noun and what follows it; (3) decide on commas with the deletion test and explain why a non-defining clause cannot take that.

01 Prerequisites (3-minute check)

If any of these fails, fix it before the lesson starts.

Skill	Quick check	Pass mark
Subject and verb	Which word is the verb in a sentence?	The word showing action or state
Noun phrase	What is the head noun of “the girl in the red dress”?	girl
Commas	What do commas usually mark in a sentence?	Extra information, not the main clause

02 Lesson flow (60 minutes)

Time	Stage	Tutor does	Student does
0-6 min	Two opening sentences	Write two sentences, ask which word repeats	Circle the repeated word
6-18 min	Three-step merge	Model: find repeat, delete one, insert who	Redo one pair alone
18-30 min	Person, thing, place	Three cards matched to who, which, where	Ten oral matches
30-42 min	Comma and that	Add a comma to the same sentence, ask about that	Judge four sentences
42-54 min	Exam merge	Two full items with self-marking	Work alone
54-60 min	Exit check	Collect three items, mark at once	Work alone

03 Teaching script (read it out)

Scene 1: Delete the repeat before choosing who

The classic error is “The boy who he won the race is my brother”. The fault is not who; it is that the two sentences were laid side by side without deleting the repeated subject. Fix it in three steps: (1) write the two sentences out and find the two words naming the same person; (2) delete the one in the second sentence and leave a gap; (3) fill the gap with who, which or where.
Cross out the deleted word in red on the board so the class sees the disappearance. Students who skip the deletion always end up with an extra he or it, and that is where every later editing item comes from.

Ask the student to merge “I know a girl. The girl sings well.” and name the deleted word.

Scene 2: Head noun plus what follows decides the word

Who is followed by a verb (who sings), which by a verb or be (which costs), where by a full clause (where I live). The order is fixed: check whether the noun before the gap is a person, a thing or a place, then check whether the relative word is followed by its own subject.
Places go wrong most often because students see a place and write which. Show “the shop where I bought it” beside “the shop which I bought it in” so they hear that where already contains in.

Ask the student to explain in one sentence why “the shop which I bought it” fails.

Scene 3: A comma changes the rules: no that in a non-defining clause

A clause between commas is extra information; remove it and the main sentence means the same thing. Without commas the clause defines, and removing it changes which person or thing we mean. Teach the deletion test: cover the who or which clause and ask whether the class still knows which one.
Still known, so non-defining: commas, and that is not allowed. Not known, so defining: no commas, and that is fine. P5 and P6 do not need the labels, only the action.

Ask the student to run the deletion test on four sentences and mark commas plus whether that is allowed.

04 Question types and worked steps

Type	Example	Steps	Answer
Merge two sentences	Join two sentences with a relative word	Find repeat, delete one, insert the word	Only one subject after merging
Gap fill	Insert who, which, where or whose	Decide person, thing, place or possession first	Whose is always followed by a noun
Choice item	Decide whether that can be used	Run the deletion test; non-defining rules it out	A comma usually rules out that
Editing item	Delete the extra pronoun	Read once and hunt the repeated subject	Never who plus he or it

Sanity check (teach this): Rationale: one core action only, because most P5-P6 errors come from skipping the deletion; who, which and where are chosen by head noun and following subject so the choice is not a guess; the comma question is decided by a deletion test rather than by terminology.

05 Independent practice (3 questions)

Question	Answer	What to watch
Three-step merge	Merge three pairs and mark the deleted word	Check whether an extra he or it survives
Where versus in which	Rewrite two sentences with where	Check that a full clause follows where
Deletion test	Decide commas on four sentences	Check they can say whether the meaning changes

06 Common mistakes and what to say

Mistake	Student writes	Say this
Extra pronoun after who	The boy who he sits next to me	“Write the two sentences out. Which word repeats? Circle it, then delete it.”
Which after a place	the park which we play football	“Is there a subject after which? If there is, you probably need where.”
That in a non-defining clause	My uncle, that lives in Macau, is a chef	“Cover the clause. Do you still know which uncle? If yes, that is not allowed.”
No be in a passive clause	the book which written by him	“Is what follows which active or passive? Passive needs which was written.”

07 Homework (paper, section and question numbers)

P5 English practice paper with answers — Part 3, questions 6-8: sentence merging
P6 English practice paper with answers — Part 2, questions 4-5: reading gap fill with who, which, where
Redo this chapter — Redo the three merges and write the deleted word each time

08 Exit check (last 5 minutes)

Question	Answer	Decision
Order of the merge	Find repeat, delete one, insert the word	Cannot state the order: back to act one
Choosing the word	Person, thing, place	Still writing which for places: back to act two
Comma and that	No that after a comma	Wrong: back to act three

09 Tutor FAQ

Do they need every use of which?

No. Person, thing and place plus one deletion test covers P5 and P6; secondary school adds the rest.

Good speaking but messy merging, why?

Make them write the process: two sentences, the deleted word, the inserted relative word. Written steps are what make it stable.

School tests use gap fill, not merging, so what changes?

Nothing. Look at the head noun, then at whether a subject follows the gap. Same action, different wrapper.

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A TutorZone lesson-prep guide. Written by the TutorZone team; questions and lesson flow are original and are not taken from any school or publisher material.