phrase going before; as, "The boy _who_ told the truth;" "He has done
well, _which_ gives me great pleasure."

Here _who_ and _which_ are not only used in place of other words, but
_who_ refers immediately to boy, and _which_ to the circumstance of his
having done well.

The word or clause to which a relative pronoun refers is called the
_Antecedent_.

The Relative Pronouns are _who_, _which_, _that_ and _what_.

_Who_ is applied to persons only; as, "The man _who_ was here."

_Which_ is applied to the lower animals and things without life; as, "The
horse _which_ I sold." "The hat _which_ I bought."

_That_ is applied to both persons and things; as, "The friend _that_
helps." "The bird _that_ sings." "The knife _that_ cuts."

_What_ is a compound relative, including both the antecedent and the
relative and is equivalent to _that which_; as, "I did what he desired,"
i. e. "I did _that which_ he desired."

Relative pronouns have the singular and plural alike.

_Who_ is either masculine or feminine; _which_ and _that_ are masculine,
feminine or neuter; _what_ as a relative pronoun is always neuter.

_That_ and _what_ are not inflected.