Learn English – Combining sentences with “who”

relative-clausesrelative-pronounssentence-construction

I have to combine sentences in many ways.
Could you help me check them please?

  1. I was sitting on the bridge.
  2. I watched the children.

I think it is okay to combine sentences like this.

Watching the children, I was sitting on the bridge,

But is it possible if I use “who” like the sentence below?

I, who watched the children, was sitting on the bridge.

I'm not sure that "who" can be after personal pronoun or not.

Best Answer

It is possible, but unusual.

According to Practical English Usage by Michael Swan,

498 relatives (5): advanced points
12 agreement of person
Most relative clauses have third-person reference; I who ... , you who ... and we who ... are unusual, though they sometimes occur in a very formal style.

You who pass by, tell them of us and say
For their tomorrow we gave our today.
(Allied war memorial at Kohima)

Here is one such example,

"The beggarly Jewish radicals of the 30's are now the ruling cultural pundits of American society -- I who stood so long outside the door wondering if I would ever get through it, am now one of the standard-bearers of American literary opinion -- a judge to young men."
--Kazin, Alfred. The Passionate Encounter: In 65 years of keeping a journal, a noted midcentury critic had much to say about his fellow writers and the literary world they shared.

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