Is the relative clauses ----where and in which ----are one and same thing?

No they are not the same....but close!!!!

Kindly throw examples at us...That can help narrow down the scope of responses.

Let's assume we encounter a sentence and are unable to choose "where" over "in which" and vice-versa, then, i remember the following things.

"where" refers to the place/situation, while "in which" also refers to the time/duration. With "in which" there is a sense of enclosure

The place where I lived........The town where i come from...

'In which' tends to be more specific, more precise, as i said has a sense of "enclosure"

The box in which you keep the chocolates.....The house in which i lived.... The test in which a score less than 800 won't do

In sum, "where" has a strong sense of "place/ location".

Have you come across a GMAT Q that asks you to choose between "where" and "in which" and nothing else????

Also in some Qs when it is also used as relative pronoun. can we use "WHEN" as a relative pronoun?

Rajat Khandelwal wrote:Also in some Qs when it is also used as relative pronoun. can we use "WHEN" as a relative pronoun?

Wow, "when" as a relative pronoun???? that's pushing it a bit too far for GMAT ENGLISH, i would presume!!

Pick up "Manhattan's SC guide", one of the books recommended by beat the gmat for more GMAT specific knowledge on relative pronouns.

"When" is an interrogative pronoun as per Manhattan's SC guide, let's stick to that rule as a sermon.

But there are instances when "when" is used as a relative pronoun...

When "when" is synonymous with "once" as in "once we're there", OR, "as soon as we're there", it does the work of "after" or when "when" can be used as "at which time"...."when" is a relative pronoun.....

But as i said, let's stick to what is tested...the scope is very well defined by Manhattan's SC guide