Step 1: Understanding the Question:
The sentence given is "It is Atul who gave me the pen," and we must identify what kind of pronoun "who" is in this sentence.
Step 2: Key Formula or Approach:
A relative pronoun is a word that introduces a clause giving more information about a noun mentioned earlier in the sentence, connecting that clause back to the noun. Common relative pronouns include "who," "whom," "which," and "that."
Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
In the sentence, "who" comes right after "Atul" and introduces the clause "who gave me the pen," which tells us more about Atul, specifically that he is the one who performed the action of giving the pen.
Because "who" links this extra piece of information back to the noun "Atul," it is functioning as a relative pronoun, not as some other part of speech.
Now consider why the other options are wrong.
Option (a) "object pronoun" is wrong because object pronouns (such as "him," "her," "them") replace a noun that receives the action of a verb, but "who" here is not replacing an object, it is connecting a describing clause to "Atul."
Option (c) "preposition" is wrong because a preposition shows a relationship of place, time, or direction (such as "in," "on," "by"), and "who" does none of that here.
Option (d) "conjunction" is wrong because although "who" does join two parts of the sentence, a plain conjunction (like "and" or "but") does not also stand in for a noun the way "who" does here, since "who" itself refers back to Atul and plays the role of subject in its own clause ("who gave me the pen").
Step 4: Final Answer:
"Who" refers back to Atul and introduces a clause describing him, so it is a relative pronoun. The correct option is (b).