Relative Clauses
RELATIVE CLAUSES
Defining Relative Clause
Usamos ‘defining relative clauses’ cuando queremos dar más información sobre la persona o cosa de la que hablamos. Sin esa información, la oración no tendrá sentido. No es lo mismo decir … “Send me the photo” que “Send me the photo which I took of you yesterday.”
Más ejemplos…
That’s the woman who stole my coat.
That’s the man that I spoke to last week.
Where is the apple that I told you to not to eat?
This is the cat which I adopted.
The hospital where I was born is being knocked down.
Remember…
Contiene información esencial sobre el sustantivo.
Si eliminamos la oración subordinada la frase no tiene sentido.
Podemos sustituir los pronombre relativos ‘which’ y ‘who’ por ‘that’.
Se puede omitir el pronombre si se refiere a un objeto.
Defining relative clauses:
(Oraciones de relativo especificativas)
When we talk about people, things and events to give essential information about the nouns they reter to.
A relative clause always comes after the noun it describes. If we erase the relative clause, the main sentence loses its full meaning.
The woman who/that lives next door works in a bank. ------> "who/that lives next door"’ is a defining relative clause. It tells us which woman we are talking about.
Look out! There’s the dog which/that bit my brother. ------> "which/that bit my brother"’ is a defining relative clause. It tells us which dog we are talking about.
With defining relative clauses we can use who or that to talk about people, which or that to talk about thing. There is no difference in meaning between these, though 'who' tends to be preferred in more formal use.
Omission of the relative:
a) Si el relativo no es el sujeto de la oración de relativo, sí se pude omitir.
· This is the skirt (which/that) I bought in the sales. ------> If the relative pronoun is the object of the main verb, "which / that" can be omitted. In this sentence "skirt" is the object of the verb (buy) and "I" is the subject.
· The assistant (who/that) we met was really kind.
· The car (which/that) I bought last week needs repairs.
· The book (which / that) she recommended is fascinating.
· The film (which/that) we saw last week was awful.
b) (relative + “be”) + adjective: The man (who/that is) interested in your car will telephone later. ------> If the relative clause contains the verb 'be' + an adjective phrase, you can omit the relative pronoun and the verb to be.
c) (relative + “be”) + preposition: The books (which/that are) on the table have been read. ------> If the relative clause contains the verb 'be' + a prepositional phrase, you can omit the relative pronoun and the verb to be.
d) (relative + “be” + past) participle: A person (who/that has been) tricked once is careful the next time. ------> If the relative clause contains the verb 'be' + a past participle [a passive form], you can omit the relative pronoun and the verb to be.
e) (relative + “be”) + -ing: The family (who/that are) living in the house are very rich. ------> If the relative clause contains the verb 'be' + a present participle [a continuous form], you can omit the relative pronoun and the verb to be.
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Non-defining Relative Clause
Usamos las ‘non-defining relative clauses’ cuando queremos unir dos oraciones en una. Por ejemplo…
The Queen will be 93 in April. She loves skydiving.
The Queen, who loves skydiving, will be 93 in April.
Más ejemplos…
These shoes, which I bought last week, are very uncomfortable.
My dog, which is called Pancake, is a vegetarian.
My sister, who lives in New York, is pregnant.
The Palace hotel, where many celebrities stay, is being closed down.
Remember…
Contiene información adicional sobre el sustantivo.
Usamos comas para separar la oración.
Si eliminamos la oración subordinada la frase sigue teniendo sentido.
No se puede usar ‘that’
No se puede omitir el pronombre.
Otros pronombres relativos que debes conocer:
whose
Se refiere solo a personas y lo utilizamos para mostrar posesión.
👉 de quien, cuyo, cuya, cuyos, cuyas, de que, del cual, de la cual, de los cuales, de las cuales,
The bakery whose owner died has now reopened.
The man whose name is David is my brother-in-law.
The author, whose book will be released tomorrow, is famous for running marathons.
whom
Se refiere también solo a personas. La diferencia con ‘who’, el cual actúa como sujeto, es que ‘whom’ se refiere a quién recibe la acción del verbo.
👉 a quien, al cual, a la cual, a los cuales, a las cuales.
Who is in charge of refunds? (quién)
Whom should I contact about the refund? (a quién)
Who is invited to the party? (quién)
Whom will you invite to the party? (a quién)
Es muy formal y un poco anticuado, por lo que casi no se usa hoy en día, a no ser que vaya después de una preposición o después de un cuantificador.
The lady to whom you spoke, is 100 years old.
The students, most of whom were Spanish, passed the test.
Si te ha sabido a poco, te invitamos a hacer nuestro mini test de gramática inglesa avanzada en esta entrada. (https://www.amigosingleses.com/2019/01/24/test-gramatica-inglesa/)
Non-Defining relative clauses:
We use non-defining relative clauses to give extra information about someone or something.
We use commas to separate a non-defining relative clause form the main clause. If we erase this clause, the main sentence keeps its full meaning.
We don't use the relative pronoun "that" in non-defining relative clauses.
The Maths teacher, who is very handsome, gave me a ten in my last test.
John, who is the neighbour's son, won the first prize in class.
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GAMES
All tenses: