Relatives Clauses

We use relative clauses to give additional information about something without starting another sentence. The relatives who, which, that, where whose and when can introduce a relative clause. These pronouns refer to the noun that go before the proposition of relative.

Who/That We use who or that to introduce a person: The girl who/that lives here is very friendly. (La chica que vive aquí es muy simpática)

Which/That We use which or that to introduce a thing: The bag which/that we found was full of money. (El bolso que encontramos estaba lleno de dinero)

Where We use where to introduce a place or a space: This is the new stadium where Real Madrid play. (Éste es el nuevo estadio donde juega el Real Madrid)

Whose We use whose to mean ‘his’, ‘her’ or ‘their’: Do you know the boy whose mother is a nurse? ¿Conoces al chico cuya madre es enfermera?

When We use when to refer to a time expression: The day when I met him was unforgettable. (El día que le conocí fue inolvidable)

Whom We use whom to refer to an object pronoun for people, especially in non-defining relative clauses (in defining relative clauses we colloquially prefer who) I was invited by the professor whom I met at the conference. (Fui invitada por el profesor que conocí en la conferencia)

Defining clauses Defining relative clauses give detailed information defining a general term or expression. Defining relative clauses aren’t put in commas. The extra information is essential. This is the woman who climbed the mountain. (Ésta es la mujer que escaló la montaña)

Non-defining clauses Non-defining relative clauses give additional information of something, but don’t define it. Non-defining relative clauses are put in commas. The information extra isn’t essential to the meaning of the sentence. Serena Jackson, who works with your brother, has had an accident. (Serena Jackson, la que trabaja con tu hermano, ha tenido un accidente)

Omission of relatives pronouns In defining relative clauses you can leave out the relative pronoun when it is the object of the verb. He is the boy (who) I like → who refers to the boy and is the object of the verb ‘like’ When we talk we use to omit the relative pronouns who, which, that, where and when. We never miss out the relative pronoun whose. In non-defining relative clauses you never can leave out the relative pronoun. Granada, where I was born, is a beautiful city.

Preposition with pronouns In formal English, we put a preposition before the relative pronouns. However, in colloquial English is more normal to put the preposition at the end of the sentence. For whom did they play? = Who did they play for? (¿Para qué equipo jugaban?) Who/that never is used before a preposition. The team for whom I played never won a match. NO The team for who I played never won a match. (El equipo para el que jugaba nunca ganó un partido)

By: Mª Jesús López Fuentes Alba Molina Corpas Ana Isabel Ortiz López