RELATIVE CLAUSES

What are relative clauses? Subordinate clauses which allow us to add information about people or things we are talking to, without a need to repeat the name e.g. That is the house. The house was built on the main road. That is the house which was built on the main road.

Relative clauses are introduced just after the antecedent and are introduced by a pronoun or a relative adverb. The most frequent ones are: who; whom; which; that (only in defining relative clauses) and relative adverbs: where; when; why.

After preposition you write whom for people and which for things, but it is more common to place prepositions at the end of the sentence (and it is more usual in spoken English). e.g. This is the boy about whom you were asking me This is the boy (who) you were asking me about. Only whom and which, you can’t use it with ‘that’

DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES They give essential information about their antecedent and without them, the meaning will be incompleted. That is why you write them without commas. (oracions especificatives) The computer which we bought is very expensive The man who is coming will bring us the present

But if it’s not the subject it can be omitted Relative pronouns can’t be omitted if it’s the subject of the relative clauses. The man who visited yesterday is an actor The house that was so old was rebuilt. But if it’s not the subject it can be omitted the man (whom/that) I met at the party told me the truth The house (which/that) we bought is very comfortable

whose can’t be omitted, though it’s never a subject If the relative pronoun is followed by a verb, then it can’t be omitted. If the relative is followed by a subject + verb, then it’s almost sure you can drop it whose can’t be omitted, though it’s never a subject e.g. the horse whose leg you broke had to be killed ‘what’ means ‘el que’ ‘les coses que’ and is used when the antecedent is understood e.g. I know what you did last summer.

NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES If we remove this relative clause, there’s no problem to understand the main sentence, since it gives extra information. Thus, we write it between commas. e.g. The European Police Force, which began working in 1999, is called Europol.

The antencedent is usually a proper name of a person or thing and it contains a possessive like ‘my’, ‘his’, ‘her’, the definite article ‘the’ or demonstratives like ‘this’, ‘that’, ‘these’ or ‘those’: My house, which is quite comfortable, needs redecorating. This book, which I bought last week, is not as interesting as I thought.

Main Features: Between commas ‘That’ is not allowed The relative pronoun can’t be omitted It’s less frequent than defining relative clauses. It is more formal and usually used in written texts.

RELATIVE CLAUSES NON-DEFINING DEFINING fgfgfghfgh PRONOUNS PRONOUNS The information given is not essential,it can be omitted. They give us essential information PRONOUNS PRONOUNS WHO THAT WHICH THAT WHO WHICH WHOSE WHEN WHEN/THAT WHOM WHOSE WHERE WHERE

Defining and Non-Defining Use these prompts to write one sentences for each question. Sometimes you need a defining relative clause (i.e. without commas) and sometimes you need a non-defining relative clause - with commas. Examples: Defining - We went and had dinner at that restaurant that you sister recommended. Non-Defining - We went and had dinner at the "Three Roses" restaurant, which your sister recommended

1. Bob has one daughter. His daughter is called Maria 1.Bob has one daughter. His daughter is called Maria. She goes to Yale University. Bob's daughter ________________________________. Bob´s daughter, whose name is Maria, goes to Yale University. 2. You recommended a book for me. I read it. I read ________________________________. I read the book (that/which) you recommended me. 3. Havana is the capital of Cuba. Havana has a lively night life. Havana ________________________________. Havana, which is the capital of Cuba, has a lively night life. 4. One of my sisters lives in Paris. The other one lives in London. The one in Paris is getting married next year. My sister ________________________________. My sister who lives in Paris is getting married next year.

5. Michael Jackson made a video in 1984. It was called "Thriller" 5. Michael Jackson made a video in 1984. It was called "Thriller". It is considered a classic by his fans. In 1984 Michael Jackson ________________________________. In 1984 Michael Jackson made his video “Thriller”, which is considered a classic by his fans.. 6. I have a lot of friends. One is a dentist. He lives in Hawaii. I have a friend ________________________________. I have a friend who is a dentist and lives in Hawaii. 7. Lord Aston was born in 1834. He was born in Hambwell House in the north of England. Hambwell House is now a school. Lord Aston was born ________________________________. Lord Aston was born in 1834 in Hambwell House, which is in the north of England and is now a school. 8. We visited four cities on our European tour. All of us preferred the same city. It was also the most expensive. All of us ________________________________. All of us preferred the most expensive city of the four (cities) (which/that)we visited on our European tour.