RELATIVE
CLAUSES
What is a relative clause?
What is a relative clause?
A sentence that “He’s the man who scored
gives information the winning goal.”
about a noun
(person, thing,
“The hotel which is in
place, etc.) front of the beach is very
expensive.”
What are relative pronouns and adverbs?
They introduce relative clauses:
“The man who works at the supermarket is from Ukraine.”
“The restaurant where we had dinner last week is very nice.”
“The year when I passed the PAU was very hard.”
“La Bestia, which has won a prize, can be bought in that bookshop.”
“The student whose mother is a lawyer wants to study law.”
time
things
that
who people
which possession
things
where
when time
whose people
place
that people time things
who
which possession
things
where
when time
whose people
place
that people time things
who people
which possession
things
where
when time
whose
place
that people time things
who people
which things possession
where
when time
whose
place
that people time things
who people
which things possession
where place
when time
whose
that people time things
who people
which things possession
where place
when time
whose
that people time things
who people
which things
where place
when time
whose possession
SB pg 119: Ex 1, 2
TYPES OF RELATIVE CLAUSES
DEFINING NON-DEFINING
“ESPEFICICATIVAS”
Commas “The students, who are
hardworking, passed the
Extra information
exam.”
“EXPLICATIVAS”
“The students who are
No commas hardworking passed the
Necessary information
exam.”
TYPES OF RELATIVE CLAUSES
DEFINING NON-DEFINING
Necessary information Extra information
No commas Commas
“The students who are “The students, who are
hardworking passed the exam.” hardworking, passed the exam.”
“ESPEFICICATIVAS” “EXPLICATIVAS”
TYPES OF RELATIVE CLAUSES
NON-DEFINING
We can combine two simple
sentences in two ways. We
usually include the less Extra information
important information in the
non-defining clause.
“The students, who passed
Commas
the exam, are hardworking.”
“The students, who are
hardworking, passed the exam.”
“EXPLICATIVAS”
that people time objects
who people
which objects
where place
“that” cannot
be used in non-
when time defining relative
clauses.
whose possession
SB pg 119: Ex 3, 4 & 5
When can we omit the relative pronoun?
We can omit the relative pronouns WHO, WHEN, WHERE, WHICH and
THAT in DEFINING relative clauses when its function in the sentences
is NOT the subject.
“The woman that I saw yesterday was Mary.”
“The woman I saw yesteray was Mary.”
“The woman that came yesterday was Mary.”
“The woman came yesterday was Mary”
We cannot omit WHOSE.
SB pg 119: Ex 6, 7
REMEMBER
After all, everything, nothing, something and superlatives,
we use THAT:
“All that she wants is true love.”
When we refer to a whole clause, we use WHICH:
“He failed the exam, which made him parents very angry.”
WHAT does not refer to a noun that comes before it. It acts as a
noun and relative pronoun and means the thing(s) that:
“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
Formal & informal structures
In informal style, prepositions go AFTER the verb:
“This is the film that I told you about.”
In formal style, prepositions go BEFORE which and whom:
“John Dean is the guy to whom I sent the letter.”
