RELATIVE CLAUSES
ADJECTIVE CLAUSES
USE AND TYPES
• Relative clauses are also called adjective clauses
because they define a noun as an adjective would
do.
• For example :
• Yesterday , I saw Sarah
• Who is Sarah?
• Sarah is the girl (who lives next to me) this is the
relative clause . It explains us who are we talking
about. It restricts the meaning of the
USES AND TYPES II
• Of the noun that comes before. That noun is
called Antecedent .
• The relative clauses that restrict or define the
previous noun are called Defining ( in Spanish ,
Especificativas) and they are essential for the
sentence meaning:
• The man (who won the Nobel Prize) was Dutch
DEFINING
• Who won the Nobe prize is the relative clause
and defines which man are we talking about.
DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES.
-Characteristics :
1º- They are essential for the meaning of the
sentence.
2º - They can be introduced by the following
pronouns and adverbs :
Defining –Relative Pronouns and Adverbs
• Who /that : is used when the antecedent refers to a
noun .
• Whom : it also refers to a noun but it always
function as a complement. It is very formal and most
of the times is substituted by who.
e.g. The man to whom I talked yesterday is my
nephew .
In this case is much more common to use who and
put the preposition at the end of the relative clause
DEFINING
• E.g. The man who I talked to is my nephew
• Which/ That is used when the antecedent
refers to things or animals.
e.g.: The plant (which you watered) yesterday
is a cactus.
The dog which was abandoned was a
puppy .
. Whose : cuyo, cuya , cuyos ,cuyas in Spanish.
RELATIVE PRONOUNS
• Whose is a possessive relative pronoun
because substitutes to a possessive .
e.g. The woman is devastated. Her child died
in the accident .
The woman whose child died in the accident
is devastated. (cuyo hijo)
- When : relative adverb . Refers to time
That was the year when he died .
DEFINING
•WHERE
Straford-Upon-Avan is the city where Shakespare was
born
-THAT can be used instead of who or which in defining
relative clauses but it is very informal
3º In defining relative clauses the relatives (who, which or
that, can be omitted if it is followed by a noun or
personal pronoun because in these cases that noun or
personal pronouns are the subjects of the sentence .:
OMISSION
• For example
The man ( who you saw the other day) got the
job.
As the relative WHO is followed by a personal
pronoun we can omit it.
The man you saw the other day got the job.
The same happens with which or that they
WHEN TO OMIT THE RELATIVE
• Can be omitted if followed by a noun or
personal pronoun:
• The notebook which /that Mary bought is
very expensive .
• So we omit it :the notebook Mary bought is
very expensive .
However if this doesn’t happen it cannot be
omitted
OMISSION OF THE RELATIVE
• E.g. : The man ( who lives upstairs) is
Canadian. (subject)
Here Who cannot be omitted because it is
not followed by a noun or personal pronoun
but by a verb . Here WHO is the subject of the
sentence and in that case cannot be omitted.
4º Relative + preposition :
In defining relative clauses when a relative goes
RELATIVE + PREPOSITION
• With a preposition , usually the relative is
omitted and the preposition is placed at the
end of the relative clause.
e.g. . The girl with whom/who I’m sharing my
flat has been in Spain for a year.
In this case it is much common to say:
The girl I’m sharing my flat WITH has been…
RELATIVE + PREPOSITION
• The relative has been omitted and WITH takes
a final position in its clause.
• Another example :
• The topic about which you were talking is
very interesting .
We have to omit the relative and place WHICH
at the end of its clause
The topic you were talking ABOUT is very …
PLACES + WHERE OR WHICH
• If we want to translate the sentence:
La ciudad en la que vivo
You can use : the city where I live
Or The city which I live in .
In the last case which is omitted but not the
preposition: the city I live in .
NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES
• NON-DEFINING
CHARACTERISTICS :
- They don’t restrict or define the antecedent
but give additional information about it .
- The relatives who or which can never be
omitted .
- THAT can never be used.
- They usually go between commas.
NON-DEFINING
• Madrid , which is the capital of Spain, is very
polluted.
• Note: remember in Defining only WHO-
WHICH-THAT nor the others can be omitted if
followed by a noun!!
LINKING SENTENCES
• One of the uses of relative pronouns is to link
sentences to avoid repetitions .
• Remember the relative pronoun cannot be
separated from its antecedent , that is the
noun it refers to .
