Relative Clauses

Relative clauses

María del Carmen Carmona Moreno

Summary

They are adjective subordinate clauses introduced by a relative pronoun or adverb. They can be of two types:

Defining(especificativas)

Non-defining(explicativas)

Defining Relative Clauses

They provide essential information to identify the antecedents

• WHO/WHICH can be changed by THAT: They can be omitted if they function as a complement to the subordinate clause
• The old man(who /that) you helped the other day is my grandfather
• WHEN: It is often replaced by THAT or omitted in informal contexts when preceded by nouns that refer to time(day,week, time,etc).
• That is the day (when/that) they got married.
• WHOSE and WHERE can't be omitted or replaced by THAT
• She is the girl whose poem won the first prize.
• If the relative has a preposition, it is most common to omit it and put the preposition after the verb of the subordinate clause.
• The woman(who/that)you just talked TO is an exceptional violinist.

NON-Defining Relative Clauses

They add information that is not necessary to identify the antecedents and are enclosed in commas. They are formed with WHO, WHICH, WHERE, WHEN and WHOSE

• Smith,who is a nutricionist, does not approve of crash diet

PRONOUNS IN DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

• WHO/THAT----> PEOPLE
• WHICH/THAT---> OBJECTS, ANIMALS, ETC
• WHEN/THAT---> A MOMENT IN TIME
• WHERE-->A PARTICULAR PLACE
• WHOSE--->POSSESSION

PRONOUNS IN NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

• WHO----> PEOPLE
• WHICH---> OBJECTS, ANIMALS, ETC
• WHEN---> A MOMENT IN TIME
• WHERE-->A PARTICULAR PLACE
• WHOSE--->POSSESSION

• *THAT CANNOT BE USED:
• HARRY, WHO/THAT IS A REMARKABLE STUDENT, WAS GRANTED A SCHOLARSHIP

FORMAL AND INFORMAL STRUCTURES

• In defining relative clauses, when the relative is accompanied by a preposition, WHICH is still used if the antecedent is a thing; but if it's a person instead of WHO, WHOM is used.
• The most common in both cases is to put the preposition behind the verb of the subordinate clause and omit the relative pronoun
• This is the building in which I have lived for three years(formal)
• This is the building(which) I have lived in for three years(informal)
• THe man to whom he talked was the manager(formal)
• The man (who)he talked to was the manager(informal)

THanks!