GRAMMAR

RELATIVE CLAUSES (SUBORDINADAS DE RELATIVO)

THAT Que / cual (persona, animal/ cosa) WHERE Donde

WHO Quien / que (persona) WHEN Cuando
WHOSE Cuyo WHICH El cual
A quien
- Cuando va detrás de una preposición
WHOM
- En inglés formal (en los demás casos suele
utilizarse 'who').

DEFINING OR RESTRICTIVE RELATIVE CLAUSES

(Oraciones subordinadas adjetivas especificativas)
• Son información necesaria para especificar o identificar con más exactitud al
antecedente o palabra de la que se quiere dar información.
• No van separadas de la oración principal por comas.
• Van inmediatamente detrás del antecedente.
• El pronombre relativo puede omitirse si hace la función de objeto dentro de la oración
de relativo.

NON DEFINING OR NON RESTRICTIVE RELATIVE CLAUSES

(Oraciones subordinadas adjetivas explicativas)
• Son información añadida sobre el antecedente, por tanto, prescindible.
• Van separadas de la oración principal por comas.
• Van inmediatamente detrás del antecedente.
• Nunca puede omitirse el pronombre relativo.

RELATIVE PRONOUNS

DEFINING NON DEFINING

People Things People Things
Nominative Who / that Which / that Who Which
Objective Whom / that / who / Which / that/ omitted Whom / who Which
omitted
Genitive whose Of which / whose Whose Of which / whose
Locative When / where When / where

(*)TRUCO PARA SABER SI EL RELATIVO CUMPLE LA FUNCIÓN DE OBJETO:

Hay dos sujetos distintos en la frase (uno en la oración principal y otro en la subordinada)
En estos casos el relativo hace SUJETO y NO se puede omitir (sólo hay un sujeto en la
frase):
Where’s the girl that sells the tickets?
The house which / that is in the corner is expensive. (the house-Sujeto)
The exercises which / that are in the book are easy (the exercises -Sujeto)
En estos casos el relativo hace OBJETO y SÍ se puede omitir (hay dos sujetos distintos en
la frase, el de de la oración principal y el de la subordinada)
He is a man who/that/Ø people like. (people like the man-Objeto)
The man who/that/Ø I spoke to yesterday isn’t here now. (I spoke to the man)
The pool which /that/Ø his father has is dirty. (his father has the pool)
The T-shirt which /that/Ø you’re wearing is mine. (you’re wearing the T-shirt)
I want the drink which /that/Ø you had. (I want the drink)
Uso de las preposiciones en las oraciones de relativo (en dónde, de dónde, sobre quién…)
Si hay dos sujetos en la frase, el pronombre relativo se ELIMINA y la PREPOSICIÓN
se pone DESPUÉS DEL VERBO
Ejemplos:
The city (where) he lives IN has many bars (where-Complemento del N)
The girl (who) you are talking ABOUT studies here (who-Complemento del N)

SUSTITUCIÓN DE ORACIONES DE RELATIVO POR CONSTRUCCIONES

CON VERBO EN –ING Y FRASES PREPOSICIONALES (ÚTIL PARA REPHRASING)

En subordinadas adjetivas: El verbo en –ing sustituye a la oración subordinada de relativo.

The girls who wear white caps are nurses. (las chicas que llevan… son enfermeras)
The girls wearing white caps are nurses.
The man who is reading the newspaper uses glasses (el hombre que está leyendo...)
The man reading the newspaper uses glasses.

En subordinadas de relativo introducidas por una preposición:

The book which is on the table was printed in Italy (el libro que está en la mesa...)
The book on the table was printed in Italy (el libro de la mesa...)

Cuando alguien lleva puesto algo de ropa: Se utiliza la preposición in:

The lady who is wearing a blue dress is Anne (la señora que está llevando el vestido...)
The lady in a blue dress is Anne (la señora del vestido...)
That man who is wearing those white shoes is Mr Stewart.
That man in those white shoes is Mr Stewart.

Cuando alguien lleva puesto algo, en el sentido de transportar o cuando nos referimos a alguna
parte del cuerpo se utiliza la preposición with:
I don’t know that lady who is carrying the grey bag.
I don’t know that lady with the grey bag.
The boy who has a broken arm is my brother
The boy with a broken arm is my brother

Exsercise 1

Make one sentence from two:

1. A girl is now in hospital. She was injured in the accident.

………………………………………………………………………………….
2. A man told me you were away. He answered the phone.
………………………………………………………………………………….
3. A waitress was very impolite and impatient. She served us.
………………………………………………………………………………….
4. A building was destroyed in the fire. It has now been rebuilt.
………………………………………………………………………………….
 5. A bus goes to the airport. It runs every half hour.
………………………………………………………………………………….
6. I saw the man. He closed the door.
………………………………………………………………………………….
7. The girl is happy. She won the race.
………………………………………………………………………………….
8. The student is from China. He sits next to me.
………………………………………………………………………………….
9. We are studying sentences. They contain adjective clauses.
………………………………………………………………………………….
10. The taxi driver was friendly. He took me to the airport.
………………………………………………………………………………….
11. The woman was polite. She answered the phone.
………………………………………………………………………………….
12. The man has a good voice. He sang at the concert.
………………………………………………………………………………….
13. We enjoyed the actors. They played the leading roles.
………………………………………………………………………………….
14. The girl is hurt. She fell down the stairs.
………………………………………………………………………………….
15. The student is in my class. He is walking with Ann.
…………………………………………………………………………………..
16. The police caught the thief. He stole the money.
…………………………………………………………………………………..
17. Is the river very large? It flows through that town.
………………………………………………………………………………….
18. There is a new house in our neighborhood. It has a swimming pool.
…………………………………………………………………………………
19. The man is at the bus stop. He fixed our refrigerator.
…………………………………………………………………………………
20. Who are those students? They are talking to Mrs. Hinton.
…………………………………………………………………………………
Exsercise 2
1. I sent something to you. Did you receive it?
Did you…
2. I couldn’t buy the book. You recommended it to me.
I…
3. My sister didn’t want to go to bed. She had been waiting for the party all day.
My sister…
4. Pamela has just met the boy. She asked you for his phone number.
Pamela…
5. Sarah introduced me to her brother. I was looking forward to meeting him.
Sarah…
6. Alex Crivillé has finished second in the World Championship. His team mate
Mike
 Doohan has been his only rival.
Alex…
7. The little girl appeared among the bushes. We had been looking for her.
The little…
8. Your friend Mike ran over a little girl. She’s my neighbour’s daughter.
The little girl…
9. Uncle George didn’t want to come with us. We had taken him to town.
Uncle George…
10. Andrew showed me some photographs. I recommended you to see them.
I…
11. I have just met the writer. You asked me for her birthplace.
I…
12. Mr Álvarez Cascos has just remarried. He is the Vice- President of Spain.
Mr Álvarez…
13. Your sister has told me about her wedding. I gave her a lift to the station this
morning.
Your sister…
14. Someone says you are going to sell the house. You lived there for years.
Someone says…
15. The doctor has given me some pills. They will help me to overcome this bad cold
I’ve got.
The pills…
16. She didn’t have time to buy the drinks. You asked her for them.
She…
17. The criminal has finally been arrested. The police found his car near the
library.
The criminal.
18. The church was built hundreds of years ago. My best friend got married there.