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RELATIVE CLAUSES

1. DEFINITION

Relative clauses are SUBORDINATE clauses that FUNCTION as an ADJECTIVE within the sentence. Compare:

I like the yellow t-shirt.

art. adjective noun

S V O

I like the t-shirt that’s on the shop window.

art. noun relative clause = adjective

S V O

2. INTRODUCTORY WORDS

RELATIVE PRONOUNS

|who / whom |que / quien (persona) |The boy who is speaking is my brother. |

|that |que (pers., cosa, animal) |The book that you need is on the second shelf. |

|which |que (cosa, animal) |The book which you need is on the second shelf. |

|whose |cuyo / cuyos |The man whose car was stolen lives next to me. |

RELATIVE ADVERBS

|when |en (el) que |Remember the day when we met? |

|where |en (el) que |This is the house where Joe was born. |

|why |por la que |Tell me the reason why you did it. |

3. TYPES OF RELATIVE CLAUSE

Compare:

a) The passengers who had visas had no trouble at the frontier. (DEFINING)

b) The passengers, who had visas, had no trouble at the frontier. (NON-DEFINING)

DEFINING

The relative clause gives essential information to IDENTIFY, define or classify the noun. So, only the passengers with visas had no trouble; the others had.

Defining relative clauses can be introduced by any type of introductory word and there are certain circumstances in which we can omit the pronouns THAT, WHICH, WHO.

A – PRONOUN AS SUBJECT OF SUBORDINATE CLAUSE.

When THAT, WHICH, WHO function as subject of the subordinate clause they cannot be omitted. Remember that subjects are essential in English.

Ex: I need someone who can speak English.

noun S V O

S V O

Other examples:

This is the horse which won the race.

Take the magazines that are on the table.

B – PRONOUN AS OBJECT OF SUBORDINATE CLAUSE.

When THAT, WHICH, WHO function as object of the subordinate clause they can be omitted.

Ex: I don’t like the things (that) you say to me.

art noun DO S V IO

S V O

Other examples:

This is the horse (which) I am training.

You can take the magazines (that) I was reading.

C – PRONOUN + PREPOSITION.

The relative clause may be introduced by a preposition + THAT, WHICH, WHO. In this case we have three possibilities:

← PREPOSITION + PRONOUN

The man from whom I bought this ring has disappeared.

The box in which he puts his things is not safe.

← PRONOUN + PREPOSITION AT THE END

The man who I bought this ring from has disappeared.

The box which he puts his things in is not safe.

← OMIT THE PRONOUN

The man I bought this ring from has disappeared.

The box he puts his things in is not safe.

NON-DEFINING

The relative clause gives extra information about the noun, it’s a comment. Therefore, all the passengers had visas and so, they had no trouble at the frontier.

Non-defining relative clauses introduced by any type of introductory word except for THAT, which is never used. Pronouns can never be omitted.

Non-defining relative clauses can be easily identified because they are separated by commas from the rest of the sentence.

The relative pronouns WHO, WHICH, can function as subject / object of the relative clause:

Patrick, who lives next door , is a famous journalist.

S V CCL

Patrick, whom/who I saw yesterday , is a famous journalist.

IO S V CCT

Non-defining relative clauses can also be introduced by preposition. It may appear at the beginning or at the end of the relative clause.

My car, for which I paid so much, is broken.

My car, which I paid so much for, is broken.

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