Relative clauses.- Grammar tips

Las relative clauses u oraciones en relativo son aquellas que ejercen la función de oración subordinada en relación a la oración principal.

En el post de hoy os las explicaremos con detenimiento cuáles son las relative clauses y sus usos:

1- RELATIVE CLAUSES:

  • RELATIVE PRONOUNS

Relative clauses are introduced by a relative pronoun. The relative pronouns are:

Who: for people.

-Whom: for people.

Which: for things or animals.

That: for people, animals, or things.

Whose: for people, animals or things.

Where: for places.

When: for time.

Why/that.

relative clauses

2- DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES:

The relative pronouns that are used in defining relative clauses are:

Who/that: The woman who/that plays tennis with us is John’s mum.

Whom/that: The man whom/that I met at the party is her brother.

Which/that: The car which/that is outside is mine.

Whose: She is the artist whose paintings are very popular.

Where: The Village where she lives is near Vila-real.

When/that: That was the day when/that I met Mary.

Why/that: This is not the reason why I called.

Defining relative clauses provide the information that is necessary in a clause. Without this, the clause would not have a complete meaning. Look at the example:

The man who used to live next door has moved to London.

If we leave out the defining relative clause, only the main clause remains: ……..The defining relative clause, ie: who used to live next door, is necessary for the clause to have a complete meaning: It answers the question: Which man?

3- CONTACT CLAUSES

When the relative pronoun is the object of the defining relative clause, then usually, we omit it. We thus convert the defining relative clause into a contact clause.

He’s the boy. I met him at the party.

He’s the boy who I met at the party.

He’s the boy I met at the party.

When the relative pronoun is the subject of the relative sentence, it cannot be omitted.

I talked to the man who owns the shop.

I talked to the man owns the shop.

Whose is never omitted:

That’s the girl whose father is a famous artist

That’s the girl father is a famous artist

4- NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

The relative pronouns that we use in non-defining relative clauses are:

Who: Albert Einstein, who was a well-known scientist, loved playing the vionlin.

Who/Whom: The man, who/whom I met yesterday, is coming the party.

Which: The African elephant, which is the largest land mammal, is in danger of extinction.

Whose: Mr and Mrs Smith, whose daughter comes to my class, are coming for lunch today.

Where: I would like to travel to London, where my sister is living.

When: She was born in 1969, when the first astronauts landed on the moon.

Non-defining relative clauses provide additional information about somebody or something. They are not necessary in a clause in order for it to have a complete meaning.

Non-defining relative clauses always go between two commas when they are in the middle of the clause.

My mother, who is a teacher, lives in London.

If the non-defining relative clause is at the end of the clause, we put a comma before it.

I asked John, who said he wasn’t going to come to the party.

-Relative pronouns cannot be left out of non-defining relative clauses.

The television, which I bought yesterday, costs a lot of money.

The television, I bought yesterday, costs a lot of money.

In non-defining relative clauses which or who cannot be replaced by that.

The house, which used to be a museum, was built 1000 years ago.

The house, that used to be a museum, was built 1000 years ago.

SOURCES:

Grammar time 6

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/pronouns/relative_pronouns.htm

http://www.montsemorales.com/gramatica/RelativeBU4-7.htm

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