Here you'll find some notes on relative clauses

2. Describen al antecedente para
distinguirlo de otros nombres de
la misma clase. En este caso la
proposición de relativo es
esencial y necesaria para el
entendimiento claro del
antecedente y en consecuencia
de la oración:

3. The man who told me this
refused to give me his name.
“who told me this” sería la
proposición de relativo.
 Si
la omitimos, no quedaría claro de
qué hombre estamos hablando.
 No se pone coma entre el
antecedente y la oración de relativo.

4. SUBJECT OBJECT POSSESSIVE
For Persons Who (Who/whom) Whose
That (That)
For things Which (Which) Whose/of
That (That) which

5. Sujeto: who or that
The man who robbed you has been arrested.
The girls who serve in the shop are the owner’s
daughters.
The book is about a man who deserts his wife.
THAT no se utiliza tan frecuentemente como WHO
excepto:
 Después de los adjetivos en grado superlativo:
He was the best king that/who ever sat on the
throne.

6.  Y después de all, nobody, no one, somebody,
someone, anybody, etc.
All who/that heard him was delighted.
I didn’t find anyone who/that had a car to
take me home.
En estos casos se utiliza who o that
indistintamente.

7. Complemento de un verbo:
whom, who o that
La forma del pronombre relativo en función de
complemento es WHOM, pero se considera
demasiado formal y apenas se utiliza en inglés
hablado.
En su lugar se utiliza who o that, siendo that más
frecuente en este caso, y todavía más normal es
omitir directamente el pronombre relativo.

8. The man whom I saw told me to come back
today.
The man who I saw told me to come back
today.
The man that I saw told me to come back
today.
The man I saw told me to come back today.

9. Con una preposición: whom o that
En lengua formal, la preposición se coloca
delante del pronombre relativo, que en este caso
será siempre WHOM:
The man to whom I spoke told me to wait at the
queue.
En lengua informal, lo normal es poner la
preposición al final de la oración de relativo.
En este caso se pueden utilizar los relativos who y
whom, aunque lo más común es utilizar THAT o
directamente omitir el relativo:

10. The man to whom I spoke told me to wait at
the queue.
The man whom/who I spoke to told me to wait
at the queue.
The man that I spoke to told me to wait at the
queue.
The man I spoke to told me to wait at the
queue.

11. The friend with whom I was travelling could
speak French.
The friend whom/who I was travelling with
could speak French.
The friend that I was travelling with could
speak French.
The friend I was travelling with could speak
French.

12. Possessive relative pronoun: whose
WHOSE es la única forma posible:
This is a film about a spy whose wife betrays
him.
(The man’s wife betrays him)
(His wife betrays him )

13. Sujeto: which o that
Se pueden utilizar indistintamente, aunque
which es más formal.
This is the picture which/ that caused such a
sensation.
The stairs which/that lead to the cellar are
rather slippery.

14. Complemento de un verbo: which,
that o sin pronombre relativo.
The car which/that I hired broke down after
five kilometres.
The car I hired broke down after five
kilometres.

15. Se suele utilizar THAT o directamente se omite
el relativo cuando éste funciona de
complemento del verbo:
 Después de all, much, little, everything, none,
no y los compuestos de no:
All the apples that fall down are eaten by the
pigs.
 y después de los superlativos:
This is the best hotel (that) I know.

16. Complemento de una preposición:
La construcción formal es preposición+which:
The ladder on which I was standing began to
slip.
… pero es más común poner la preposición al
final de la oración de relativo, utilizando
which, that o suprimiendo el relativo:
The ladder which/that I was standing on
began to slip.
The ladder I was standing on began to slip

17.  WHEN podría sustituir la combinación in/on
which cuando se refiere a tiempo:
The day when they arrived …
The year when she was born
 WHERE podría sustituir la combinación in/at
which cuando se refiere a lugar:
The hotel where they were staying …
 WHY podría sustituir la combinación for
which
The reason why he refused is …

18.  Se utilizan después de nombres que ya están
perfectamente definidos, lo que quiere decir que
no definen el nombre, sino que simplemente
añaden información acerca del mismo.
 Así pues, no son esenciales en la oración y por la
tanto se podrían suprimir sin que ello causara
confusión al sentido de la misma.
 Van separadas del nombre al que se refieren (su
antecedente) por una coma.
 El pronombre de relativo no se puede suprimir
nunca.
 Es una construcción más formal y más común en
el uso escrito de la lengua que en el oral.

19. SUBJECT OBJECT POSSESSIVE
For Persons Who Who/whom Whose
For things Which Which Whose/of which

20. Sujeto: who
No existe la posibilidad de utilizar otro
pronombre:
My neighbour, who is very pessimistic, says
there Hill be no apples this year.
Peter, who had been driving all day,
suggested stopping at the next town.
I’ve invited Ann, who lives in the next flat.

21. Complemento de un verbo:
Whom / who
 El pronombre no se puede omitir. Whom
sería la forma correcta aunque algunas
veces se utiliza who a nivel oral.
Peter, whom everyone suspected, turned
out to be innocent.
She introduced me to her husband, whom I
hadn’t met before.

22. Con una preposición: whom
No podemos omitir el relativo y la preposición
normalmente va delante de éste:
Mr Jones, for whom I was working, was very
generous.
De todos modos, es correcto poner la
preposición al final de la oración de relativo,
estructura usada especialmente a nivel oral.
Mr Jones, who/whom I was working for, was
very generous

23. Posesión: whose
Ann, whose children are at school all day, is
trying to get a job.
This is George, whose class you will be taking
next week.

24. Sujeto: which
The tower block, which cost $5 million to
build, has been empty for five years.
The 8.15 train, which is usually very punctual,
was late today.

25. Complemento: which
She gave me this jumper, which she had
knitted herself.
These books, which you can get at any
bookshop, will give you all the information
you need

26. Con una preposición:
La preposición se puede poner delante de
which o en un uso más informal, al final de la
oración de relativo.
Ashdown Forest, through which we’ll be
driving, isn’t a forest any longer.
Ashdown Forest, which we’ll be driving
through, isn’t a forest any longer.

27. MORE EXAMPLES
His house, for which he paid $10.000 ten years
ago, is now worth $30.000.
His house, which he paid $10.000 for ten years
ago, is now worth $30.000.

28. Cuando la preposición que encontramos en la
oración que analizamos forma parte de un
phrasal verb (look forward to, look after, put up
with,…), debe mantenerse como una unidad, es
decir la preposición irá siempre detrás del
verbo correspondiente.
This machine, which I have looked after for
twenty years, is still working perfectly.
Your inefficiency, which we have put up with for
too long, is beginning to annoy our customers.

29. Posesión: whose, of which
 Normalmente se utiliza whose tanto para
animales como para cosas.
 Of which, para cosas es posible pero muy
inusual, excepto en registros muy formales:
His house, whose windows were all broken,
was a depressing sight.
The car, whose handbrake wasn’t very
reliable, began to slide backwards.