The document discusses relative clauses and how they are used to provide additional information about a person, place, or thing without starting a new sentence. It explains that relative clauses combine two sentences using a relative pronoun such as who, which, that, or whose. Examples are provided to illustrate how to form relative clauses using these relative pronouns, including replacing the repeated word with the pronoun in the second part of the sentence. Common relative pronouns are defined along with their uses. An exercise is included for the reader to practice completing sentences with the appropriate relative pronoun.

1. “RELATIVE CLAUSES”

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We use relative clauses to give
additional information about something
without starting another sentence.
By combining sentences with a relative
clause, your text becomes more fluent
and you can avoid repeating certain
words.

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1. How to Form Relative
Clauses?
Imagine, a girl is talking to Tom.
You want to know who she is and
ask a friend whether he knows
her. You could say:

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“A girl is talking to Tom.
Do you know the girl?”
That sounds rather complicated, doesn't
it? It would be easier with a relative
clause: you put both pieces of information
into one sentence.
Start with the most important thing – you
want to know who the girl is.

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“Do you know the girl …”
As your friend cannot know which
girl you are talking about, you need
to put in the additional information
– the girl is talking to Tom.

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Use „the girl“ only in the first
part of the sentence, in the
second part replace it with the
relative pronoun (for people, use
the relative pronoun „who“). So
the final sentence is:
“Do you know the girl whowho is
talking to Tom?”

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In other words...
It is necessary to use
relative pronouns to join two
sentences and at the end
we'll have a relative clause.

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2. RELATIVE PRONOUNS
The relative pronouns are
those words that help us to
join two sentences by replacing
another one.
Let's see them...

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Relative pronoun: WHO(quien)
Example:
I told you about the woman who lives
next door.
Use: Subject or object pronoun
for people.

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Relative pronoun: WHICH(El cual, la cual)
Example:
Do you see the cat which is lying on the
roof?
Use: Subject or object pronoun
for animals or things.

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Relative pronoun: WHICH (Lo cual)
Example:
He couldn’t read which surprised me.
Use: Referring to a whole sentence.

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Relative pronoun: WHOSE (Cuyo/a)
Example:
Do you know the boy whose mother is a
nurse?
Use: Possession for people animals
and things.

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Relative pronoun: WHOM (a quien)
Example:
I was invited by the professor whom I
met at the conference.
Use: Object pronoun for people,
especially in non-defining
relative clauses.

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Relative pronoun: THAT (Que)
Example:
I don’t like the table that stands in the
kitchen.
Use: Subject or object pronoun
for people, animals and things
in defining relative clauses
(who or which are also
possible)

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Exercise 1: Complete with who,
which or whose.
1. This is the bank ______ was robbed
yesterday.
2. A boy _____sister is in my class was in
the bank at that time.
3. The man _____robbed the bank had two
pistols.
4. He wore a mask _____made him look like
Mickey Mouse.

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5. He came with a friend_____ waited
outside in the car.
6. The woman _____gave him the money was
young.
7. The bag _____contained the money was
yellow.
8. The people _____were in the bank were
very frightened.
9. A man ______mobile was ringing did not
know what to do.

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10. A woman ______daughter was crying
tried to calm her.
11. The car _____the bank robbers
escaped in was orange.
12. The robber _____mask was obviously
too big didn't drive.
13. The man ______drove the car was
nervous.
14. He didn't wait at the traffic lights_____
were red.

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Material created by
Danitza Lazcano Flores
Teacher of English
Master in Education
Educational Counselor