RELATIVE CLAUSES

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:

DEFINIG RELATIVE CLAUSES

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.

SUBJECT OBJECT POSSESSIVE

For Persons

WhoThat

(Who/whom)(That)

Whose

For things WhichThat

(Which)(That)

Whose/of which

RELATIVE PRONOUNS

Sujeto: who or thatThe 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.

DEFINIG RELATIVE CLAUSES. PEOPLE- RELATIVE PRONOUN AS SUBJECT

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.

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.

DEFINIG RELATIVE CLAUSES. PEOPLE- RELATIVE PRONOUN AS OBJECT

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.

EXAMPLES:

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:

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.

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.

MORE EXAMPLES

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 )

DEFINIG RELATIVE CLAUSES. PEOPLE- RELATIVE PRONOUN AS POSSESSIVE

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.

DEFINIG RELATIVE CLAUSES. THINGS- RELATIVE PRONOUN AS SUBJECT

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.

DEFINIG RELATIVE CLAUSES. THINGS- RELATIVE PRONOUN AS OBJECT

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.

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

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 whichThe reason why he refused is …

RELATIVE ADVERBS

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.

NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

SUBJECT OBJECT POSSESSIVE

For Persons Who Who/whom Whose

For things Which Which Whose/of which

RELATIVE PRONOUNS

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.

NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES: PERSONAS

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.

NON-DEFINIG RELATIVE CLAUSES. PEOPLE- RELATIVE PRONOUN AS OBJECT

Con una preposición: whomNo 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

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.

NON-DEFINIG RELATIVE CLAUSES. PEOPLE- POSSESSIVE

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.

NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES: COSAS

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

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.

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.

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.

PHRASAL VERBS

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.

NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES: POSSESSION