Grammar explanation

1. RELATIVE CLAUSES

2. RELATIVE PRONOUNS
• WHO- people
• WHOM- people ( formal)
• WHICH- animals or things
• THAT- people, animals or things ( informal)
• WHEN- time
• WHERE- place
• WHOSE- possession

3. DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSE
• NO COMMAS
• ESSENTIAL INFORMATION
• WHO/WHICH/THAT CAN BE OMITTED IF THEY ARE THE
OBJECT OF THE VERB.

4. WE CAN OMIT THE REL PRONOUN…
• That’s the woman who helped me.
WHO is the subject of the relative clause, so we cannot omit it.
• That’s the boy who I talked to yesterday.
WHO can be omitted here because it’s the object. (El que habló fui
yo)
• TIP: if after the relative pronoun you see a verb it is because the relative pronoun is the
subject. If you see , for example, a pronoun or a noun, you can omit it because it’s the object.

5. EXAMPLES
• A man robbed the bank. He had two guns.
The man who robbed the bank had two guns.
• A woman gave me money. She was young
The woman who gave me money was young.
• A police officer stopped and arrested them. His car was parked at the
next corner.
A police officer whose car was parked at the next corner stopped and
arrested them.

6. NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES
• COMMAS
• NO THAT
• RELATIVE PRONOUNS CAN NEVER BE OMITTED
• EXTRA INFORMATION

7. EXAMPLES
• John Lennon was born in Liverpool. He was a famous singer.
John Lennon, who was born in Liverpool, was a famous singer.
John Lennon, who was a famous singer, was born in Liverpool.
• Madrid is the capital of Spain. I live there.
Madrid, where I live, is the capital of Spain.
BE CAREFUL WITH PLACES:
I like restaurants where there aren’t many people.
I like restaurants which are small.
• We spent our holidays in Scotland. It is in the north of Great Britain.
We spent our holidays in Scotland, which is in the north of Great Britain.

8. AMBIGUITY
El Corte Inglés, which is a huge department store, sells many English products.
( cualquier Corte Inglés los vende)
El Corte Inglés where my mum works sells many English products.
( solamente los vende el C Inglés donde mi madre trabaja)
My students who were thirsty were given some soft drinks.
( solamente les dieron los refrescos a los que tenían sed)
My students, who were thirsty, were given soft drinks.
( les dieron refrescos a todos y aparte te digo que tenían sed)

9. RELATIVE CLAUSES WITH PREPOSITIONS
FORMAL: the preposition goes before the relative pronoun
This is the university for which I applied.
We use WHOM insted of WHO after a preposition
The students with whom I talked were friendly
INFORMAL: The preposition goes at the end of the relative
clase, after the verb.
This is the book (which/that) I’ve been looking for.
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