Relative Clauses

Relative Particles
Defining Non-defining

Person Thing Person Thing

Subject Object Subject Object Object Subject

Object Subject
Preposition
Preposition

who

whose

Why Which (Con)

Where What Esquema
When
de la
that
presentación
Relative clauses
1) Defining Relative Clauses

2) Non-defining Relative Clauses

3) Relative Particles
 Relative Particles

Relative Pronouns Relative Adverbs

Who (for people)

Whom (for people) Which (Connector) When
Which (for things) Where
That (for people & things) What (special case) Why
Whose (for people & things)
 Main
Menu
1) Defining Relative Clauses
The relative clause is essential to
understand the meaning of the
main sentence. No commas.

a) The Relative pronoun refers to

a person.

b) The Relative pronoun refers to

an animal or a thing.
 Main
Menu

1) Defining Relative Clauses

a) The Relative pronoun refers to a person.

I. The Relative pronoun is the subject of the

sentence.
II. The Relative pronoun is the object of the
sentence.
III. The Relative pronoun is the object of the
sentence and it takes a preposition.
a) The relative pronoun refers to a person.

I. The relative pronoun is the subject of the sentence.

Who, (that).

a. The woman who was with me last night is one of the best
lawyers in town.
b. I fell in love with a man who came to visit my husband.
c. The boys who broke the window have been expelled from
the school.
d. The children who were playing in the street yesterday
evening are homeless
e. The pupils who learn this will speak English much more
fluently.
 a) The relative pronoun refers to a person.

II. The relative pronoun is the object of the

sentence. 0, that, (who)

a. The boy she met last night is from New York.

b. The teacher we had last year left the country in July.
c. The man I saw in the street tried to cheat me.
d. The person I asked for the name of the street didn’t
know where we were.
 a) The relative pronoun refers to a person

III. The relative pronoun is the object of the sentence

and it takes a preposition. 0, that, (who /
whom) …preposition at the end of the sentence

a. The girl I fell in love with left without saying goodbye.

b. The boy they were talking to didn’t speak Spanish.
c. The boy she was going out with fell in love with another girl.
d. The person I went on holiday with was just a friend of mine.
 Main
Menu

1) Defining Relative Clauses

b) The Relative pronoun refers to an

animal or a thing.

I. The Relative pronoun is the subject of the

sentence.
II. The Relative pronoun is the object of the
sentence.
III. The Relative pronoun is the object of the
sentence and it takes a preposition.
b) The relative pronoun refers to animals or things.

I. The relative pronoun is the subject of

the sentence. Which, that.

a. The house which / that is next to mine belongs

to my landlord.
b. The car which / that is parked in front of my
house is not mine.
c. The folder which / that was on the floor belongs
to my classmate.
d. We couldn’t see properly on the blackboards
which / that were replaced last year.
e. The park which / that is two blocks from here
will be remodelled in the near future..
 b) The relative pronoun refers to animals or things

II. The relative pronoun is the object of

the sentence. 0, that, which

a. The car I bought last summer is much better

than the one I had.
b. I don’t think the exam we did the other day
was as difficult as you thought.
c. The elephant we saw at the zoo had been
hunted in Kenya.
d. The house my brother has just bought has
all mod. cons.
 b) The relative pronoun refers to animals or things.

III. The relative pronoun is the object of

the sentence and it takes a preposition.

a. The house I live in is much more comfortable

than the flat where I used to live.
b. The dog they were looking for was eventually
found miles away.
c. The music she is listening to is far too loud.
d. The bus we came on was very old.
e. The shop I bought my computer from has
disappeared .
 Main
Menu
2) Non-defining Relative Clauses
The relative clause is just an
explanation, not necessary to
understand the meaning of the main
sentence. Between commas.

a) The Relative pronoun refers to

a person.

b) The Relative pronoun refers to

an animal or a thing.
 Main
Menu

2) Non-defining Relative Clauses

a) The relative pronoun refers to a person.

Who / Whom
I. The relative pronoun is the subject of the
sentence.
II. The relative pronoun is the object of the
sentence.
III. The relative pronoun is the object of the
sentence and it takes a preposition.
a) The relative pronoun refers to a person.

I. The relative pronoun is the subject of the

sentence Who

a. My English teacher, who was born in Salamanca,

came here last year.
b. My father, who has always been a farmer, is now
retired.
c. My uncle Tom and my aunt Mary, who got married
two years ago, have just had a baby.
a) The relative pronoun refers to a person.

II. The relative pronoun is the object of the

sentence. Who / Whom

a. My father’s mother, whom / who I didn’t know, died

when she was very young.
b. My parents, whom / who I haven’t seen for a few
months, live in a country house.
c. Mary’s children, whom / who she adores, study
economics at the university of Madrid.
a) The relative pronoun refers to a person.
III. The relative pronoun is the object of the
sentence and it takes a preposition.

a. My neighbours’ daughter, with whom I went out for

a couple of months, doesn’t speak to me any more.
b. This is Mr. Roberts, about whom I spoke to you.
c. I’ve met her new Geography teacher, to whom she
says she pays a lot of attention.
 Main
Menu

2) Non-defining Relative Clauses

b) The relative pronoun refers to a thing or

an animal. Which
I. The relative pronoun is the subject of the
sentence.
II. The relative pronoun is the object of the
sentence.
III. The relative pronoun is the object of the
sentence and it takes a preposition.
b) The relative pronoun refers to a thing or
an animal.
I. The relative pronoun is the subject of
the sentence.

a. I live in Bogotá, which is the capital of the

Republic of Colombia.
b. Don’t forget that last year I bought you this
book, which is one of the best I’ve ever read.
c. Mosquitoes, which are very small animals, can
however become very unpleasant when you
visit the Amazon.
b) The relative pronoun refers to a thing
or an animal.
II. The relative pronoun is the object of the
sentence.

a. My house, which I bought a few years after I

got married, needs remodelling.
b. My neighbours’ dog, which is very old, can
hardly walk.
c. Peter’s English-Spanish dictionary, which he
bought when he was at university, is out of
date.
b) The relative pronoun refers to a thing
or an animal.

III. The relative pronoun is the object of the

sentence and it takes a preposition.

a. This city, about which I had read a lot before I came

here, is much bigger than I thought.
b. I eventually found my old dictionary, for which I had
been looking weeks and weeks.
c. This music, to which you listen so often, makes me
want to scream.
Whose (1)

a. In Defining Relative Clauses.

i. The mother whose child is in hospital came

to see the headteacher yesterday.
ii. The cat whose tail is white right at its tip
belongs to my next-door neighbour.
iii. The house whose windows are painted red
was built in the C19th.

Next
 Relative
Particles

Whose (2)

b. In Non-defining Relative Clauses.

i. My neighbours, whose car is beyond repair

because of a head-on crash, have just won
the lottery.
ii. My neighbours’ house, whose roof needs
repairing, is exactly the same shape as
mine.
iii. Mary’s cat, whose tail got burnt as a kitten,
has been taken to the vet because of a
serious kidney illness.
 Relative
Particles

Relative adverbs:
™ Where.
¾ The house where I live has got a cosy
garden.
ƒ The house I live in has got a cosy garden.
™ When.
¾ This is the time of the year when flowers
appear.
™ Why.
¾ He could give no reason why his sister had
left home.
 Relative
Particles

Which (Connector)

„ In Non-defining Relative Clauses

referring to a complete sentence.

¾ He tried to sing at the concert, which was a

complete disaster
 Relative
Particles

What (the thing that)

™ Give me an example of the things

that you are going to say.
¾ Give me an example of what you are
going to say.
™ The thing that I don’t understand is
how they are going to find all that
money.
¾ What I don’t understand is how they are
going to find all that money.