DEFINING AND NON- DEFINING CLAUSES

Defining clauses
Se utilizan para dar información esencial sobre alguien o algo, información que
necesitamos para entender a qué o a quién se hace referencia.
Suelen ir inmediatamente después del sustantivo que describen.
Usamos pronombres relativos para introducirlas ( who, that, which, whose and whom).
That en inglés hablado informal.

Para personas: who (quien), whose (cuyos), whom (a quien) y that (que)

Para cosas: which (el cual, la cual) y that (que)

They’re the people who want to buy our house.// They’re the people that want to buy our
house

Here are some cells which have been affected.//Here are some cells that have been affected

Cuando los pronombres relativos se refieren al Sujeto o al objeto.

El pronombre relativo puede referirse tanto al sujeto como al objeto:

A) Cuando se refieren al sujeto

They’re the people who/that bought our house. (The people bought our house. The people es
el sujeto.)

B) Cuando se refieren al objeto podemos omitir el pronombre relativo, así podríamos

decir:

They’re the people (who/that ) she met at Jon’s party. (She met the people. The people is the
object.)

They’re the people she met at Jon’s party.

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Non-defining relative clauses

Usamos las non-defining relative clauses para:

Dar información extra sobre el sujeto u objeto. Al ser información añadida, no es
necesaria para la comprensión de la frase.
Siempre usamos los pronombres relativos para introducirlas (who, which,
whose and whom).

Clare, who I work with, is doing the London marathon this year.

Nunca podemos decir: Clare,I work with, is doing the London marathon
Nunca usamos el pronombre that para introducir las non-defining:
Allen, who scored three goals in the first game, was the only player to perform well.

Allen, that scored three goals in the first game, was the only player to perform well.

Siempre van entre comas

IMPORTANTE:
1º La información que nos da una defining clause es imprecindible para entender la
frase. Al contrario que la información que nos da una non-defining que es algo de lo
que podríamos prescindir ya que no es necesaria para el entendimiento de la frase.
2º Podemos usar that en vez de who, which, whom en las defining clause, pero nunca
en las non-defining

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ERRORES TÍPICOS
En las defining clause:
- Nunca tenemos que poner un pronombre detrás del relativo:
That’s the school that does lots of music and drama.
That’s the school that ( it ) does lots of music and drama.
- Cuando la relativa se refiere al objeto, es necesario que aparezca un sujeto
They met at the gallery that Jane had talked about.
No podemos escribir: They met at the gallery that (¿???) had talked about
(Necesariamente tenemos que poner quien habla sobre la galería de arte).
- Cuando la relativa se refiere al objeto, no es necesario repetir otra vez el
objeto, sea nombre o pronombre.
They went to the same restaurant that Mark had been to.
They went to the same restaurant that Mark had been to (it).
- Al escribir las defining clause, nunca ultilizaremos comas

CUANDO LA DEFINING CLAUSE SE REFIERE A UNA ORACIÓN ENTERA

La introducimos con el relativo WHICH
I think the other thing that was really good about it as well was that everybody worked really
hard and helped tidy up at the end, which I hadn’t expected at all.

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PRONOMBRES RELATIVOS- CUANDO LOS USAMOS

defining and non-

who people and sometimes pet animals
defining

defining and non-

defining;
which animals and things
clause referring to
a whole sentence

that people, animals and things; informal defining only

possessive meaning;
defining and non-
whose for people and animals usually; sometimes for defining
things in formal situations

people in formal styles or in writing; often with a

defining and non-
whom preposition; rarely in conversation; used instead
defining
of who if who is the object

no USAMOS
when the relative pronoun defines the object of the
relative defining only
clause
pronoun