LOS PRONOMBRES RELATIVOS

WHO (“que”)
Lo usamos para referirnos a personas. Puede sustituir tanto a pronombres
personales (I, you, he, they…) como a pronombres objeto (me, you, him, them…).

John is the boy. He lives in that house.

John is the boy who lives in that house.

John is the boy. I met him last week.

John is the boy who I met last week.

WHICH (“que”)
Lo usamos para referirnos a animales y cosas. Puede sustituir tanto a los
pronombres personales IT y THEY como a los pronombres objeto IT y THEM.

This is the book. It is really interesting.

This is the book which is really interesting.

This is the book. I bought it yesterday.

This is the book which I bought yesterday.

THAT (“que”)
Es un relativo equivalente tanto a WHO como a WHICH. No se usa con frases
tipo “non defining”.

WHOSE (“cuyo, -a, -os, -as”)

Sustituye a adjetivos posesivos (my, your, his, their…).

I have a new friend. His father is a famous actor.

I have a new friend whose father is a famous actor.
WHEN (“cuando”)
Sustituye a circunstanciales de tiempo como THEN, THAT DAY...

I saw Adam yesterday. I was in the park then.

I saw Adam yesterday when I was in the park.

WHERE (“donde”)
Sustituye a circunstanciales de lugar como THERE, IN THAT PLACE...

We visited the house. Shakespeare was born there.

We visited the house where Shakespeare was born.

TIPOS DE ORACIONES DE RELATIVO: DEFINING Y NON-DEFINING

DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES (ESPECIFICATIVAS)

Son frases que aportan una información necesaria para que la principal tenga
sentido. Por lo tanto, si las quitáramos, la principal quedaría incompleta.

-Mary is the girl who won the race yesterday.

-The book which I am reading now is really interesting.

NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES (EXPLICATIVAS)

Son frases que aportan una información extra que no es necesaria para que la
principal tenga sentido. Se separan de la principal con una o dos comas, y su
eliminación no afecta al sentido de esta.

-Sandrar lives in Tokyo, which is the capital of Japan.

-Peter, whose parents are from London, speaks English very well.
¿CUÁNDO PODEMOS OMITIR EL PRONOMBRE RELATIVO?

Los pronombres WHO, WHICH, THAT y WHEN, cuando van frases de tipo
defining (especificativas), pueden omitirse si van seguidos de un sujeto:

-She is the girl (who) I love.

-I liked the dress (which) you wore last night.

RELATIVOS Y PREPOSICIONES

Cuando usamos pronombres relativos con oraciones que incluyen preposiciones,

podemos hacerlo de dos formas distintas. Veámoslo con un ejemplo:

-She is the girl. I work with her every day.

En primer lugar, podemos dejar la preposición donde está (informal):

-She is the girl who I work with every day.

También podemos poner la preposición delante del relativo (formal). En el caso

de que ese relativo sea WHO, se convertirá en WHOM:

-She is the girl with whom I work every day.