Relative Clauses

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 Relative clauses
- Give more information about a person, place, thing or time.
- Are introduced by a relative pronoun or adverb
- Relative Pronouns or Adverbs join two sentences which talk about the same person,
place, thing or time.

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 Relative pronoun / adverb – examples of use

The man who arrived is my uncle.

Who (people)
The book (which) I bought is very good.
Which (things, animals)
The man whose house is blue is working abroad.
Whose (possession)
That was the day when I met you.
When (time)
The village where they live is near the river.
Where (place)
The shirt (that/which) you gave me doesn’t fit me.
That
The girl that/who arrived is my sister.
(In DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES,
That was the day (that/when) you asked me to marry you.
“That” can be used instead of
who / which / when) 3
 EXAMPLES:
who arrived late at the party, is my cousin
1. Alice, ______
whom I told you about yesterday.
2. Chelo is the girl ______
where I went last month
3. That is the museum ______
which Georgina bought last month, is a Rolls-Royce.
4. That car, ______
whose mum won Master Chef.
5. That’s the girl ______
when flowers bloom.
6. May is the month ______
that I like so much.
7. GOT is the TV series ______

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 Joining sentences
The book isn’t very good. which Your friend recommended it which
it.

The book which your friend recommended isn’t very good.

1- Locate what is repeated in both sentences.

2- Substitute with the corresponding relative.

3- Place the relative at the beginning of ITS sentence.

4- Place the relative sentence immediately after the 1st

element of the repetition.

5- Complete the 1st. sentence.

 “A/N” changes to “THE”
when the noun phrase is followed by a relative clause

I’m reading a book. which Your friend recommended it.

it which

I’m reading the book which your friend recommended.

1- Locate what is repeated in both sentences.

2- Substitute with the corresponding relative.

3- Place the relative at the beginning of ITS sentence.

4- Place the relative sentence immediately after the

1st element of the repetition.
 Types of relative clauses DEFINING

- The information given is essential to know who or what we are talking about; it identifies who, what,
where….
- Without this sentence, the meaning is incomplete.

The man WHO we saw at the post office is my teacher.


What man?

- In Defining Relative clauses, THAT can be

used instead of WHO / WHICH / WHEN
The man THAT we saw at the post office is my
teacher.
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 DEFINING

The party which I went to last night was amazing.

The party (that) I went to last night was amazing.

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 DEFINING

- The man who we saw at the post office is my teacher.

The man we saw at the post office is my teacher.

“we” is the subject

- She is the actress who plays She-Hulk

“who” is the subject, it can’t be omitted 9

 EXAMPLES:
Alice is the girl who arrived late at the party.

Mary is the girl who I told you about yesterday.

Mary is the girl whom I told you about yesterday.

The book which was on the table was new.

The book which I bought is about music.

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 DEFINING

1 The computer (which) he was working on broke.

2 The computer which/that he was working on broke.

3 The computer on which he was working broke.

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 FORMAL AND INFORMAL STRUCTURE in defining relative clauses
If the verb in the relative clause is followed by a preposition ON, TO, FOR, WITH, then... there are 2 ways to form relative clause:

Informal spoken English:

We usually place the preposition after the verb, or at the end of the relative clause

The restaurant which we go to is very well decorated.

The book that I was looking for was on the shelf.

Electronics is a subject which I know very little about.

Angel is the person who I obtained the information from.

The woman (WHO) I talked to was very nice.

She is a very nice woman (WHO) you can trust in.

Formal English:

The preposition comes before the relative pronoun

We use the relative pronoun WHOM instead of WHO

Was that the restaurant to which we usually go?

Electronics is a subject about which I know very little.

Angel is the person from whom I obtained the information.

The woman to whom I talked was very nice.

She is the woman for whom they have been looking.

 Activities: Combine the sentences using defining relative pronouns.
1 The man smoked forty cigarettes a day. He died of a heart attack. The man who smoked forty cigarettes
a day died of a heart attack.
The man who died of a heart attack smoked forty cigarettes a day
2 The car was stolen. It was a BMW.
The car that / which was stolen was a BMW.
3 I have rented a house. It is very small. . The house (that / which) I have rented is very small.
I have rented a house which / that is very small. 
4 We stayed in a hotel. The hotel was very expensive. The hotel (that / which) we stayed in was very expensive.
The hotel where we stayed was very expensive We stayed in a hotel which was very expensive.
5 That's the building. I work there.
That's the building where I work.
6 That's the boy. His mother works in Mercadona.
That's the boy whose mother works in Mercadona.
7 The businessman was very rich. I saw him last night.

The businessman (that / who / whom) I saw last night was very rich. 14

 - The information given isn’t essential to know who or what we are talking about.

NON - DEFINING
- We could remove it without changing the meaning of the sentence.
- THAT is never used.
- Pronouns can be NEVER omitted.

Rugby, which is a team sport, is very violent.

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 EXAMPLES:
who arrived late at the party, is my cousin
Alice, ____

which is the capital of France, is a

Paris, _________
beautiful city.

George, ____
who I saw at the party, is so handsome.

That car, _______

which Georgina bought last month, is
a Rolls Royce.

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 Activities: Combine the sentences using non-defining relative pronouns.
1 Valencia is a great place. Valencia is on Spain's eastern coast.
Valencia, which is on Spain’s eastern, is a great place
2 Jimbo is living in Thailand now. Jimbo got divorced last year.
Jimbo, who got divorced last year, is living in Thailand now
3 Miguel is a good teacher. I don't like Miguel very much.
Miguel, who(m) I don't like very much, is a good teacher.
4 The Big Ben pub rocks. I met my boyfriend in The Big Ben. (use WHERE)
The Big Ben pub, where I met my boyfriend, rocks
5 Almeria is very dry. The beaches of Almeria are wonderful.
Almeria, whose beaches are wonderful, is very dry.
6 The school was built in 1907. The school has about 800 students.
The school, which has about 800 students, was built in 1907
7 Elena is coming to the party. Elena's mother is mayoress of this town.
Elena, whose mother is mayoress of this town, is coming to the party 17
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