Relative clauses:

Relative pronouns

We use reative pronouns to add a new clause (the relative clause ) to a sentence

ej:

This is the CD which i bought

The woman who wrote that song

This is the house where he was born

Thas was the day when we

arrived

That: we can use that instead of who or which in relative clauses.

ej: he is the singer that=(who) i´ve met

here´s the album that=(which) we bougth

We also use that instead of when in relative clauses

ej: i remember the day when i started the school

i remember the day that i started the school

We can also use that instead on where,but we must add a preposition,of place at the end of the clause

ej: this is the house where we lived

this is the house that we lived in

Prepositions in Relative clauses:

When the verb in a relative clause has a dependent preposition we usually place the preposition at the end of the clause

ej: we told you about this song

this is the song that we told you about

when the relative clause has a preposition of place,we can use:

where (whitout the preposition)

that/which +preposition

ej: this is the restaurant Paul went to it

this is the restaurant where Paul went

ej: this is the restaurant wich Paul went to

this is the restaurant that Paul went to

when the relative clause has a preposition of time,we do not usually which+preposition to refer to time.We use when (whitout the preposition)

ej: Tuesday is the day.We usually have a test on this day

Tuesday is the day when we usually have a test

Tuesday is the day which we usually have a test on

Tuesday is the day that we usually have a test on

Omision of Relative pronouns:

we can omit the relative pronoun if is the object of the relative clause.If a relative pronoun is followed by another subject+a verb,it is probably the object of a relative clause

ej: that´s the guitar(that/which) they gave me

we omited the relative pronouns:who/which/that and when ,especially in spoken English

ej: that´s the boy (who) Maria is going out with

we cannot omit the relative pronoun if it is the subject of the relative clause

ej:he is the boy who/that lives near me.

we can omit where,but we must add a preposition of place at the end of the clause

Whose:

The relative pronound whose refears to possesion

ej: they are the childrens .Their mother is a famous singer

they are the childrens whose mother is a famous singer

We cannot omit the relative pronoun whose in relative clauses

BE CAREFUL!BE CAREFUL! Do not confuse whose with who´s ( the contracted form of who is or who has)

Defining and non-definig relative clauses:

• Defining relative clauses:

definig relative clauses give esssential information about the noun that they follow .whithout the relative clause,we do not know which person ,thing,place or time the speacker is refering to

ej: she is the singer who visited my school

We can omit the relative pronoun who,which and that when they are the object of the relative clauses

• Non- defining clauses:

non-defining relative clauses give extra information which is not essential about the noun that the follow.If we remove the relative clause ,we still know which person,thing place or time the speaker is referring to

ej: the band ,who are starting a tour next week, have just released their third album

we always use commas to separate the non-defining clause from the rest of the sentence:

ej: the tickets ,which cost over €50 each ,are avaible online

ej: she was born in Bogotá,which is the capital of Colombia

• We can combine two simple sentences whith a non-defining relative clause :

ej: My uncle is called Carl. He´s a singer

My uncle,who´s a singer is called Carl

my uncle ,who´s called Carl, is a singer

(both are correct)