Grammar Reference

Unit 6 • E
 n este tipo de oraciones se utiliza siempre who para
personas y which para animales y cosas. En las non-
ORACIONES DE RELATIVO ESPECIFICATIVAS defining relative clauses no se puede usar el pronombre
(DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES) that ni se puede eliminar nunca el pronombre relativo.
The busker, who had managed to gather a big
• E
 ste tipo de oraciones identifican a la persona, animal o audience, was arrested by the police.
cosa a los que se refieren y a la que suelen acompañar. The gig, which is expected to be a success, has been
She’s the singer who became famous after she postponed twice.
appeared on a TV programme. • E
 l pronombre relativo whose también se puede utilizar
Did you listen to the CD that I lent you? con las non-defining relative clauses.
• C
 on estas oraciones se usan los pronombres that o Sarah, whose father is a famous rock star, hates being
who para personas y that o which para animales y recognised in the street.
cosas. The band, whose players had met when they were in
A conductor is a person who / that leads an orchestra. school together, was very successful for many years.
This is the guitar which / that I got for Christmas.
• E
 xiste un uso especial de which con las non-defining
• S
 i el pronombre relativo who, which o that no es relative clauses para referirse a lo expresado en toda la
sujeto de la oración de relativo (es decir, no le sigue oración anterior.
inmediatamente un verbo conjugado), se puede He prefers listening to music on his smartphone
eliminar. player to going to a live concert, which I think is very
He is the singer (who / that) I like best. strange.
This is the first album (which / that) I bought. They have never released an album, which is their
way to protest against the music industry.
• E
l uso de preposiciones delante de un pronombre
relativo es poco frecuente y exclusivo del lenguaje • L
 os adverbios relativos when y where también pueden
literario o muy formal. Lo normal es que las utilizarse en las non-defining relative clauses.
preposiciones que afectan a un pronombre relativo London, where they had become famous, was the
vayan al final de la frase. También es muy frecuente last stage of their tour.
omitir el pronombre relativo en este tipo de frases. In 2012, when I discovered hip hop, I started to build
The person (that / who) you spoke with is a famous up my CD collection.
singer.
The album (that / which) he became famous for was
an instant hit. PRONOMBRES INTERROGATIVOS
 l pronombre relativo whose (cuyo, -a, -os, -as) se puede
• E OBJETO Y SUJETO
utilizar referido tanto a personas como a animales o
Los pronombres interrogativos what, who, which, whose y las
cosas y nunca se puede eliminar. Su uso es mucho más
frecuente en inglés que en español. expresiones how much y how many pueden preguntar por el
sujeto o por un complemento u objeto de una oración. Cuando
She’s the only jazz singer whose albums reach the
se pregunta por el sujeto, no se utiliza el auxiliar do / did.
top 10.
What is the name of that Indian film whose soundtrack
became so popular two years ago? Objeto Sujeto
ambién pueden utilizarse los adverbios relativos
T ‘What do you prefer? ’ ‘What makes you sing? ’
when y where. Estos adverbios tampoco se pueden ‘I prefer going to the ‘Listening to this type of
eliminar. concert.’ music makes me sing. ’
The stadium where they were performing was huge. ‘Who does she imitate? ’ ‘Who sings better? ’
The time when bands made lots of money with their ‘She imitates Madonna. ’ ‘Martha sings better. ’
record sales is now gone.
‘Which is cheaper:
‘Which did you buy? ’ streaming or downloading?
ORACIONES DE RELATIVO EXPLICATIVAS ‘I bought the CD version. ’ ‘Streaming is cheaper.’
(NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES) ‘Whose [record] did you ‘Whose [record] became
vote for? ’ number one in sales? ’
• L
 as non-defining relative clauses no identifican al ‘I voted for Eminem’s ‘Rihanna’s [record] became
sustantivo al que se refieren sino que añaden información [record] ’ number one. ’
adicional, útil, aunque no imprescindible para que
la oración tenga sentido. Es un tipo de información ‘How much [success] is too
‘How much [success] do
similar a la que podríamos poner entre paréntesis. much? ’
you want? ’
Estas oraciones van siempre precedidas y seguidas de ‘Being recognised
‘I want some success. ’
una pausa que se marca con comas al escribir. Estas everywhere is too much. ’
oraciones son más comunes en la lengua escrita.
The singer, who was a famous teen idol, decided to ‘How many did they ‘How many went to the
end his career at the age of 20. expect? ’ concert? ’
The song, which had a very catchy rhythm, soon ‘They expected only ‘23,000 people went to the
10,000.’ concert. ’
became a hit in several countries.
B1.2

WHAT Y WHICH EN PREGUNTAS

• E
 n las preguntas, what se refiere a un conjunto abierto
o ilimitado de posibilidades mientras que which se
refiere a un conjunto cerrado o delimitado.
What is your favourite type of music? (de todas las
posibles)
Which of these songs do you prefer? (de entre las que
te ofrezco)
What is the best song you’ve ever listened to?
Which song (in the CD) do you like best?
• E
 n prácticamente todos los contextos, se puede utilizar
what en lugar de which. Which tiende a sonar un poco
más formal y exige que el hablante y el oyente conozcan
de manera explícita o implícita las posibilidades.
Which / What is your favourite restaurant in New York?

PREGUNTAS CON PREPOSICIÓN

• E
 n inglés, cuando una pregunta lleva una preposición,
esta se coloca siempre al final. De lo contrario, la
pregunta sonaría extraña, anticuada o excesivamente
formal.
Who are you listening to?
Who are you playing with?
What is this song about?
Where is that music coming from?