RELATIVE CLAUSES AND

PRONOUNS
CLÁUSULAS Y
PRONOMBRES
RELATIVOS
 WHAT IS A CLAUSE ?

It is a group of words containing a subject and a verb which form a sentence or a part of a sentence.
How about a RELATIVE CLAUSE?
Es un grupo de palabras que contienen un sujeto y un verbo que forman una oración o una parte de una oración.
¿Qué tal una CLÁUSULA RELATIVA?

It is used to give EXTRA INFORMATION about the nouns in the main clause, without starting another
sentence. A relative clause starts with a RELATIVE PRONOUN
Se utiliza para dar información extra sobre los sustantivos en la cláusula principal, sin iniciar otra frase. Una cláusula relativa
comienza con un PRONOUN

For example:
The man who called you is my dentist.
Luis works for a company which makes cars.

El hombre que te llamó es mi dentista.

Luis trabaja para una empresa que fabrica coches.
 THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF CLAUSES
HAY DOS TIPOS DE CLÁUSULAS
Defining Relative
Clause
It gives us ESSENTIAL
information, and it usually
comes immediately after the
noun it describes.
Definición de la Cláusula
Relativa Nos da
información ESENCIAL,
y por lo general viene
inmediatamente después
del sustantivo que
describe.
Non-Defining
Relative Clause
It gives us EXTRA information
and this clause is between
commas.
Cláusula relativa no
definitoria Nos da
información EXTRA y
esta cláusula está entre
comas.
 DEFINING V/S NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSE
• DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSE • NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSE
NO COMMAS BETWEEN COMMAS
•NECESSARY INFORMATION. Essential to distinguish which thing or person EXTRA INFORMATION. Not necessary to distingish
which thing
we are talking about. or person we are talking about.
Ex: I called my brother who lives in Spain. Ex: My brother, who lives in Spain, is older.
(= I have more than one brother and I called the one who lives in Spain.) (= I have only one brother and I am just mentioning that he
lives in Spain.)

WE CAN USE THAT WE CANNOT USE THAT

•We can use THAT instead of WHO/WHICH. We cannot use THAT instead of WHO / WHICH
Ex: Many hectares that /which are in the South of Chile, belong to the Mapuche Ex: These bikes, WHICH cost a fortune, are made in Japan.
People. (NOT THAT cost a fortune).
I didn´t know the man that / who was there.

RELATIVE PRONOUNS CAN BE OMITTED RELATIVE PRONOUNS CANNOT BE

OMITTED
•We can omit WHO/WHICH/THAT when they are followed by SUBJECT + VERB We cannot omit WHO/WHICH
Do yu like the song (WHICH/THAT) I wrote? They introduced me to Matías, WHO I liked immediately.
That´s the man (WHO/THAT) I like. (NOT …Matías, I liked immediately).
 The use of WHOSE

WHOSE is a POSSESSIVE pronoun like “his”, “her”, “our” or “their”. We use WHOSE to indicate which person
something belongs to. It is used for both people and objects:
Ex: Do you know the physiotherapist? His car was stolen?
=
Do you know the physiotherapist WHOSE car was stolen?

A: WHOSE cellphone keeps ringing?

B: Mine!

She is the student WHOSE sister works as a peditrician.

BE CAREFUL! Don´t mix up WHOSE with the contraction of the word WHO´S = Who is or Who has.
 Now, It is your turn!

I.- Study the situation below and decide which of the two sentences better describes the situation.

A) Have you ever been back to the town, that you were born in?
Or
Have you ever been back to the town that you were born in?

B) My left ankle which I broke last winter is still giving me trouble.

Or
My left ankle, which I broke last winter, is still giving me trouble.

II.- Choose the correct relative pronoun: who/which/whose.

1) That is the bank __________ was robbed last week.
2) The man ____________ robbed the bank appeared on tv.
3) I don´t know ____________keys are these.
4) ____________ medicine do you usually take?
 ANSWER KEY
I.- Study the situation below and decide which of the two sentences better describes the situation.

A) Have you ever been back to the town, that you were born in? (Non-Defining Relative Clause. Notice the comma!)
Or
Have you ever been back to the town that you were born in? CORRECT!. It is a Defining Relative Clause, so it is an
ESSENTIAL AND NECESSARY INFORMATION, otherwise you would not know which town you are talking about. Notice,
that it has no comma!

B) My left ankle which I broke last winter is still giving me trouble. (Defining Relative Clause, with no comma.)
Or
My left ankle, which I broke last winter, is still giving me trouble. CORRECT!. It is a Non-Defining Relative Clause,
because it gives an EXTRA INFORMATION. I can even leave this information out.

II.- Choose the correct relative pronoun: who/which/whose.

1) That is the bank ____WHICH ___ was robbed last week.
2) The man ____WHO____ robbed the bank appeared on tv.
3) I don´t know _____WHOSE___keys are these.
4) ___WHICH____ medicine do you usually take?
HAVE A
NICE DAY!