Inglés 1º Bto - Profª Alicia Ruiz

RELATIVE CLAUSES

DEFINING

 They are necessary for the understanding of the sentence, since they describe the
word they are referring to.

 The pronoun depends on the antecedent, whether it is a person or a thing, and on

the function of the pronoun in the relative clause (subject, object …)

PEOPLE THING / ANIMAL

-If the pronoun is the SUBJECT in the -If the pronoun is the SUBJECT in the
relative clause, relative clause,

Who / that Which / that

The man who is there is my friend The dog that / which is barking is my
neighbour’s

-If the pronoun is an OBJECT, -If the pronoun is an OBJECT,

(Who/whom / that) (Which / that)

The pronoun can be omitted (specially in The pronoun can be omitted (specially in
spoken English) spoken English)

The man (that /who / whom) you can see The dog (that / which) I saw is hers.
there is my friend.

-If the verb needs a PREPOSITION -If the verb needs a PREPOSITION

Prep+WHOM / (WHO) … prep Prep+WHICH / (THAT) … prep

(THAT) … prep
The pronoun can be omitted
The man to whom I spoke is Peter
The man I spoke to is Peter
The man who I spoke to is Peter
The man that I spoke to is Peter
The pronoun can be omitted
The bed (that) I slept in was quite
comfortable.
The bed in which I slept was quite
comfortable

-POSSESSIVE CASE -POSSESSIVE CASE

WHOSE WHOSE
That’s the book whose title I don’t know.
That’s the boy whose sister we met
yesterday
 Inglés 1º Bto - Profª Alicia Ruiz

NON-DEFINING

 They are not necessary for the understanding of the sentence, since they explain
something about the antecedent, they give extra information.

 They come between commas / or preceded by a comma (in case there is a

punctuation mark such as . ; : )

 THAT cannot be used in these sentences as a relative pronoun.

 The relative pronoun can never be omitted.

 The pronoun depends on the antecedent, whether it is a person or a thing, and on

the function of the pronoun in the relative clause (subject, object …)

PEOPLE THING / ANIMAL

-If the pronoun is the SUBJECT in the -If the pronoun is the SUBJECT in the
relative clause, relative clause,

Who Which

Paul, who is there, has just received The dog, which is barking right now as
good news. you can hear, is my neighbour’s

-If the pronoun is an OBJECT, -If the pronoun is an OBJECT,

Who/whom Which

Nancy, who / whom I see everyday, is This book, which I bought in Paris, was
pregnant. written in 1898.

-If the verb needs a PREPOSITION -If the verb needs a PREPOSITION

Prep+WHOM / WHO … prep Prep+WHICH / WHICH … prep

(phrasal verbs are sometimes
That man, to whom I speak everyday, inseparable, so the second option
was in prison some years ago. may not be possible)

That man, who I speak to everyday, was This cat, which I look after everyday, is
in prison some years ago. my sister’s.

-POSSESSIVE CASE -POSSESSIVE CASE

WHOSE WHOSE
This book, whose cover is so elegant, is
That boy, whose mother is a lawyer, has not interesting at all.
had legal problems recently.