Relative Sentences

Hey!

Look at these examples:

I talked to the man who gave you the present.

I gave you the letter which came this morning.

Here, 'who gave you the present' and 'which came this morning' are defining relative clauses. They tell us which person or which thing the speaker mean, that is, they define and provide us with essential information about the man and the letter (in grammatical terms, the antecedent). Which man? The one that gave you a present. Which letter? The one that arrived this morning.

So, a relative sentence is a class of compound sentence with a subordinate clause that is introduced by a relative pronoun. This year, the relative pronouns that we are to study are who (for people), which (for things and animals) and that (more informal for things, animals and people), and the relative adverb where (for places). The rest of relative pronouns and adverbs will be studied in the years to come. Examples:
This is the man who killed my bird. (= This is the man that killed my bird)
This is the cat which killed my bird. (= This is the cat that killed my bird)
This is the city where I was born.

In the first two examples above the relative pronouns function as the subject of the subordinate clause (not in the last example, where is a locative). But, notice that when who, which or that are not the subject of the relative clause, we can leave them out, that is, we can omit them. This is what is called zero-pronoun.

This is the man who I saw with Mary.
This is the man that I saw with Mary.
This is the man I saw with Mary.

I've read the book which you recommended me.
I've read the book that you recommended me.
I've read the book you recommended me.

Note that the who, that and which replace the subject personal pronoun.
I talked to a woman. She gave you Peter's book.
I talked to the woman who gave you Peter's book.
NOT: I talked to the woman who she gave you Peter's book.

Relative clauses can have prepositional verbs. Then, it is very normal to put the preposition at the end of the clause and so you can leave out the pronoun if you like. Look:
The girl who I was looking at was very pretty.
The girl that I was looking at was very pretty.
The girl I was looking at was very pretty.


The book which I referred to was very interesting.
The book that I referred to was very interesting.
The book I referred to was very interesting.


¡Qué hay!
Observa estos ejemplos:

I talked to the man who gave you the present.

I gave you the letter which came this morning.

En estos casos,  'who gave you the present' y 'which came this morning' son are oraciones de relativo especificativas. Nos dicen qué persona o qué cosa quiere decir o referirse el hablante, vaya, que definen y nos dan información esencial sobre el hombre y la carta (llamados en gramática antecedentes). ¿Qué hombre? El que te dio un regalo. ¿Qué carta? La que llegó esta mañana.

Así que, una oración de relativo es una clase de oración compuesta con una proposición subordinada que va introducida por un pronombre relativo. Este año los pronombres relativos que vamos a estudiar son who (para personas), which (para cosas y animales) and that (más informal para personas, animales y cosas), y el adverbio relativo where (para lugares). El resto de pronombres y adverbios relativos se estudiarán en los próximos años. Ejemplos:
This is the man who killed my bird. (= This is the man that killed my bird)
This is the cat which killed my bird. (= This is the cat that killed my bird)
This is the city where I was born.

I've read the book which you recommended me.
I've read the book that you recommended me.
I've read the book you recommended me.

Date cuenta de que who, that y which reemplazan al pronombre sujeto.
I talked to a woman. She gave you Peter's book.
I talked to the woman who gave you Peter's book.
NO: I talked to the woman who she gave you Peter's book.

Las oraciones relativas pueden llevar verbos preposicionales. En ese caso, es normal poner la preposición al final de la proposición subordinada, y así tener la posibilidad de omitir el pronombre si queremos. Mira:
The girl who I was looking at was very pretty.
The girl that I was looking at was very pretty.
The girl I was looking at was very pretty.


The book which I referred to was very interesting.
The book that I referred to was very interesting.
The book I referred to was very interesting.


For practice: Exercise1, Exercise2, Exercise3.