Lesson 2.

Relative Pronouns
Los pronombres relativos

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Utilizamos los pronombres relativos para referirnos a un sustantivo (una

persona o una cosa) mencionado antes y al que queremos agregar ms
informacin o modificar. Los pronombres relativos pueden referirse a algo o
alguien en singular o plural. Algunos pronombres relativos se pueden usar slo
con personas, otros slo con cosas y algunos con ambos. A continuacin, tienes
una lista de los pronombres relativos.

Pronombre Persona Cosa

that
x x
que

which
x
que / cual

who
x
que / quin

whom
x
que / a quien

whose
x x
cuyo
Grammatical Rules (Reglas gramaticales)

El pronombre relativo se encuentra en lugar de un sustantivo. Este sustantivo

suele aparecer anteriormente en la oracin.

That

That es el pronombre relativo ms utilizado en ingls hablado, ya que se

puede utilizar tanto con personas como con cosas. Se utiliza para
sustituir which, who o whom en clusulas que definen el sustantivo.

Ejemplos:
This is the book that won the Pulitzer prize last year. (Este es el libro
que gan el Permio Pulizer el ao pasado.)

This is the restaurant that received the excellent reviews in the

newspaper.(Este es el restaurante que recibi excelentes crticas en el peridico.)

Which

Which slo se puede utilizar con las cosas.

Ejemplos:
My new job, which I only started last week, is already very
stressful. (Mi nuevo trabajo, que acabo de empezar la semana pasada, ya es muy
estresante.)

The house in which we lived in when we were children burnt

down last week.(La casa en la que vivamos cuando ramos nios se quem la
semana pasada.)

Who
Solo se puede utilizar who con personas.

Ejemplos:
My sister, who just moved in with me, is looking for a job. (Mi
hermana, que se acaba de mudar conmigo, est buscando un trabajo.)

I never met someone who didnt like music. (Nunca he conocido a

alguien que no le guste la msica.)

Whom

Whom se utiliza para hacer referencia al objeto indirecto del verbo, pero no lo
utilizamos mucho en ingls coloquial. Ms a menudo utilizamos who en vez
de whom.

Ejemplos:
The woman with whom I was talking to was my cousin. (La mujer
con quin estaba hablando era mi prima.)

This is Peter, whom I met at the party last week. (Este es Peter, a quien
conoc en la fiesta la semana pasada.)

Whose

El uso de whose indica posesin, tanto para las personas y las cosas.

Ejemplos:
That is the girl whose parents got divorced last year. (Esa es la chica
cuyos padres se divorciaron el ao pasado.)

Paul, whose wife just had a baby, will not be at work for a few
weeks. (Paul, cuyo esposa acaba de tener un beb, no ir a trabajar durante unas
semanas.)
When and where, why

Estos adverbios relativos a veces se utilizan en lugar de un pronombre relativo

para hacer la frase ms fcil de entender. Estos adverbios se refieren a
expresiones de tiempo, lugares o motivos.

Ejemplos:
The university where I teach is an excellent school. (La universidad
donde enseo es una escuela excelente.)

Can you tell me when is the best time to call? (Puedes decirme cuando
es la mejor hora para llamar?)

Nota: Puede omitirse el pronombre relativo cuando es el objeto de la frase.

Ejemplos:
The exam [that] I took this morning wont be corrected and
returned until next week. (El examen que hice esta maana no se corregir ni
se devolver hasta la semana que viene.)

The woman [who] Im dating is a teacher. (La mujer con quien estoy
saliendo es profesora.)

Relative Clauses (Clusulas relativas)

Se utilizan los pronombres relativos para unir dos o ms clusulas, formando

as lo que llamamos clusulas relativas. Hay dos tipos de clusulas relativas:
las que aaden informacin adicional y aquellas que modifican (o definen) el
sujeto de la oracin.

Non-defining Relative Clauses

Estas clusulas agregan informacin adicional. Se utilizan comas para separar la

clusula relativa del resto de la oracin. No se puede utilizar that en lugar
de which o who en este tipo de clusula.
Ejemplos:
My friend Tony, who is an excellent writer, is helping me with my
English paper. (Mi amigo Tony, quien es un escritor excelente, est ayundndome
con mi estudio de ingls.)

The report, which my boss asked me to write last week, still isnt
finished. (El informe, que mi jefe me pidi que escribiera la semana pasada, todava
no est terminado.)

Defining Relative Clauses

Estas clusulas definen el sustantivo e identifican a qu cosa o persona nos

referimos. No se usan comas con este tipo de clusula.

Ejemplos:
I wrote the report that you asked for. (Escrib el informe que me pidi.)

She never met the man who saved her fathers life. (Nunca conoci al
hombre que salv la vida de su padre.)

Nota: El significado de la frase cambia dependiendo de qu tipo de clusula

relativa se utiliza.

Ejemplos:
The employees who worked long hours completed their projects
on time.(Los empleados que trabajaban largas horas terminaron sus proyectos a
tiempo.)
Nota: Slo los que trabajaron muchas horas terminaron los proyectos a tiempo.

The employees, who worked long hours, completed their

projects on time. (Los empleados, que trabajaron muchas horas, terminaron sus
proyectos a tiempo.) Nota: Todos los empleados terminaron los proyectos a tiempo.
 Relative clauses
What is a relative clause?
(See a list of all the exercises about relative
clauses here).
We can use relative clauses to join two English
sentences, or to give more information about
something.
I bought a new car. It is very fast.
I bought a new car that is very fast.
She lives in New York. She likes living in New York.
She lives in New York, which she likes.

Defining and Non-defining

A defining relative clause tells which noun we are
talking about:
I like the woman who lives next door.
(If I don't say 'who lives next door', then we don't
know which woman I mean).
A non-defining relative clause gives us extra
information about something. We don't need this
information to understand the sentence.
 I live in London, which has some fantastic parks.
(Everybody knows where London is, so 'which has
some fantastic parks' is extra information).

Defining relative clauses:

1: The relative pronoun is the subject:
First, let's consider when the relative pronoun is the
subject of a defining relative clause.
We can use 'who', 'which' or 'that'. We use 'who' for
people and 'which' for things. We can use 'that' for
people or things.
The relative clause can come after the subject or the
object of the sentence. We can't drop the relative
pronoun.
For example (clause after the object of the sentence):
I'm looking for a secretary who / that can use a
computer well.
She has a son who / that is a doctor.
We bought a house which / that is 200 years old.
I sent a letter which / that arrived three weeks
later.
More examples (clause after the subject of the
sentence):
The people who / that live on the island are very
friendly.
 The man who / that phoned is my brother.
The camera which / that costs 100 is over there.
The house which / that belongs to Julie is in
London.
Try an exercise where the relative pronoun is
the subject here.
2: The relative pronoun is the object:
Next, let's talk about when the relative pronoun is the
object of the clause. In this case we can drop the
relative pronoun if we want to. Again, the clause can
come after the subject or the object of the sentence.
Here are some examples:
(Clause after the object)
She loves the chocolate (which / that) I bought.
We went to the village (which / that) Lucy
recommended.
John met a woman (who / that) I had been to
school with.
The police arrested a man (who / that) Jill worked
with.
(Clause after the subject)
The bike (which / that) I loved was stolen.
The university (which / that) she likes is famous.
The woman (who / that) my brother loves is from
Mexico.
 The doctor (who / that) my grandmother liked
lives in New York.
Try an exercise where the relative pronoun
is the object here
Try an exercise about defining relative
clauses, both subject and object here
Try another exercise about defining relative
clauses, both subject and object here

Non-defining relative clauses:

We don't use 'that' in non-defining relative clauses, so
we need to use 'which' if the pronoun refers to a thing,
and 'who' if it refers to a person. We can't drop the
relative pronoun in this kind of clause, even if the
relative pronoun is the subject of the clause.
(Clause comes after the subject)
My boss, who is very nice, lives in Manchester.
My sister, who I live with, knows a lot about cars.
My bicycle, which I've had for more than ten years,
is falling apart.
My mother's house, which I grew up in, is very
small.
(Clause comes after the object)
Yesterday I called our friend Julie, who lives in
New York.
The photographer called to the Queen, who looked
annoyed.
 Last week I bought a new computer, which I don't
like now.
I really love the new Chinese restaurant, which we
went to last night.

Prepositions and relative clauses

If the verb in the relative clause needs a preposition, we
put it at the end of the clause:
For example:
listen to
The music is good. Julie listens to the music.
The music (which / that) Julie listens to is good.
work with
My brother met a woman. I used to work with the
woman.
My brother met a woman (who / that) I used to
work with.
go to
The country is very hot. He went to the country.
The country (which / that) he went to is very hot.
come from
I visited the city. John comes from the city.
I visited the city (that / which) John comes from.
 apply for
The job is well paid. She applied for the job.
The job (which / that) she applied for is well paid.

Whose
'Whose' is always the subject of the relative clause and
can't be left out. It replaces a possessive. It can be used
for people and things.
The dog is over there. The dog's / its owner lives next
door.
The dog whose owner lives next door is over there.
The little girl is sad. The little girl's / her doll was lost.
The little girl whose doll was lost is sad.
The woman is coming tonight. Her car is a BMW.
The woman whose car is a BMW is coming tonight.
The house belongs to me. Its roof is very old.
The house whose roof is old belongs to me.

Where / when / why

We can sometimes use these question words instead of
relative pronouns and prepositions.
I live in a city. I study in the city.

I live in the city where I study.

 I live in the city that / which I study in.
I live in the city in which I study.
The bar in Barcelona is still there. I met my wife in that
bar.

The bar in Barcelona where I met my wife is still

there.
The bar in Barcelona that / which I met my
wife in is still there.
The bar in Barcelona in which I met my wife is still
there.
The summer was long and hot. I graduated from
university in the summer.

The summer when I graduated from university was

long and hot.
The summer that / which I graduated from
university in was long and hot.
The summer in which I graduated was long and
hot.
1. The relative pronouns:
The relative pronouns are:

Subject Object Possessive

who whom, who whose

which which whose

that that

We use who and whom for people, and which for things.
We use that for people or things.
We use relative pronouns to introduce relative clauses, which
tell us more about people and things.
 2. Relative clauses to postmodify a noun
We use relative clauses to postmodify a noun -
to make clear which person or thing we are talking about. In
these clauses we can have the relative
pronoun who, which, whose or that

as subject (see Clauses Sentences and Phrases)

Isnt that the woman who lives across the road from
you?
The police said the accident that happened last night
was unavoidable
The newspaper reported that the tiger which killed its
keeper has been put down.
WARNING:
The relative pronoun is the subject of the clause.
We do not repeat the subject:
*The woman who [she] lives across the road
*The tiger which [it] killed its keeper

as object of a clause (see Clauses, Sentences and Phrases)

Have you seen those people who we met on holiday?
You shouldnt believe everything that you read in the
newspaper.
The house that we rented in London was fully furnished.
The food was definitely the thing which I enjoyed
most about our holiday.
- Sometimes we use whom instead of who when the
relative pronoun is the object:
Have you seen those people whom we met on holiday?
- When the relative pronoun is object of its clause we
sometimes leave it out:
Have you seen those people we met on holiday?
You shouldnt believe everything you read in the
 newspaper.
The house we rented in London was fully furnished.
The food was definitely the thing I enjoyed most about
our holiday.
WARNING:
The relative pronoun is the object of the clause.
We do not repeat the object:
Have you seen those people who we met [them] on
holiday?
The house that we rented [it] in London was fully
furnished.
The food was definitely the thing I enjoyed [it] most
about our holiday.

as object of a preposition. When the relative pronoun is

the object of a preposition we usually put the preposition
after the verb.:
You were talking to a woman >>> Who was the
woman who you were talking to?
My parents live in that house >>> Thats the house that
my parents live in.
You were talking about a book. I havent read it. >>> I
havent read the book which you were talking about.
- When the relative pronoun is the object of a preposition
we usually leave it out:
Who was the woman you were talking to?
Thats the house my parents live in.
- Sometimes we use whom instead of who:
Who was that woman whom you were talking about.
- When we use whom, which or whose the preposition
sometimes comes at the beginning of the clause:
I havent read the book about which you were talking.
 - We can use the possessive form, whose, in a relative
clause:
I always forget that womans name >>> Thats
the woman whose name I always forget.
I met a man whose brother works in Moscow.

3. Times and places

We also use when with times and where with places to make
it clear which time or place we are talking about:
England won the world cup in 1996. It was the year
when we got married.
I remember my twentieth birthday. It was the day
when the tsunami happened.
Do you remember the place where we caught the train?
Stratford-upon-Avon is the town where Shakespeare
was born.
... but we can leave out the word when:
England won the world cup in 1996. It was the year
we got married.
I remember my twentieth birthday. It was the day the
tsunami happened.

4. Giving additional information

We use who, whom, whose, and which (but not that) in
relative clauses to tell us more about a person or thing.

as subject (see Clauses, Sentences and Phrases)

My uncle, who was born in Hong Kong, lived most of
his life overseas.
I have just read Orwells 1984, which is one of the
most frightening books ever written.
WARNING:
The relative pronoun is the subject of the clause.
 We do not repeat the subject:

My uncle, who [he] was born in Hong Kong, lived most of

his life overseas.
I have just read Orwells 1984, which [it] is one of the
most frightening books ever written.

as object (see Clauses, Sentences and Phrases)

We saw the latest Harry Potter film, which we really
enjoyed.
My favourite actor is Marlon Brando, who I saw in On
the Waterfront.
- we can use whom instead of who as object:
My favourite actor was Marlon Brando, whom I saw in
On the Waterfront.
WARNING:
The relative pronoun is the object of the clause.
We do not repeat the object:
We saw the latest Harry Potter film, which we really
enjoyed [it].
My favourite actor is Marlon Brando, who I saw [him] in
On the Waterfront.

as object of a clause :
He finally met Paul McCartney, whom he had always
admired.
We are going back to Venice, which we first visited
thirty years ago.
We can also use who as the object.
He finally met Paul McCartney, who he had always
admired.
 WARNING:
The relative pronoun is the object of the clause.
We do not repeat the object:
He finally met Paul McCartney, whom he had always
admired [him].
We are going back to Venice, which we first
visited [it] thirty years ago.

as object of a preposition:
He decided to telephone Mrs. Jackson, who he had read
about in the newspaper.
Thats the programme which we listened to last night.
- We sometimes use whom instead of who:
He decided to telephone Mrs. Jackson, whom he had
read about in the newspaper.
- The preposition sometimes comes in front of the relative
pronoun whom or which:
He decided to telephone Mrs. Jackson, about whom he
had read in the newspaper.
Thats the programme to which we listened last night.

5. Quantifiers and numbers with relative pronouns

We often use quantifiers and numbers with relative
pronouns:
many of whom - most of whom - one of which -
none of whom
some of which - lots of whom - two of which - etc.
We can use them as subject, object or object of a
preposition.
She has three brothers, two of whom are in the army.
I read three books last week, one of which I really
enjoyed.
 There were some good programmes on the radio, none
of which I listened to.

6. Using "which" to give more information

We often use the relative pronoun which to say
something about a clause:
He was usually late, which always annoyed his father.
Weve missed our train, which means we may be late.