Autor: Enrique Hinojosa RELATIVE SENTENCES

RELATIVE SENTENCES
Autor: Enrique Hinojosa
-defining (especificativas)
Las “defining” se usan para definir o especificar al sustantivo con el que van:
(The man who is talking is my uncle), sólo el hombre que está hablando es mi tío,
y no los otros. “who is talking” especifica o define a “the man”. Esta información no
se puede suprimir, pues no se entendería bien la frase: (The man is my uncle???)
¿Qué hombre es mi tío?. En este tipo de frases, se suele omitir el pronombre de
relativo cuando éste funciona de objeto u objeto de preposición (The man I met is
the new teacher)
-non-defining (explicativas):
Las “non-defining” son las que no especifican o no definen al sustantivo
(New York, which is a very nice city, is in the USA); sólo añaden una información
que no es necesaria para el entendimiento de la frase; si la quitamos, la frase no
perdería sentido y se entendería (New York is in the USA). Por eso siempre irán
entre comas. En este tipo de frases, el pronombre de relativo nunca puede ser
omitido.
En general, las frases de relativo van siempre precedidas de un pronombre
de relativo (who, whose, which, that,...). Estos pronombres pueden referirse tanto
a personas como a cosas y pueden realizar distintas funciones dentro de la frase de
relativo en la que aparecen (sujeto, objeto, posesivo...).
Por lo tanto, tendremos que dividirlas en 2 grupos: cuando se refieren a
personas y cuando se refieren a cosas. Cada uno de estos grupos estará dividido
a su vez en varios subgrupos, de acuerdo con la función que realice el pronombre
de relativo (sujeto, objeto, objeto de preposición, posesivo, ...).
A continuación, mostramos ejemplos de todas las posibilidades en frases de
relativo “defining”:
PEOPLE
-Subject
(The man
who is talking
is my new teacher) Also “that”
-Object
(The man
… you met
is my teacher)
Also “that/who/whom”
-Object of
(The man … I was talking to
is my teacher)
Preposition
… that I was talking to
…
... to whom I was talking … (formal)
-Possessive
(The man whose son is in hospital is my teacher)
… the son of which is in …
THINGS
-Subject
(The picture which was painted by Klee is nice) Also “that”
-Object
(The picture
-Object of
Preposition
(The picture … I was looking at
is very nice)
… that I was looking at
…
… at which I was looking … (formal)
-Possessive
(The house whose windows are broken is John´s)
… the windows of which are …
… I bought
is very expensive) Also “that/which”
ADVERBIALS
-Place
(The city
…
…
where I live
is Seville)
I live in
…
in which I live …
-Time
(The year
…
…
when I was born
is 1980)
I was born in
…
in which I was born …
-Reason
Cause
(The reason
why I didn´t go
is I was ill)
… I didn´t go
...for which I didn´t…
Todos estos ejemplos se pueden aplicar a las frases “non-defining”; sólo
habría que cambiar el sustantivo por otro que esté ya definido de por sí, es decir,
nombre propio, nombre con demostrativo,... Nunca “that” sería posible en este tipo
de frases, y nunca se podrá omitir el pronombre:
Peter,
Peter,
Peter,
Peter,
This
This
This
This
who is always talking in class, is a good student
whom I met yesterday, is a good student
to whom I talked yesterday, is a good student
whose girlfriend is French, is a good student
school,
school,
school,
school,
which is very old, has a good reputation
which you don´t like, has a good reputation
which I´m looking at, has a good reputation
whose windows are broken, has a good reputation
EXERCISES
1.- Fill in the blank spaces using who/whom/which
1- They had a terrible cook _________ used to burn all the food.
2- There was one other thing _________ surprised me.
3- I met someone ________ said he knew you.
4- There was one other person ________ surprised me.
5- The people _________ live next door are very friendly.
6- I´d never met anyone __________ talked so much.
7- I´ve never met anyone to ________ I could talk so freely.
8- The girl with ________ I shared the apartment was a musician.
9- The bar from _______ I phoned was very noisy.
10- The one with _______ he fell in love was the Ferrari.
2.- Write commas when necessary
1- Not all the people who reach the age of ninety are vegetarians.
2- My grandfather who died at the age of ninety was a vegetarian.
3- People who did not have a visa were not allowed into the country.
4- His assistant with whom he shares the small office goes out for lunch at 12.
5- My parents who did not have a visa were not allowed into the country.
6- The assistant with whom he shares the small office goes out for lunch at 12.
7- I´d rather give it to someone who really needs it.
8- The hall was empty and so was the room which I could see through the door.
9- I´d rather give it to John who really needs it.
10- The hall was empty and so was his room which I could see through the door.
3.- Link these sentences using a relative pronoun when neccessary
1- I met a girl; her name was Greta
2- Ann’s parents are in hospital; Ann is staying with us
3- I once had a dog; its eyes were large and round
4- It was a wonderful day; I´ll never forget that day
5- You will see a man; you must not speak to him.
6- I met a Frenchman; his English was terrible.
7- He wore a grey suit; the suit had seen better days.
8- You´re looking at a house; it belongs to Jones.
9- Tom´s friends are willing to help; we have already talked to them.
10- I gave him ten dollars; it was more than he expected.
11- I sent you a postcard from Venice; Did you receive it?
12- John had already seen the film; John insisted on going to the theatre.
13- Two boys were playing with a ball; they broke several windows.
14- You sent me some flowers; thank you very much for the flowers.
15- A man asked to see you; I can´t remember his name.
16- The smaller children fell asleep; they had to be carried off to bed.
4.- Write a relative pronoun only when necessary
1- She had sold everything ___________ she could sell.
2- You must follow the directions __________ I´m giving you.
3- An American friend ___________ was with us asked some questions.
4- Peter, __________ is a magnificent musician, is here with us.
5- We know most of the people __________ live in our street.
6- The car, ___________ was second hand, took us all the way to Paris.
7- Is that the train ___________ will take us to Denmark?
8- He is working hard, ___________ is very good.
9- I was glad to hear her answers, some of ___________ surprised me.
10- Brenhouse, __________ was extremely thin, came from London.
11- Some of the people _________ I met were very interesting.
12- Gretchen was the only tennis player __________ won a trophy.
13- He glanced at the girl ___________ hand he was holding.
14- It was the saddest story __________ I had ever heard.
15- You´re the only vegetarian __________ I know __________ smokes.
16- It was about eight in the morning, __________ is the time I usually get up.
17- The hotel __________ we stayed did not have a swimming-pool.
18- The hotel __________ we stayed at was near the sea.
19- Those are the curtains _________ need to be washed.
20- Harry, __________ you´ve just met, is the owner of this pub.
21- The people __________ we met had just returned from Spain.
22- She told me to go back home, __________ I did.
23- They made this house all by themselves, _________ is unbelievable.
24- We didn´t see Mary, __________ was in Italy at the time.
25- The woman __________ son I know is Mrs Brown.
26- The one __________ I normally use is the white one.
27- This one, __________ I never use, is black, as you can see.
28- It was the most beautiful story _________ I had ever heard.
29- She wore her brother´s coat, _________ was too large for her.
30- Brodsky was the dissident __________ had written nice poems in prison.
31- He believes in nothing, _________ is why he is so ignorant.
32- She had been on television with her husband, ________ was also her manager.
33- She began telling me about someone _________ she had found in the house.
34- I have a spare pair of boots _________ I can lend you.
35- Is it the blue one __________ you want?
36- I´d rather see the face of the person _________ I´m talking to.
37- They believe in ghosts, _________ is ridiculous.
38- London was no longer the London _________ he remembered.
5.- Translate into English
1- Esa es la chica que conocí en la fiesta (meet)
2- No encuentro el libro que me prestaste (find/lend)
3- Me gustó la película que vi ayer (like/film)
4- ¿Por qué no te pones la chaqueta que te regalé? (wear/give)
5- Ese es el hotel donde nos quedamos (stay)
6- El cuadro que compraste es muy bonito (picture)
7- No recuerdo el día que te invité (remember/invite)
8- Enséñame el dibujo que has pintado (show/drawing)
9- ¿Te gusta la música que estoy escuchando? (listen to)
10- Ese es el parque donde juegan mis hijos (children)
6.- Write correct relative sentences with this information
1. This is the woman. She gave me my first job.
2. He picked up the book. It was on the desk.
3. The meal was delicious. Ben cooked it.
4. She's the woman. She telephoned the police.
5. He's the person. He wanted to buy your house.
6. We threw out the computer. It never worked properly.
7. This is the lion. It's been ill recently.
8. The man was badly injured. He was driving the car.
9. The children broke my window. They live in the next street.
10. They sold the cat. It was afraid of mice.
11. This is the chair. My parents gave it to me.
12. I've applied for the job. You told me about it.
13. We're looking for the ball. We were playing with it.
14. The man was holding the gun. We saw him.
15. I'm going to speak to the mechanic. He repaired my car.
16. The TV programme was very sad. I watched it last night.
17. The girl had red hair. I saw her.
18. That's the woman. I was telling you about her.
19. I didn’t like the match. We saw it on TV
20. He dreamt about an actress. The actress was J. López
21. They gave me the money. They owed me some money.
22. I sent you an email. Did you receive it?
23. John’s sister is a policewoman. She is very strong
24. We left the key in the hotel. We spent the night in the hotel
25. You didn’t come yesterday. I want to know the reason
26. I explained the sentence to you. You didn’t understand it.
27. The man stole your bike. I saw the man on the bus.
28. Susan travelled to London. Susan is my best friend.
29. I saw Roger. His wife owns the Top Shop
30. I met Susan. She works on Electrobit
31. The man didn’t come. The man invited you to the party
32. Roger Craig is an actor. She was talking about him
33. The car was stolen. He bought the car from Richard Hunter
34. Did you go into the shop? The shop sells dresses
35. Richard is my cousin. I play golf with Richard
36. I can’t find the key. You took the key this morning
37. I entered the room. The door of the room was broken
38. I don’t know the hotel. You stayed in that hotel
39. The students were late. They were expelled from class.
40. I met Richard. His son was a friend of mine.
7.- Find the right explanation for each of these words
Examples: A butcher is someone who sells meat
Oars are things you use to row a boat
A target is something you try to hit
Gloves
Socks
A briefcase
A greengrocer
A present
A kettle
A stamp
An artist
A seat
An umbrella
A mirror
Soap
??
??
He/She sells fruit and vegetables
It heats water for tea
You wear them on your feet
You carry papers in it
You give it to someone
It keeps the rain off you
You can see yourself in it
You sit on it
You wash your hands with it
He/She paints pictures
You put it on a letter
You wear them on your hands