Defining Relative Clauses

Relative clauses – defining relative clauses

Relative clauses add extra information to a sentence by defining a noun. They are usually divided into two types – defining relative clauses and non-defining relative clauses.

Defining relative clauses

Look at this sentence:
  • The woman who lives next door works in a bank.
‘who lives next door’ is a defining relative clause. It tells us which woman we are talking about.

Look at some more examples:
  • Look out! There’s the dog that bit my brother.
  • The film that we saw last week was awful.
  • This is the skirt I bought in the sales.
Can you identify the defining relative clauses? They tell us which dog, which film and which skirt we are talking about.

Relative pronouns

Relative clauses are usually introduced by a relative pronoun (usually who, which, that, but when, where and whose are also possible)

With defining relative clauses we can use who or that to talk about people. There is no difference in meaning between these, though 'who' tends to be preferred in more formal use.
  • She’s the woman who cuts my hair.
  • She’s the woman that cuts my hair.
We can use that or which to talk about things. Again, there is no difference in meaning between these, though 'which' tends to be preferred in more formal use.
  • This is the dog that bit my brother.
  • This is the dog which bit my brother.

Simplifying defining relative clauses

Defining relative clauses can be simplified, or reduced, in several ways:
  1. If the relative pronoun is the object of the verb then it can be omitted:
  • This is the skirt that I bought in the sales.
  • This is the skirt which I bought in the sales.
  • This is the skirt I bought in the sales.
In this sentence ‘skirt’ is the object of the verb (buy). ‘I’ is the subject. When the relative pronoun is the object, it can be omitted.
Note that if the relative pronoun is the subject of the verb then it cannot be omitted:
  • This is the dog that bit my brother.
  • This is the dog which bit my brother.
BUT NOT
  • This is the dog bit my brother.
  1. If the relative clause contains the verb 'be' + any of the following then it can be reduced:
(a) be + an adjective phrase
  • The man who is interested in your car will telephone later.
  • The man interested in your car will telephone later.
Note that other verbs are possible here as well as 'be', such as 'seem', 'look' and 'appear'.
(b) be + a prepositional phrase
  • The books which are on the table have been read.
  • The books on the table have been read.
(c) be + a past participle [a passive form]
  • A person who has been tricked once is careful the next time.
  • A person tricked once is careful the next time.
(d) be + a present participle [a continuous form]
  • The family who are living in the house are very rich.
  • The family living in the house are very rich.                                                                                                                                                                                                            DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES (especificativas)                                                      
    Las defining relative clauses se caracterizan por especificar a qué tipo de persona, cosa o lugar nos estamos refiriendo. Dan información necesaria para comprender a qué nos referimos. NO LLEVAN COMAS. 
  • The book that is on the table is expensive (el libro que está encima de la mesa es caro)  


    Si quitamos la oración de relativo that is on the table, no sabríamos exactamente de qué libro se está hablando. 
    The book is expensive (el libro es caro) → ¿qué libro es caro?

    Por tanto, la oración de relativo that is on the table es una defining relative clause ya que da información necesaria para comprender a qué libro nos estamos refiriendo. 

    The book that is on the table is expensive → ¿qué libro es caro? → El que está encima de la mesa


    PRONOMBRES RELATIVOS
    En las defining relative clauses se usan generalmente los pronombres relativos who, which y that,que en español equivaldrían a "que", "quien", "el cual", "la cual", "los cuales"...

    WHO (= que, quien, el / la cual, los / las cuales)
    S    e usa sólo cuando el antecedente es una persona. 
    That is the girl (esa es la chica) → ¿qué chica? 
    That is the girl who I met last week (esa es la chica que conocí la semana pasada)

    The woman is Spanish (la mujer es española) → ¿qué mujer? 
    The woman who lives in this house is Spanish (la mujer que vive en esta casa es española)

    WHICH (=que, el / la cual, los / las cuales, lo que, lo cual)
    Se usa cuando el antecedente es una cosa.
    The book is expensive (el libro es caro) → ¿qué libro?
    The book which is on the table is expensive (el libro que está encima de la mesa es caro)

    The film is boring (la película es aburrida) → ¿qué película?
    The film which I saw at the cinema last night is boring  (la película que ví anoche en el cine es aburrida)

    THAT (=que, el que, la que, los que, las que)
    Es el más usado ya que se puede utilizar cuando el antecedente hace referencia a personas o cosas. 
    Personas → That is the girl that I met last week 
    Cosas → The film that I saw at the cinema last night is boring


    WHO, WHICH y THAT: SUJETO U OBJETO DE UNA DEFINING CLAUSE 
    Como cualquier pronombre, los relativos who, which y that realizan una función dentro de la oración de relativo.

    1. Función de sujeto
    I spoke to the woman who / that lives next door (hablé con la mujer que vive a mi  lado) 

    El relativo tendrá función de sujeto si el antecedente al que hace referencia (the woman) actúa de sujeto en la oración subordinada (the woman lives next door). 
                                                               Sujeto            Predicado

    Truco: Cuando el pronombre relativo actúa de sujeto le sigue siempre un verbo.
    I spoke to the woman who / that   lives  next door
                                          relativo        verbo



    2. Función de objeto 
    He is the man who we met last night (él es el hombre que nosotros conocimos anoche) 

    El relativo tendrá función de objeto si el antecedente al que hace referencia (the man) actúa de objeto en la oración subordinada (We met the man last night)
                                                         Objeto             

    Truco: Cuando el pronombre relativo actúa de objeto le sigue siempre un sujeto (pronombre sujeto o sintagma nominal)

    He is the man    who      we    met last night
                             relativo         sujeto


    ¡Importante!
    → Los pronombres relativos who, which, that se pueden omitir cuando actúan de objeto. 

    (relativo con función de objeto)
    He is the man who we met last night  = He is the man we met last night ✔
    This is the house that I used to live in = This is the house I used to live in ✔

    (relativo con función de sujeto) → no se puede omitir
    I spoke to the woman who lives next door  I spoke to the woman lives next door X
    The man that lives in this house is German The man lives in this house is German X

    → En las defining clauses, se puede utilizar el relativo Whom  en lugar de who para hacer referencia a personas, cuando éste tiene la función de objeto. Se utiliza en registros formales. 

    That is the woman who he married = that is the woman whom he married (esa es la mujer con la que él se casó)

    → A la hora de unir dos frases para hacer una frase de relativo, recuerda omitir el pronombre objeto. 
     1. We know very little about the woman (sabemos muy poco de la mujer)
    2. He married her (Él se casó con ella)

    We know very little about the woman who / that he married  (sabemos muy poco de la mujer con la que él se casó) 

    We know very little about the woman that he married her 

Exercise 1 - Defining relative clauses

Choose the correct answer.
  1. A hotel is a place ____________people stay when they're on holiday.
  2. What's the name of the woman ____________lives in that house?
  3. What do you call someone ___________writes computer programs?
  4. A waiter is a person ______________job is to serve customers in a restaurant.
  5. Overalls are clothes ______________people wear to protect their clothes when they are working.
  6. Is that the shop ________________you bought your new laptop?
  7. He's the man ________________son plays football for Manchester Utd.
  8. Hal didn't get the job ________________he applied for.

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