“Practice makes perfect.”
1
LAS ORACIONES DE RELATIVO
¿ QUÉ HAY QUE SABER?
¿ Qué es una oración de relativo?
¿ Cuáles son los pronombres relativos? El uso de los pronombres relativos
Oraciones de relativo Especificativas y Explicativas (Defining and Non-Defining) ¿ En qué casos se puede omitir el pronombre relativo?
El uso de los pronombres relativos en oraciones con verbo y preposición.
Observa las siguientes oraciones.
“I bought a book. The book is about mythology”
(Compré un libro. El libro trata sobre mitología)
En la realidad nadie se expresa de esta manera. Lo normal es unir esas dos oraciones en una sola, evitando la repetición de elementos. Estas dos ideas se unen mediante un pronombre relativo:
“I bought a book which is about mythology” (compré un libro que trata sobre mitología)
Como verás, hemos pasado de dos oraciones simples, a una oración compuesta subordinada adjetiva o de relativo en la que el pronombre relativo which ha sustituido a “the book”,
para evitar la repetición.
Los pronombres relativos son:
Who, which, that, whom, whose, what, where,
“ Yesterday I met a girl who can speak 5 languages.” “ The magazine which you bought is very interesting” “ Patricia has received the card that we sent her last week”
“the gentleman whom I saw at the airport is my neighbour (en desuso)
“ Mariah, whose brother lives in England, is going to help me” (cuyo/a/os/as) “ We can’t understand what you are trying to say” (lo que)
“ That’s the house where the crime took place
“Practice makes perfect.”
2
¿ Cómo identificar un pronombre relativo?La forma que es la más habitual de aparecer como pronombre relativo; sin embargo, esta palabra puede ser muchas otras cosas, y por esa razón se hace imprescindible saber discernir la función del pronombre relativo del resto de funciones.
Una forma muy práctica de saber si ese que es relativo es sustituirlo por “el cual, la cual, los cuales o las cuales”; si al sustituirlo tiene sentido, entonces estamos ante una oración de relativo.
“Pienso que tienes razón”.- I think which you are right “ ( no es oración de relativo) “ El camino que nos lleva a la ciudad”.- The way which leads us to town” (relativo)
El uso de los pronombres relativos:
- Who se emplea cuando el antecedente ( o elemento previo al que hace referencia) se refiere a personas. Ej: “ Michael is the teacher who teaches us English”.
- Which se utiliza cuando el antecedente es cosa o animal.
Ej: “ I want to read the article which shows their point of view”
Which también se emplea cuando el antecedente es toda la oración anterior.
“ She has wasted all her time, which is a pity” (ella ha malgastado todo su tiempo, lo cual es una pena)
“Practice makes perfect.”
3
IMPORTANTE : THAT no puede utilizarse en los siguiente casos.1.- Cuando la oración de relativo está entre comas (explicativa, o non-defining) Ej: “Lydia, who can speak English fluently, has found a job as a secretary”
2.- Cuando el pronombre relativo va precedido de preposición. Ej: “Siemens is the company for which I work”
3.- Cuando el antecedente es toda la oración que le precede (ver el último uso de which)
“They don’t stop complaining, which really makes me angry”
- Whom es una forma en desuso. Sólo aparece cuando hace función de Objeto del verbo en la oración de relativo.
Ej: “ The man whom I wanted to see was not there”
- Whose, siempre relacionado con la posesión o pertenencia (como pronombre relativo significa De quién), se traduce por cuyo/a/os/as.
Ej: We’ll see the man whose wife had sold all his properties. - What, lo que. Sustituye a la idea “la cosa que”.
Ej: “I don’t understand what happened” “ Did you hear what I said?
- Where, donde, en el/la cual. Es igual a in which
Ej: The library where I study in the evenings is closed on Sundays. = The library in which I study in the evenings is closed on Sundays.
Oraciones de relativo Especificativas y Explicativas (Defining and Non-Defining)
- Las oraciones especificativas (defining) son las que aportan una información esencial, sin la cual el significado de la frase queda inacabado o nulo.
“Practice makes perfect.”
4
- Las oraciones explicativas (non defining) se identifican muy fácilmente porque van entre comas. Transmiten una información adicional de la que podría prescindirse; es decir, podría omitirse esa información, y la oración seguiría teniendo significado completo.Ej: “Amanda, who is my best friend, is coming with me to the theatre”
“Amanda is coming with me to the theatre” sigue teniendo significado completo.
Recuerda que en las oraciones explicativas that no puede sustituir a who o which.
“Amanda, that is my best friend, is coming with me to the theatre”
En determinados casos los pronombre relativos who, which y that pueden omitirse, y lo que aparentemente puede ser una oración inconexa o sin significado, es en realidad una oración de relativo con pronombre omitido.
Ejemplo: “ Did you like the painting (which) we saw? ”
Se puede omitir el pronombre relativo (es opcional) si : en una oración especificativa el pronombre relativo no hace función de sujeto.
Observa y analiza las siguientes oraciones:
“That is the car which we have rented for our trip” “ That is the car which goes faster than 240 kms/h”.
En el primer caso, el sujeto del verbo ( have rented ) es we y which hace función de objeto. Aquí es posible omitir el pronombre relativo: “That is the car we have rented for our trip”. Sin embargo, en el segundo ejemplo, el sujeto de la forma verbal (goes) es el mismo pronombre relativo (which), por lo tanto la presencia del pronombre relativo es obligatoria : “ That is the car which goes faster than 240 kms/h”
¿ Qué sucede cuando el relativo es el complemento de una preposición en una oración especificativa?
Ej: “Leanne is the girl about whom we were talking”
Teniendo presente el punto anterior (en el que veíamos que el pronombre relativo se puede omitir en las oraciones especificativas si no hace función de sujeto) , en la oración del ejemplo el pronombre relativo puede quitarse, y entonces, la preposición irá al final de la oración. “Leanne is the girl we were talking about”
Otros ejemplos: “Carla is the woman I live with”.“ Peace is the reason we are fighting for”;
“Practice makes perfect.”
5
1.- Fill in the blanks with who, which, where, that, when or whose. Omit the relative pronoun when possible1.- What is the address of the woman ... dog bit ours? 2.- We live in a city... new restaurants open every day.
3.- Michael Crichton, ...wrote Jurassic Park, is a famous author.
4.- The White House, in... all American presidents live, is in Washington D.C 5.- Joe will never forget the day... he got his driving licence.
6.- On Malta, ...is an island in the Mediterranean, people speak English.
2.- Combine the following sentences using the relative pronoun who, which, that, whose, when or where. Make any other necessary changes.
1.- The book is on the floor. It has a red cover.
2.- Here is a photograph of the hotel. We stayed there for a weekend. 3.- We met a friend last week. Her husband is an engineer.
4.- We visited the town. It lies at the source of the Danube. 5.- David bought a new camera. It was made in Japan. 6,. Ann lost the money. It belonged to her uncle. 7.- I know the girl. She is going to marry my cousin.
8.- We live in a town near Madrid. In that town there are many shops.
9.- A very interesting man wrote a letter to a newspaper. He was born in England. 10.- Do you remember that summer? . We went on holidays together then.
3.- RELATIVE CLAUSES: Translate into English. Omit the relative when possible - No me gustan los chistes que me cuentas (joke=chiste)
- Rubén, cuyo padre es alto, juega al baloncesto conmigo.
- Ella trabaja por las mañanas y los fines de semana, lo cual es agotador (exhausting) - Rodolfo, que tiene 12 años, lee comics.
- Estoy terminando un libro que tiene 500 páginas.
- Ayer conocí a un hombre cuyo hijo tiene un negocio en París.
- Este diccionario, que es muy barato, es muy bueno para los alumnos. - El señor López es el hombre del que estuvimos hablando.
- Elías no estudia nunca, lo cual no entiendo.
“Practice makes perfect.”
6
“Ralph met a woman who was born in Nigeria”.
2.- We use the relative pronoun which when it refers to objects or animals
“ Blanca is the dog which protects our house”.
3.- We use where to refer to places
“Madrid is the city in which/whereI feel like at home”
4.- We use whose to talk about possession.
“Amanda is a rich woman whose house has got 10 bedrooms”
OVER TO YOU: Write your own relative sentences by joining these pairs of sentences with a relative pronoun. Example: Ralph met a woman. The woman was born in Nigeria
“Ralph met a woman who was born in Nigeria”.
1.- I know a woman. She can speak 5 foreign languages.
2.- My parents worked in a company. They worked for 12 hours a day in that company. 3.- Jamy is a an amazing girl. Her dream is to become a tireless and sweet nurse. 4.- Sam tells stupid jokes. Nobody understands them.
5.- The secretary phones people. These people’s salaries are very high.
6.- Nobody can forget a place. Lots of people were killed at war in this place. 7.- “ The strength of will” is a film. Everybody loves it.
8.- Rafa hates 5 people. Their behavior is selfish and heartless.
9.- Alfredo Solán is a writer. He writes mistery novels all over the world 10.- We’ll buy a new cupboard. You will have room to put all your stuff in it.
NON DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES
Combine the following pairs or groups of sentences, using relative pronouns.
1.- Tom had been driving all day. He was tired and wanted to stop.
2.- Ann had been sleeping in the back of the car. She felt quite fresh and wanted to go on. 3.- Paul wanted to take the mountain road. His tyres were nearly new.
4.- ]ack’s tyres were very old. He wanted to stick to the tarred road.
5.- Mary didn’t know anything about mountains. She thought it would be quite safe to climb alone. 6 .- Mary said that there should be a notice up warning people. Mary’s children couldn’t swim. 7.- Ann said that there were far too many notices. Ann’s children could swim very well. 8.-Tom’s leg is still in bandages. He will have to watch the match from the stand.
9.- Tom had a hangover. He felt too sick to work fast.
10.- The boss asked why the report s hadn’t arrived yet . The report should have been on his desk by 2 p.m
11.- And eventually Mark arranged a date with Lucy. He was particularly anxious to impress Lucy. 12.- Cervantes wrote “ The Quixote”; He worked as a tax collector for quite a long time.
13.- Marlon is retiring next week after working for the same company all his life.
14.- Lucía’s mother teaches us how to speak German fluenty. She was born in Dortmund.
“Practice makes perfect.”
7
THE KNOW –IT-ALL WHO WANTED TO MAKE HIMSELF NOTICED. You’re like this,
it’s in your nature, if there’s something you hate is going unnoticed, so you take part in every single statement people make. Complete the sentences with a non-defining relative clause.
1.- Christmas, ________________________________________________, is in December.
2.- Cristiano Ronaldo, ____________________________________________, was born in Portugal. 3.- William Shakespeare , ________________________________________, died on 23 April 1616 4.- Barcelona , ________________________________________________, is on the coast of Spain. 5.- The Middles ages , ______________________________________________, lasted 10 centuries 6.- George Michael , _______________________________________, was found dead in his house 7.- The Amazon , ________________________________________________, Is in South America. 8.- English , _________________________________________, is a must for travelers and workers 9.- That boy , ________________________________________________, is an orphan.
10.- El Cid , _______________________________________________, is a symbol for many of us 11.- The economic crisis , __________________________________________, is coming to an end. 12.- Summer , _______________________________________________, starts on the 21st of June 13.- Dracula, , ________________________________________________, was a vampire.
“Practice makes perfect.”
8
“Practice makes perfect.”
