For Reviewing Relatives / Para Repasar Relativos

Sancho

If I don't review, I forget. Today, relative clauses. My way of reviewing grammar is a little peculiar, but it works for me. Would you like to try it? 

Si no repaso, me olvido. Hoy, cláusulas de relativo. Mi forma de repasar es un poco sui generis, pero yo me aclaro. ¿Quieres probar tú?

Una oración con una cláusula de relativo tiene dos partes y un nexo.
El nexo une dos oraciones distintas – la principal y la cláusula de relativo – convirtiendo las dos oraciones en una con dos partes. Al nexo se le llama relativo.
That is the house. I lived there when I was little. (dos oraciones sueltas)
Esa es la casa. Yo vivía ahí cuando era pequeña.
That is the house where I lived when I was little. (el relativo las une)
Esa es la casa en la que yo vivía cuando era pequeña.
La segunda oración del ejemplo se ha convertido en una cláusula de relativo. El nexo es el relativo where.

Hay dos clases de cláusulas de relativo, las defining y las non-defining.
Las defining relative clauses son especificativas. Aportan información esencial para saber de qué estamos hablando. Yo las llamo las cláusulas de “decir de lo que va.”
That is the dress. I bought it yesterday.
Ese es el vestido. Yo lo compré ayer.
That is the dress which I bought yesterday.
Ese es el vestido que yo compré ayer.
Si no especificamos de qué vestido se trata, no sabemos de qué va lo que estamos diciendo.
Las non-defining relative clauses son explicativas. Añaden información que puede ser interesante pero no es esencial para saber de qué va lo que estamos diciendo.
Peter is the mayor of this city. He is my neighbor.
Pedro es el alcalde de esta ciudad. Él es mi vecino.
Peter, who is my neighbor, is the mayor of this city.
Pedro, que es mi vecino, es el alcalde de esta ciudad.
Fíjate como este tipo de oración de relativo va entre comas. Eso indica que se puede prescindir de ella sin que pase nada grave. Yo las llamo cláusulas de “dicho sea de paso.”
A veces las non-defining no van “entre” comas porque están al final de la oración. En estos casos sólo hay una coma delante del principio de la non-defining clause.
I ate your pizza, which was delicious.
Me comí tu pizza, que estaba deliciosa.

PRACTICE: Pon las comas en las oraciones que tienen non-defining clauses. No toques las que no.

1. Margaret who is my sister is a professional ballet dancer.
2. That car which is an antique Rolls Royce is worth a million dollars.
3. I am with the man who won the tennis match.
4. Wednesday is the day when I go to karate classes.
5. Pierre who is French is married to a Japanese girl.

En las defining relative clauses se usan los siguientes relativos para:
personas – who / that (en ciertos casos también whom, lo veremos luego)
cosas – which / that
tiempo – when / that
lugar – where (jamás that)
posesión – whose (jamás that)
En las non-defining relative clauses, lo mismo que arriba salvo que no se utiliza that casi nunca, así que para aprobar mejor no lo utilices jamás.

PRACTICE: Fill in the blanks with a relative.

1. My sister, _________ lives in New York, has three children.
2. Are you the boy __________ father is a fireman?
3. Those are the books ___________ Fenella wrote.
4. Where is the hospital __________ they operated Samuel?
5. John was with Patricia ___________ she fell from the tree.
6. There were ten pairs of boots in the shop, ___________ were all brown.
7. Tell the man ____ car is parked outside that he´s blocking our driveway.
8. I took those photos, _________ are of our trip to India.

THREE WIERDER THINGS / TRES COSAS MÁS RARAS:

Whom: Se utiliza para personas cuando éstas son objeto en una oración, y no sujeto. Pero como no hay manera de que algunas personas vean la diferencia entre un sujeto y un objeto, los que explican los relativos han tirado la toalla y sólo cuentan lo imprescindible sobre whom. Y lo imprescindible es que whom se usa detrás de preposiciones:
The girl to whom I gave the money was Ana´s sister.
La chica a la que di el dinero era la hermana de Ana.
Pero esto se puede decir colocando la preposición al final de la cláusula de relativo. Y entonces no es obligatorio utilizar whom.
Así que hay cinco formas de decir este tipo de cosas:
That is the man from whom I bought the car. (preposición delante de whom)
That is the man whom I bought the car from. (con whom y la preposición al final)
That is the man who I bought the car from. (con who y la preposición al final)
That is the man that I bought the car from. (con that y la preposición al final)
That is the man I bought the car from. (sin nada y con la preposición al final)
Todas esas cinco son lo mismo: Éste es el hombre al que compré el coche.
Sólo la que lleva la preposición delante del relativo tiene que ir con whom forzosamente. La que lleva la preposición al final de la cláusula de relativo puede llevar whom, who, that o nada.

PRACTICE: Reescribe estas oraciones utilizando whom de dos maneras. Lo primero que tienes que hacer es identificar la preposición. Las preposiciones más corrientes que van con whom son to, for, from y with.

1. The people we spoke to were very friendly.


2. Rita, who I always walk to school with, is very funny.


3. The girl that Paul danced with had red hair.


4. This is the lady who they stole the bag from.


5. These are the girls we made the dresses for.



Adverbios relativos: Además de los pronombres relativos, existen los adverbios relativos. Son tres: when, where y why. De when y where nos basta con lo que ya hemos visto para funcionar bien. En cuanto a why, a veces se puede omitir y a veces sustituir por that. A efectos de aprobar, lo mejor es evitar omitirlo o sustituirlo para no confundirse.
My wife left me. I don´t know the reason she did this.
Mi mujer me dejó. Desconozco la razón de esto.
I don’t know (the reason) why my wife left me.
No sé la razón por la que me dejó mi mujer. / No sé por qué me dejó mi mujer.
She burnt the papers. I ignore the reason she did this.
I don´t know (the reason) why she burnt the papers.
No sé la razón por la que quemó los papeles. / No sé por qué quemó los papeles.

What: Sólo se usa como relativo cuando no hay antecedente.
¿Qué es el antecedente? Resulta que delante de la cláusula de relativo hay una palabra y que esta palabra se llama antecedente.
Las palabras subrayadas delante de las siguientes cláusulas de relativo son ejemplos de antecedentes:
Jane is the girl who won the contest. / Juana es la chica que ganó el concurso.
That is the car which Peter won the race with./ Ese es el coche con el que Juan ganó la carrera.
George, whom I love madly, is the man I will marry .
/Jorge, al que año locamente, es el hombre con el que me voy a casar.
Saturday, which is my favorite day of the week, is a fun day.
/ El sabado, que es mi día de la semana favorito, es un día divertido.
Las siguientes oraciones son ejemplos de oraciones de relativo con what y por lo tanto sin antecedentes.
She doesn´t know what she is doing. / Ella no sabe lo que está haciendo.
They don’t have what it takes to win. / Ellos no tienen lo que hace falta para ganar.
You know what I said. / Tú sabes lo que dije.
Los catetos ingleses sí utilizan what – lo pronuncian wot – en oraciones de relativo con antecedentes. Resulta muy gracioso oírlo y la gente se troncha con esto, sobre todo los norteamericanos.
Ex. I know the girl wot sells flowers. / Conozco a la chica ca vende flores.
No hagas esto, que es un error aunque resulte cómico.

PRACTICE: Make one sentence out of two using a relative pronoun or adverb. Haz una oración de estas dos utilizando un relativo. Hay algo en las oraciones que no va a aparecer en la nueva oración. La oración resultante puede ser defining o non-defining, así que ojo con las comas.
Eje. That is my brother. He is an astronaut.
That is my brother, who is an astronaut.
Ha desaparecido “He,” sustituido por el relativo.

1. That’s my grandmother. I love her a lot.
That is

2. These are the apples. They are from Meg’s orchard.   (orchard=huerto)
These are

3. In the morning I feel dizzy. This happens when I wake up.  (dizzy=mareado)
In the morning, when

4. Who is the actress? She has won an oscar.
Who is the actress

5. Silvana is living in Bombay. Her flat in Rome was sold last month.
Silvana, whose

8. Ray owns a magnificent yacht. He spends the summer sailing in the Caribbean.
Ray, who owns

9. My neighbor loves dogs. She has five poodles.   (poodles=caniches)
My neighbor, who has

10. You have three evening dresses. They are all very fashionable.
You have three evening dresses,

11. Don´t tell me you found the bracelet. You lost it in the park.
Don´t tell me you found the bracelet

12. Where is the man? He wanted to speak to me.
Where is the man who

13. When is the party? Helen is giving it.
When is the party

14. I have no idea. Why did she do that?
I have no idea why

15. You are here. We know the reason.
We know why

16. Felix bought a bird. It can sing.
Felix bought

17. Why is she so happy? I have no notion.
I have no notion why

18. Don’t forget to lock the door of the tunnel. It leads to the secret chambers.
Don’t forget to lock the door of the tunnel

19. Please give me your opinion of the pictures. I painted them.
Please give me your opinion of the pictures

20. 2012 will be the year. I will finish secondary school this year.
2012 will be the year when

21. Alfred broke the vase. Aunt Sarah gave it to us.
Alfred broke the vase

22. Rumania is the country. Popeanga was born there.
Rumania is the country where

23. We remember the day. The war ended that day.
We remember the day when

24. The number of people increases daily. They use mobile phones.
The number of people who

25. Emma is from Holland. I went to buy tulips with her. (Use whom)
Emma, with whom I went

26. Another version of the above.
Emma, who(m) I went

27. They don't have it. The spirit it takes to explore unknown territory.
They don't have what it

28. I will never forget the day. I first saw you that day.
I will never forget the day when

29. We have to say something. But we don´t know what.
We don't know what

30. Arthur has a cat named Melita. She can play the piano.
Arthur has a cat named Melita

31. You gave the money. To whom?
To whom did

32. Another version of the above.
Who(m) did you

Si quieres seguir practicando, pincha en 55 cláusulas de relativo para practicar.

ANSWERS / RESPUESTAS

PRACTICE: Fill in the blanks with a relative.

1. Margaret ,  who is my sister , is a professional ballet dancer.
2. That car , which is an antique Rolls Royce , is worth a million dollars.
3. I am with the man who won the tennis match.
4. Wednesday is the day when I go to karate classes.
5. Pierre , who is French , is married to a Japanese girl.

1. My sister, WHO lives in New York, has three children.
2. Are you the boy WHOSE father is a fireman?
3. Those are the books THAT Fenella wrote.
4. Where is the hospital WHERE they operated Samuel?
5. John was with Patricia WHEN  she fell from the tree.
6. There were ten pairs of boots in the shop, WHICH were all brown.
7. Tell the man WHOSE car is parked outside that he´s blocking our driveway.
8. I took those photos, WHICH are of our trip to India.

1. The people we spoke to were very friendly.
The people to whom we spoke were very friendly. 

The people we spoke to were very friendly. 

2. Rita, who I always walk to school with, is very funny.
Rita, with whom I always walk to school, is very funny..

Rita, whom I always walk to school with, is very funny. 

3. The girl that Paul danced with had red hair.

The girl with whom Paul danced had red hair. 

4. This is the lady who they stole the bag from.
This is the lady from whom they stole the bag.

5. These are the girls we made the dresses for.

These are the girls for whom we made the dresses.

1. That’s my grandmother. I love her a lot.
That is my grandmother, whom I love a lot. 

2. These are the apples. They are from Meg’s orchard.   (orchard=huerto)
These are the apples that are from Meg's orchard.
Thesse are the apples which are from Meg's orchard.

3. In the morning I feel dizzy. This happens when I wake up.  (dizzy=mareado)
In the morning, when I wake up, I feel dizzy.

4. Who is the actress? She has won an oscar.
Who is the actress who has won an oscar?

5. Silvana is living in Bombay. Her flat in Rome was sold last month.
Silvana, whose flat in Rome was sold last month, is living in Bombay.

8. Ray owns a magnificent yacht. He spends the summer sailing in the Caribbean.
Ray, who owns a maginficent yacht, spends the summer sailing in the Caribbean. 

9. My neighbor loves dogs. She has five poodles.   (poodles=caniches)
My neighbor, who has five poodles, loves dogs. 

10. You have three evening dresses. They are all very fashionable.
You have three evening dresses, which are all very fashinable.

11. Don´t tell me you found the bracelet. You lost it in the park.
Don´t tell me you found the bracelet that you lost in the park!

12. Where is the man? He wanted to speak to me.
Where is the man who wanted to speak to me?

13. When is the party? Helen is giving it.
When is the party that Helen is giving?

14. I have no idea. Why did she do that?
I have no idea why she did that.

15. You are here. We know the reason.
We know why you are here.

16. Felix bought a bird. It can sing.
Felix bought a bird that can sing.

17. Why is she so happy? I have no notion.
I have no notion why she is so happy.

18. Don’t forget to lock the door of the tunnel. It leads to the secret chambers.
Don’t forget to lock the door of the tunnel which /that leads to a secret chamber.

19. Please give me your opinion of the pictures. I painted them.
Please give me your opinion of the pictures I painted.

20. 2012 will be the year. I will finish secondary school this year.
2012 will be the year when I finish secondary school.

21. Alfred broke the vase. Aunt Sarah gave it to us.
Alfred broke the vase that Aunt Sarah gave us.

22. Rumania is the country. Popeanga was born there.
Rumania is the country where Popeanga was born.

23. We remember the day. The war ended that day.
We remember the day when the war ended.

24. The number of people increases daily. They use mobile phones.
The number of people who / that use moblie phones increases daily. 

25. Emma is from Holland. I went to buy tulips with her. (Use whom)
Emma, with whom I went to buy tulips, is from Holland. 

26. Another version of the above.
Emma, who(m) I went to buy tulips with, is from Holland. 

27. They don't have it. The spirit it takes to explore unknown territory.
They don't have what it takes to explore unknown territory.

28. I will never forget the day. I first saw you that day.
I will never forget the day when I first saw you. 

29. We have to say something. But we don´t know what.
We don't know what to say.

30. Arthur has a cat named Melita. She can play the piano.
Arthur has a cat named Melita who can play the piano. 

31. You gave the money. To whom?
To whom did you give the money?

32. Another version of the above.
Who(m) did you give the money to?