DEFINING&NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

1. Defining & Non-defining
relative clauses
4ºESO

2. DEFINING RELATIVE
CLAUSES
(Oraciones de relativo especificativas)

3. Defining relative clauses
• They indicate who or what the speaker refers to.
• E.g: She spoke to that man who painted the house
• “Who painted the house” refers to a specific man, the
one who painted the house.

4. • Who à People
• Which à Things
• Thatà Instead of “who” or “which” (informal language)
• Examples
I saw the woman who visited you
He bought the bike which you like
I saw the woman that visited you
He bought the bike that you like

5. • “Who”, “Which” and “That” can be omitted if they are not
the subject of the verb.
• Examples
I saw the woman who visited you (NO)
He bought the bike (which) you like (YES)
Where is the man who sold you the dog? (NO)
Is that the book (that) I lent you? (YES)

6. • Whose à to indicate possession (cuyo/cuya)
• Where à to indicate place
• When à to indicate time
• Examples:
The film is about a man whose wife disappears
Is that the town where you were born?
I’ll never forget the day when they arrived!

7. • “Whose” and “Where” cannot be omitted.
• “When” can be omitted and replaced by “That”
• Examples:
The film is about a man whose wife disappears
Is that the town where you were born?
I’ll never forget the day (that/when) they arrived

8. NON-DEFINING RELATIVE
CLAUSES
(Oraciones de relativo explicativas)

9. NON-DEFINING RELATIVE
CLAUSES
• They give additional information about a person or thing
previously identified.
• The relative clause is usually separated by a comma
from the rest of the sentence.
• Example:
My mother, who lives in Madrid, is 65 years old
• “Who lives in Madrid” gives more information about the
subject, but it doesn’t indicate what woman we are
talking about.

10. • “Who” à People
• “Which”à Things
• “Who” and “Which” cannot be omitted
• We cannot use “That”
Examples:
I bought the magazine, which was fantastic
María, who is Spanish, speaks good English
Jane, who works in my office, is very nice

11. • Whose à to indicate possession (cuyo/cuya)
• Where à to indicate place
• When à to indicate time
• They cannot be omitted
• “That” cannot be used instead of “When”·
Examples:
John, whose son is an actor, is my friend
London, where I went last week, is near here.
I’m going to Rome in June, when the weather is warm.

12. LET’S WORK!
Now, let’s open our books on page 99 to do
exercises about relative clauses.