Las «relative clauses» (oraciones de relativo) se usan para añadir información extra sobre una persona, cosa, lugar o idea mencionada en la oración principal. Estas oraciones se introducen con pronombres relativos como who, which, that, whose, where o when, y pueden ser defining (definidoras) o non-defining (no definidoras).

A continuación, te explico los diferentes tipos de oraciones de relativo, sus usos y ejemplos, para que lo entiendas mejor para tu examen B1 de Cambridge.

1. Defining relative clauses (oraciones de relativo definidoras)

Una defining relative clause da información esencial sobre el sujeto de la oración. Sin esta información, la oración no estaría completa o no tendría el mismo sentido. No usamos comas para separar esta información.

Pronombres relativos más comunes:

• Who: Se usa para referirse a personas.
• Which: Se usa para referirse a cosas o animales.
• That: Se puede usar en lugar de «who» o «which» en oraciones definidoras.
• Whose: Se usa para indicar posesión.
• Where: Se usa para lugares.
• When: Se usa para hablar de tiempo.

Ejemplos:

• Who (personas):
  • The man who lives next door is very friendly. (El hombre que vive al lado es muy amable.)
• Which (cosas/animales):
  • This is the book which I was talking about. (Este es el libro del que estaba hablando.)
• That (personas/cosas, alternativo a «who/which»):
  • The movie that we watched was great. (La película que vimos fue genial.)
• Whose (posesión):
  • I have a friend whose father is a doctor. (Tengo un amigo cuyo padre es médico.)
• Where (lugares):
  • This is the restaurant where we had dinner last night. (Este es el restaurante donde cenamos anoche.)
• When (tiempo):
  • Do you remember the day when we met? (¿Recuerdas el día en que nos conocimos?)

En las oraciones definidoras, si quitamos la cláusula relativa, el significado de la oración cambia, ya que la información que nos da es esencial.

2. Non-defining relative clauses (oraciones de relativo no definidoras)

Una non-defining relative clause proporciona información adicional que no es esencial para el significado de la oración. Solo agrega detalles extra. Este tipo de oración siempre va entre comas y no cambia el sentido de la oración si se elimina.

Pronombres relativos usados:

• Who: Personas.
• Which: Cosas o animales.
• Whose: Posesión.
• Where: Lugares.

Nota: En las oraciones no definidoras, no se puede usar «that» en lugar de «who» o «which».

Ejemplos:

• Who (personas):
  • My brother, who lives in London, is coming to visit. (Mi hermano, que vive en Londres, viene de visita.)
• Which (cosas/animales):
  • The Eiffel Tower, which is in Paris, is a famous landmark. (La Torre Eiffel, que está en París, es un monumento famoso.)
• Whose (posesión):
  • Mr. Smith, whose son is in my class, is the school principal. (El Sr. Smith, cuyo hijo está en mi clase, es el director de la escuela.)
• Where (lugares):
  • Barcelona, where I spent my holidays, is a beautiful city. (Barcelona, donde pasé mis vacaciones, es una ciudad hermosa.)

En estos ejemplos, la cláusula entre comas añade información extra, pero si la eliminamos, la oración sigue teniendo sentido.

3. Cómo elegir entre «who», «which» y «that»

• Who: Se usa para referirse a personas.
  • The teacher who helped me is very kind. (La maestra que me ayudó es muy amable.)
• Which: Se usa para referirse a cosas o animales.
  • The car which I bought is very fast. (El coche que compré es muy rápido.)
• That: Puede sustituir a «who» o «which» en oraciones definidoras, pero nunca en no definidoras.
  • The person that I met yesterday was very friendly. (La persona que conocí ayer era muy amable.)

4. Omisión del pronombre relativo

En las defining relative clauses, es posible omitir el pronombre relativo (who, which, that) si va seguido de un sujeto y un verbo.

Ejemplo:

• Con pronombre: The book that I bought is interesting. (El libro que compré es interesante.)
• Sin pronombre: The book I bought is interesting. (El libro que compré es interesante.)

Este tipo de omisión solo es posible en oraciones definidoras cuando el pronombre relativo es el objeto de la oración.

5. Relative clauses con preposiciones

Cuando el verbo en la cláusula de relativo lleva una preposición, esta puede ir al final de la oración.

Ejemplo:

• The person who I was talking to is my friend. (La persona con la que estaba hablando es mi amigo.)

En un inglés más formal, la preposición puede ir antes del pronombre relativo, aunque esto no es muy común en el inglés hablado.

Ejemplo:

• The person to whom I was talking is my friend. (La persona con la que estaba hablando es mi amigo.)

Resumen

Las relative clauses son útiles para añadir información sobre personas, lugares, cosas o ideas. Las defining relative clauses proporcionan información esencial y no llevan comas, mientras que las non-defining relative clauses añaden información adicional y se separan con comas. Los pronombres relativos más comunes incluyen who, which, that, whose, where, y when. Practicar estos tipos de oraciones te ayudará a mejorar tu inglés y a prepararte para tu examen B1 de Cambridge.

Prueba

 

Results

#1. This is the book ___ I told you about.

who

that

whose

where

#2. She’s the person ___ helped me with my homework.

which

who

whom

that

#3. The restaurant ___ we ate last night was great.

which

where

who

whose

#4. He’s the man ___ car was stolen.

that

whose

which

who

#5. I saw the movie ___ you recommended.

which

where

whose

who

#6. This isn’t the train ___ goes to London.

who

which

whose

where

#7. He isn’t the teacher ___ students didn’t complete their work.

who

which

whose

where

#8. That’s not the person ___ I was talking about.

who

where

whose

which

#9. This is not the reason ___ I called you.

where

why

who

whose

#10. It’s not the place ___ we met.

where

which

whose

who

#11. Is that the boy ___ you mentioned?

where

whom

who

which

#12. Do you remember the time ___ we met?

where

that

which

who

#13. Which is the house ___ he lives?

who

where

whose

which

#14. Who is the person ___ you borrowed the book from?

whose

where

that

which

#15. What’s the name of the movie ___ you watched last night?

which

where

who

whom

#16. The girl ___ sits next to me is very friendly.

who

whom

whose

that

#17. He’s the person ___ helped me move.

that

which

whose

who

#18. Do you know the boy ___ lives next door?

whom

who

that

where

#19. Is this the place ___ you grew up?

that

where

who

whose

#20. We saw the house ___ was for sale.

who

where

that

whose

#21. The woman ___ car broke down was very upset.

whose

which

who

that

#22. The day ___ we met was sunny.

who

that

whose

which

#23. Is this the book ___ you were looking for?

which

where

who

whom

#24. He met the woman ___ works at the library.

who

that

which

where

#25. Do you know the reason ___ she left?

why

where

which

whose

#26. They found the document ___ was missing.

who

that

where

whom

#27. The school ___ she studied is nearby.

whose

where

who

that

#28. This is the room ___ we always meet.

which

whose

that

where

#29. I can’t find the file ___ I saved.

who

where

which

that

#30. They are the students ___ scored the highest.

whose

who

which

that

#31. This is the song ___ I love.

whom

whose

that

which

#32. He’s the author ___ book won an award.

which

whose

whom

who

#33. The movie ___ won the award was amazing.

that

whose

which

who

#34. The city ___ he was born in is famous.

where

that

whose

which

#35. Do you remember the year ___ she graduated?

that

who

whose

where

#36. The cat ___ is sitting there is friendly.

whose

who

which

that

#37. The room ___ I sleep in is comfortable.

which

where

that

who

#38. Is this the place ___ they met?

who

that

where

whose

#39. Do you know the girl ___ he is talking to?

whose

that

where

whom

#40. The book ___ I was reading is lost.

which

where

that

whom

#41. Is this the road ___ leads to the station?

where

who

that

whose

#42. This is the movie ___ I told you about.

which

who

where

whose

#43. She’s the friend ___ helped me with my project.

where

that

who

which

#44. The restaurant ___ we ate last night was excellent.

whose

which

that

where

#45. He’s the man ___ car was stolen.

who

which

whose

where

#46. The book ___ she recommended was thrilling.

that

whose

who

which

#47. This isn’t the shop ___ sells fresh bread.

which

where

whose

who

#48. He isn’t the teacher ___ I wanted.

who

that

whose

where

#49. That’s not the person ___ we spoke with.

which

where

whom

who

#50. It’s not the reason ___ I’m leaving.

why

who

which

where

#51. This is not the house ___ I grew up in.

which

where

who

whose

#52. Who is the teacher ___ you learned from?

that

whom

which

where

#53. Is that the reason ___ you called?

why

that

who

where

#54. Which is the school ___ he attended?

where

which

who

that

#55. Do you know the person ___ you borrowed this from?

whose

where

that

whom

#56. What’s the name of the artist ___ painted this?

whose

who

where

which

#57. This is the car ___ I want to buy.

whose

that

who

where

#58. He’s the man ___ helped me move.

that

who

whose

where

#59. The café ___ we met is still there.

which

where

who

that

#60. I don’t like the food ___ they serve there.

where

that

whose

whom

#61. Do you remember the year ___ we first met?

where

who

when

whose

#62. That’s the company ___ offers the best service.

which

who

where

that

#63. The film ___ won the award was amazing.

who

where

which

whose

#64. Is this the book ___ you were looking for?

which

where

who

whom

#65. He met the woman ___ works at the library.

who

that

which

where

#66. Do you know the reason ___ she left?

why

where

which

whose

#67. They found the document ___ was missing.

who

that

where

whom

#68. The school ___ she studied is nearby.

whose

where

who

that

#69. This is the room ___ we always meet.

which

whose

that

where

#70. I can’t find the file ___ I saved.

who

where

which

that

#71. They are the students ___ scored the highest.

whose

who

which

that

#72. This is the song ___ I love.

whom

whose

that

which

#73. He’s the author ___ book won an award.

which

whose

whom

who

#74. The movie ___ won the award was amazing.

that

whose

which

who

#75. The city ___ he was born in is famous.

where

that

whose

which

#76. Do you remember the year ___ she graduated?

that

who

whose

where

#77. The cat ___ is sitting there is friendly.

whose

who

which

that

#78. The room ___ I sleep in is comfortable.

which

where

that

who

#79. Is this the place ___ they met?

who

that

where

whose

#80. Do you know the girl ___ he is talking to?

whose

that

where

whom

#81. The book ___ I was reading is lost.

which

where

that

whom

#82. Is this the road ___ leads to the station?

where

who

that

whose

Previa

Finish