Material Unit 4

We use who and that to refer to people.

• The girl [who | that] works at the library is very friendly.

We can also use whom, but only in a very formal language, and only when the person is the object of the sentence. It is usually used only by older people.

• The young lady whom I met at the library was most helpful (formal)
• The girl (who / that) I met at the library was really helpful (informal)

We use whose to express possession.

• Whose bag is this? NOT of who is this bag?
• That's the boy whose mobile was stolen yesterday.
  

We use which and that to refer to things.

• I'm returning some of the clothes [which | that] I bought last week.
• I'm only keeping the clothes [which | that] fit me.

We use the adverb where to refer to spaces and places.

• This is the are where they're building the new school.
• Norwich is the place (where) I was born.

We use the adverb when to refer to time.

• Do you remember that time (when) we all went to the river?
• Friday is the day (when) I'm usually free.

   

These give essential information about the antecedent (the noun that they follow), so the sentence would be incomplete without them (would not make sense).

[Incomplete sentence ► That's the boy]
[Sentence with a defining relative clause ►That's the boy who Bea doesn't like.]

The pronouns who (people), which (things) and that (people and things) can be omitted if they do not function as the subject. Whose (possession) cannot be omitted or replaced.

• She is the girl (who / that) I met in England. (Ella es la chica a la que conocí en Inglaterra.)
• I did not get the e-mail (which/ that) you sent. (No recibí el correo electrónico que mandaste.)
• This is the blog whose author is unknown. (Este es el “blog” cuyo autor es desconocido.)

When (time) and where (places) are relative adverbs. When can be omitted or replaced by that. Where cannot be replaced by that and it can only be omitted in a few cases.

• I’ll never forget the day (when / that) I met her. (Nunca olvidaré el día en que la conocí.)
• I visited the area where all the trendy shops are. (Visité la zona donde están todas las tiendas de moda.)

If a preposition is related to the relative pronoun or adverb, this is omitted and the preposition is located after the verb.

• The boy (who / that) I talked to was nervous. (El chico con el que hablé estaba nervioso.)

Non-defining relative clauses give extra information which is not essential about the noun that they follow. So, if you remove the relative clause, the sentence will still make sense.

'Zain Hasan is entering the competition' This sentence is complete, but we can add extra information to it in a non-defining relative clause:

' Zain Hasan, who was last year's winner, is entering the competition'.
'I went with Al, who's always good company'.

We can not omit the relative pronoun from a non-defining relative clause.

Xavi, who's vegetarian, couldn't eat anything.
Madrid, where I was born, is a huge city.

We always use commas to separate the non-defining clause from the rest of the sentence.

'David, whose brother lives near me, works in the Odeon. 'David works in the Odeon, which is next to the bank.

We can combine two simple sentences by using a non-defining relative clause.

Hugo's sister is called Ana. She's a nurse.  → Hugo's sister, who's a nurse, is called Ana.

Or

Hugo's sister, who's called Ana, is a nurse.

Do not use 'that' at the start of a non-defining relative clause.

My car, which I bought in 2003, has never broken down.

NOT

My car, that I; bought in 2003, has never broken down.