Previous
Next

1. Grammar

1.2. Defining relative clauses and omission of relative pronoun

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.)

Omission of the relative pronouns

We can omit the relative pronoun who, which or that if it is not the subject of a defining relative clause. We cannot omit "whose".

  • That's the car [that | which] Sonia bought.
  • She's the woman [that | who] I was telling you about.

*We often omit relative pronouns in speech.





Previous
Next