Grammar Focus

Explicación (en español)

En esta unidad, estudiaremos las relative clauses (oraciones de relativo), que se utilizan para unir dos ideas y proporcionar información adicional sobre un sustantivo sin necesidad de empezar una frase nueva. En el contexto de la literatura y el arte, estas estructuras son esenciales para describir obras, autores o movimientos artísticos con fluidez y sofisticación, algo fundamental para alcanzar el nivel C1.

Existen dos tipos principales. Las defining relative clauses son esenciales para identificar de quién o de qué estamos hablando; si las eliminamos, la frase pierde su sentido principal. Por ejemplo, "The artist who painted this mural is famous". Por el contrario, las non-defining relative clauses añaden información extra que no es vital para identificar al sujeto. Estas siempre van separadas por comas y, muy importante, nunca se puede usar "that" en este tipo de cláusulas.

Un error muy común entre los hispanohablantes es la omisión del pronombre relativo cuando el sujeto de la cláusula es el objeto de la misma. En inglés, si el pronombre (who, which, that) actúa como objeto, podemos omitirlo: "The book (that) I read was brilliant". Sin embargo, si el pronombre es el sujeto de la cláusula, no se puede omitir. Otro error típico es usar "that" en oraciones no definitorias (con comas), lo cual es gramaticalmente incorrecto en exámenes de Cambridge.

Finalmente, aprenderemos las reduced relative clauses. Estas permiten simplificar la frase eliminando el pronombre relativo y el verbo to be. Por ejemplo, en lugar de decir "The painting which was exhibited in Paris...", podemos decir "The painting exhibited in Paris...". Esto se logra mediante el uso de participios (presente para acciones activas, pasado para acciones pasivas), lo que aporta un tono mucho más académico y profesional a tu escritura.

Form — estructura

Examples

1. The novelist whose works were banned remains a cult figure. (La novelista cuyas obras fueron prohibidas sigue siendo una figura de culto.)
2. Picasso, who was a Spanish painter, co-founded the Cubist movement. (Picasso, quien fue un pintor español, cofundó el movimiento cubista.)
3. The sculpture that I saw in the gallery was breathtaking. (La escultura que vi en la galería era impresionante.)
4. My sister, who is a talented illustrator, just published her first book. (Mi hermana, que es una ilustradora talentosa, acaba de publicar su primer libro.)
5. The poem, which was written in 1840, explores themes of mortality. (El poema, el cual fue escrito en 1840, explora temas de mortalidad.)
6. The actors playing the lead roles were highly praised by critics. (Los actores que interpretan los papeles principales fueron muy elogiados por la crítica.)
7. I finally found the poem I had been looking for. (Finalmente encontré el poema que había estado buscando.)
8. The museum, located in the heart of Florence, houses many masterpieces. (El museo, situado en el corazón de Florencia, alberga muchas obras maestras.)

Contrast

1. ✗ The man which lives next door is an artist. / ✓ The man who lives next door is an artist. (Error: 'Which' se usa para objetos/animales, 'who' para personas).

2. ✗ My teacher, that is an expert in art history, gave a lecture. / ✓ My teacher, who is an expert in art history, gave a lecture. (Error: No se puede usar 'that' en non-defining clauses con comas).

3. ✗ The book I read it was fascinating. / ✓ The book I read was fascinating. (Error: No se debe duplicar el objeto con 'it' si ya usamos el relativo implícito).

4. ✗ The house where he lives in is beautiful. / ✓ The house where he lives is beautiful. (OR: The house which he lives in is beautiful.) (Error: 'Where' sustituye a 'in which'; no se debe usar la preposición 'in' al final si se usa 'where').

Mini-quiz — 10 preguntas

Part 1: Multiple Choice

1. The writer _ novel became a bestseller is coming to our city. a) who b) whose c) that

2. Shakespeare, _ was an English playwright, wrote many sonnets. a) who b) that c) whom

3. The masterpiece _ by Leonardo da Vinci is kept in the Louvre. a) painting b) painted c) which painted

Part 2: Fill in the blanks (Use a pronoun or leave blank if omission is possible)

4. The gallery __ we visited yesterday was magnificent.
5. The students __ were studying the Renaissance period were very engaged.
6. The lyrics __ she wrote for the song are deeply moving.

Part 3: Sentence Transformation (Rewrite the sentence using the instruction in brackets)

7. The film was very long. We watched it last night. (Combine using a defining relative clause)

8. My friend is a professional photographer. She took these portraits. (Combine using a non-defining relative clause)

9. The man was standing by the window. He was looking at the sunset. (Combine using a reduced relative clause)

10. The house was built in the 19th century. It is now a museum. (Combine using a non-defining relative clause) _____________

Respuestas: 1. b | 2. a | 3. b | 4. (blank/that/which) | 5. (blank/who) | 6. (blank/that/which) | 7. The film (that) we watched last night was very long. | 8. My friend, who is a professional photographer, took these portraits. | 9. The man standing by the window was looking at the sunset. | 10. The house, which was built in the 19th century, is now a museum.