I recently did this practice exercise and, on a few occasions, my answers did not match those in the answer key. However, I'm not entirely convinced my answer was necessarily incorrect. I will lay out below the instructions for the task, as well as the answer from the answer key and the answer I gave. If you would be so kind, could you tell me: 1) whether or not my answer would be considered acceptable/sound okay to a native speaker and 2) whether or not my answer is grammatically correct. Sometimes a phrase can sound okay to native speakers even though it isn't grammatically correct, so I'd like to know how my answer squares with those two factors.
I'd also like to know how the answer given in the answer key differs from my answer in terms of the English translation for them. If I've completely changed the word order, it stands to reason that the English translation will be different, but if it's just a matter of an addition or omission of a word or two, the difference is likely to be more subtle and I'd like to know what, exactly, that difference is. Instructions for this exercise follow:
Use a relative pronoun to make one sentence out of two.
c. Una camarera nos sirvió. Era muy antipática.
Answer key: La camarera que nos sirvió era muy antipática.
My answer: Una camarera, quien era muy antipática, nos sirvió.
g. Aquéllos son los vecinos. Me quejo de ellos.
Answer key: Aquéllos son los vecinos de los que me quejo.
My answer: Aquéllos son los vecinos de quienes me quejo.
i. La chica fue lesionada. Está en el hospital.
Answer key: La chica que fue lesionada está en el hospital.
My answer: La chica, quien fue lesionada, está en el hospital.
j. La mujer era mi amiga Consuelo. La viste ayer.
Answer key: La mujer que viste ayer era mi amiga Consuelo.
My answer: La mujer, quien viste ayer, era mi amiga Consuelo.
k. ¿Has encontrado la estilográfica? Tu tía escribió novelas con ella.
Answer key: ¿Has encontrado la estilográfica con la que tu tía escribió novelas?
My answer: ¿Has encontrado la estilográfica con que tu tía escribió novelas?
l. El sarampión es una enfermedad peligrosa. Hay que protegerse de ella.
Answer key: El sarampión es una enfermedad peligrosa de la que hay que protegerse.
My answer: El sarampión es una enfermedad peligrosa de hay que protegerse.
Gracias de antemano por ayudarme a comprender uso correcto de los pronombres relativos en español. Si puedo devolverle el favor, por favor, avísame.
By the way, Spanish Grammar in Context is one of the best books of this kind I have had the pleasure of using. The edition I am using is its 2nd edition, but it is now in its 3rd edition. Amazon.com reviewers rate it a 4.4 out of 5 stars. Having said all of that, I'm always on the lookout for the best resources I can find, so if you have even better Spanish grammar books (or online resources) to recommend, please add them. I know that there is a website by this same name, but as far as I know it is not connected to this book. (The book was written by Juan Kattán-Ibarra and Angela Howkins and includes examples from all over the Spanish-speaking world, to include Spain itself; the other is a multi-faceted Spanish language learning website based out of the University of Texas.) But please feel free to recommend others in addition to these two I've already mentioned or comment about the ones I have.