LOS PRONOMBRES RELATIVOS Flashcards
What are the relative pronouns (Los pronombres relativos) in Spanish?
que, cual, quien, cuyo/a, cuanto/a
(what, which, who, whose, how much)
they are written without an accent to differentiate from questions
they are used to introduce a relative clause (allow us to provide additional information without having to start a new sentence)
Thing referred to Person or thing
que
el/la que
los/las que
el/la cual
los/las cuales
-In defining relative clauses (no commas) we cannot replace que with quien or el cual or its variants.
Example:
Las gafas QUE lleva Antonio son nuevas. (The glasses THAT Antonio is wearing are new.)
not: Las gafas las cuales lleva Antonio son nuevas. (The glasses which Antonio wears are new.)
-We can only use the relative pronouns el que, el cual and quien in defining relative clauses when there is a preposition before them.
Example:
Las gafas CON LAS QUE sale Antonio en la foto son nuevas. (The glasses WITH WHICH Antonio appears in the photo are new.)
MORE EXAMPLES
Juan, QUE conducía muy deprisa, tuvo un accidente. (Juan, WHO was driving very fast, had an accident.)
Es una historia difícil A LA QUE tiene que enfrentarse. (It is a difficult story TO WHICH he has to face.)
Juan quiso arreglar el coche CON EL CUAL tuvo el accidente. (Juan wanted to fix the car WITH WHICH he had the accident.)
Thing referred to Person
quien
quienes
The relative pronoun quien always refers to a person, and is normally only used in writing. If there is no preposition before, quien can be used as an alternative to que in non-defining relative clauses (between commas). If there is a preposition before quien, it can be used instead of el que or el cual and their variants in both defining (no commas) and non-defining (with commas) relative clauses.
EXAMPLE
Ayuda A QUIENES lo necesitan. (Help TO THOSE who need it.)
Juan, QUIEN/QUE ha tenido un accidente, está sano y salvo. (Juan, WHO/WHO has had an accident, is safe and sound.)
El hombre CON QUIEN/EL QUE/EL CUAL se ha casado Marina es ingeniero también. (The man, WITH WHO Marina has married is also an engineer.)
Thing referred to Possession (whose)
cuyo/a
cuyos/as
-formal, usually in books
-follows the gender of the object (possession), not the noun (subject)
-The relative pronoun cuyo and its variants is always followed by a noun with which it agrees in gender and number. It is never followed by a verb, which makes it different to other relative pronouns.
EXAMPLE
Juan, CUYA madre le había prestado su coche, tuvo un accidente. (Juan, WHOSE mother had lent him her car, had an accident.)
Tiene miedo de hablar con su madre, CUYO coche ha destrozado. (He is afraid to talk to his mother, WHOSE car he has wrecked.)
Thing referred to Amount
cuanto/a
cuantos/as
The relative pronoun cuanto/cuanta/cuantos/cuantas is equivalent to todo lo que/todos los que. (all those who)
EXAMPLE
CUANTOS presenciaron el accidente, acudieron a correrlo. (ALL THOSE WHO witnessed the accident, came to run it.)
CUANTOS estaban fueron a ayudarle. (ALL THOSE WHO were nearby came to help him.)
Lo que, lo cual
Lo que and lo cual refer to a complete sentence rather than a noun. The difference between the two is that lo cual always refers to something explicit from the clause before.
EXAMPLE
No se acuerda de LO QUE pasó. (I don’t remember WHAT happened.)
Juan ha destrozado el coche, LO CUAL va a molestar mucho a su madre. (Juan has wrecked the car, WHICH is going to upset his mother a lot.)
