Relative sentences

Question 1

What are relative sentences?

Answer 1

They give more information about the preceding phrase (the antecedente)
eg. El abrigo que te regalé era azul = the coat that i bought you was blue
El libro que leí = the book that I read

Question 2

QUE

Answer 2

= who/m, which, that

• can refer to a person, animal or thing
• you DO NOT use a preposition with it.

eg. los peces que hemos visto eran bonitos = the fish that we have seen were pretty

Question 3

EL QUE

Answer 3

= who/m, which, that

• refers to people and things
• can go at the front of a phrase (without antecedente)
• if not, it ALWAYS follows a preposition
• follows gender and number of antecedente
• OR you use it with the construction: SER + subject + relative

eg. - la chica a la que viste conmigo se llama Paqui = the girl who you see with me is called Paqui
- Él fue el que me lo dijo = He was the one that told it to me

Question 4

QUIEN, QUIENES

Answer 4

= who/m, that

• ONLY if the antecedente is a PERSON
• goes with a preposition
• OR no preposition but introduces an explanatory phrase WITH COMMAS
• OR no preposition but goes with construction SER + subject + relativo

eg. - la chica a quien viste conmigo se llama Paqui = the girl who you see me with is called Paqui
- mis primos, quienes trabajan en Zaragoza, vuelven mannana = my cousins, who work in Zaragoza, return tomorrow
- Fue él quien me lo dijo/Él fue quien me lo dijo = he was the one that told it to me

Question 5

EL CUAL, LOS CUALES

Answer 5

= who/m, which, that

• follows gender and number of antecedente
• Used generally only in formal contexts, and always after a preposition
• Use it casually only wyhen it goes after a two syllable preposition or group prepositon

eg. ‘stop’ es una sennal ante la cual siempre debes detenerte = stop is a sign before which you should always stop yourself
- estos son los árboles debajo de los cuales dormía la siesta = these are the trees under which I sleep the siesta

Question 6

LO QUE, LO CUAL

Answer 6

• LO is used with QUE and CUAL when the antecedente is not the word situated immediately before the relativo
  eg. a última hora decidieron no invitarla a la boda, que resultó muy poco elegante = la boda was very elegant
• a última hora decidieron no invitarla a la boda, lo que resultó muy poco elegante = that they decided to not invite her was very elegant

Question 7

CUYO

Answer 7

= whose

• marks a relation of belonging, indicates ownership
• can refer to people or things
• can use it with a preposition
• agrees with the gender and number of the noun it precedes (not the antecedente)

eg. ella es la profesora cuyo hijo es mi amigo = she is the profesor whose son is my friend
- el médico, cuyo nombre no sabía, me saludó calurosamente = the doctor, whose name I didn’t know, greeted me warmly
- Juan es el hombre en cuya casa me alojé = Juan is the man in whose house I stayed

Question 8

The MOOD of relative sentences - INDICATIVE

Answer 8

• in the mind of the speaker, the information in verb 2 has a concrete existence
  eg. Busco a una chica que es alta y calva = I am looking for a girl that is tall and bald
  this girl has a definite existence for the speaker.

Question 9

The MOOD of relative sentences - SUBJUNCTIVE

Answer 9

• in the mind of the speaker, they do not know or are not sure of the concrete existence of the infomation in verb 2
  eg. Busco a una chica que sea alta y calva = I am looking for a girl that is tall and bald
  but the speaker doesnt know if the girl definitely exists.