Relative Pronouns And Expressions In Spanish Chart Page 3
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4Relative Pronouns and Expressions in Spanish
El cual and the accompanying forms la cual, los cuales, and las cuales, are used when there
is greater distance between the antecedent and the relative pronoun. The most typical examples
is after compound prepositions such as acerca de (about, concerning), al lado de (beside), antes
de (before), cerca de (near), debajo de (underneath), delante de (in front of), dentro de (inside),
después de (after), detrás de (behind), and por encima de (on top of). As with el que, the
numerous forms for el cual make it useful to distinguish between more than one possible
antecedent, as given in example number three below.
Ella estaba arreglando su escritorio,
She was arranging her desk, on top of
por encima del cual había una cajita
which there was a small music box.
de música.
Cerró los párpados, detrás de los
He closed his eyelids, behind which his eyes
cuales parecían bailar los ojos.
seemed to dance.
Ya conoces a la hermana de Mario,
You already know Martha's sister, about
acerca de la cual se oye tanto.
whom [i.e., the sister] you hear so much.
which
what
Neuter relative pronouns: lo que and lo cual (
,
). Since they are neuter forms, these
pronouns refer to a situation or concept, not a specific masculine or femine noun or pronoun. The
difference between them is that lo cual is used only when it refers to something that has already been
mentioned in the same sentence. Lo que may be used like lo cual, and may also be used to refer to
something that has not been brought up before; thus it may be used at the beginning of an utterance.
Tip: when the word “what” appears in a sentence and is not a question word, it is normally translated as
lo que.
Enrique empezó a gritar en
Enrique began to shout in a very loud voice, which upset his family very
voz muy alta, lo cual [o: lo
much. [The thing referred back to is not a noun frase such as
que] le molestó mucho a su
“the shout” or “his shouts” but the situation involving the
familia.
verb or the action of shouting.]
No puedo describir lo que
I can't describe what I saw in the street this morning. [Lo cual could
vi en la calle esta mañana.
not be used here, since there is no antecedent given in the
sentence.]
Lo que dijiste no tiene
What you said doesn't make any sense. [Again, lo cual could not
sentido.
be used here, since there is no antecedent given in the
sentence.]
whose
The relative adjective cuyo (
). In contrast to the other relatives, this word is an adjective and as
such agrees in person and number with the noun it modifies, not with the person it refers back to. It is
best used to refer back to people or at least animate objects, rather than things.
Nunca podré olvidar al hombre, cuyas
I'll never be able to forget the man whose words
palabras me consolaron tanto.
consoled me so much.
Ella es la pobrecita cuyo esposo nos
She's the poor woman whose husband made us
enfadó.
angry.
Los chicos, cuyas manos estaban sucias, no
The kids, whose hands were filthy, refused to wash
quisieron lavarse.
up.
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