Five-minute Spanish Lessons - comparing the two languages. Lesson 15.
Relative Pronouns I
Who, which, that /
el cual, la cual, los cuales, las cuales, quien, quienes, que, el que, la que
What is a relative pronoun?
These words, we call relative pronouns, are used to join two sentences or two ideas into one sentence:
Two sentences:
Tarzan is sitting in a tree. He likes Jane
Tarzán está sentado en un árbol. A él le gusta Jane
One sentence:
Tarzan, who is sitting in a tree, likes Jane
A Tarzán, que está sentado en un árbol, le gusta Jane
Let's look at some rules for using relative pronouns in English and then compare them to the rules for the use of their Spanish equivalents.
The phrases made with relative pronouns are called relative clauses. There are two types of relative clause:
1) Identifying relative clauses
(also called defining or restrictive relative clauses)
2) Non-identifying relative clauses
(Also called non-defining or non-restrictive relative clauses)
By identifying relative clauses we mean a sentence which does exactly that. It identifies a noun within the clause. Let's consider the following sentences (I have underlined the possible relative pronouns - but will discuss these pronouns in the next lesson):
The people that / who saw the accident were shocked
La gente que vio el accidente quedó aturdida
The trees that / which are suffering from the disease are going to be cut down
Los árboles que sufren de la enfermedad serán talados
The boy that / who helps in the shop is off sick
El chico que trabaja en la tienda está de baja por enfermedad
In the first sentence, who were shocked? Clearly, the people that / who saw the accident - La gente que vio el accidente. We are identifying the group of people who / that were shocked. In the second example, we are identifying which trees are to be cut down: those that / which have the disease. And in the third example we have identified who is off sick: the boy that / who helps in the shop. - El chico que trabaja en la tienda.
In fact, if we take out the middles part of each sentence: eg,: that / who saw the accident - que vio el accidente, so we are left with:
The people were shocked - La gente quedó aturdida
We don't know which people - (qué gente) we are talking about. So that's why the clause: The people that / who saw the accident - La gente que vio el accidente is an identifying relative clause.
Now let's take a look at the same sentences but this time modified by commas and I have also changed the nouns the relative pronouns refer to (antecedents) to make the examples clearer (again I have underlined the possible relative pronouns):
My friends, who saw the accident, were shocked
Mis amigas, que / quienes / las cuales vieron el accidente, quedaron aturdidas
Those beautiful trees, which are suffering from the disease, are going to be cut down
Esos preciosos árboles, que / los cuales sufren de la enfermedad, serán talados
John, who helps in the shop, is off sick
Juan, que / quien / el cual trabaja en la tienda, está de baja por enfermedad
In the first example, we are not identifying who saw the accident. The speaker is talking about his friends. But we have added some extra information about my shocked friends. The extra information is that they saw an accident. In the second example, we already know which trees the speaker is referring to: those beautiful trees - Esos preciosos árboles. The extra information is that they are suffering from desease. Similarly, we have already identified John - Juan and we are also told he works in the shop. So these phrases are called non-identifying relative clauses.
In other words the phrase:
John, who helps in the shop (non-identifying)
Juan, que / quien / el cual trabaja en la tienda (non-identifying)
does not identify which John - Juan we are referring to; just that a John - Juan works in the shop. However:
John that / who helps in the shop (identifying)
Juan que trabaja en la tienda (identifying)
is specifying which John we are talking about:
You know the John I mean. The John that works in the shop
Tú conoces al Juan al que me refiero. El Juan que trabaja en la tienda.
So what! Well, the correct use of relative pronouns depends on which type of clause is being spoken.
Five-minute Spanish Lessons - comparing the two languages. Lesson 13.
Relative Pronouns (2)
Who, which, that /
el cual, la cual, los cuales, las cuales, quien, quienes, que, el que, la que
Identifying relative clauses:
Who or that are used when the antecedent (the noun they refer to) is a person. Either is possible. However, that is probably more common in spoken English and who is preferable in formal written English. Who and that are invariable with number. Note that in Spanish there is really only one possibility: the very versatile que which neither changes with number or gender.
That's the man (the woman) who / that sells the entrance tickets to the cathedral
Ése (Ésa) es el hombre (la mujer) que vende las entradas para la catedral
(Formal written instructions)
Purchasers who have no password should apply for one
Los compradores que no tienen contraseña deben solicitarla
When the antecedent is a thing, English allows which or that in speech and informal writing though often prefers which in formal written style. However, although which may be grammatically possible in speech that is much more common. Spanish still uses que in this type of sentence:
- Excuse me, waiter
- Yes, madam
- The snails that you gave us are disgusting. (which is possible)
- Oiga, camarero
- Sí, señora
- Los caracoles que nos ha dado son asquerosos.
(In formal letter asking for employment)
I am interested in the position which appeared in El País on Sunday 30th May.
Estoy interesado en el puesto que apareció en El País el domingo 30 de mayo.
After words: all, none, little, few, much, only, everything, something, anything, nothing, and in superlative sentences that is used in spoken and usually in written English too:
This is all that I could find
Esto es todo lo que he encontrado
(Note preference for lo que with todo. More discussion of lo que later)
None that I know
Ninguno que yo conozco
The little that you have done has helped a lot
Lo poco que has hecho ha servido de gran ayuda
There wasn't much that I could do
No había mucho que pudiera hacer
Money is the only thing that matters
El dinero es lo único que importa
There's nothing that can be done
No hay nada que se puede hacer
This is the best book that I've ever read
Este es el mejor libro que he leído
Five-minute Spanish Lessons - comparing the two languages. Lesson 14.
Relative Pronouns (3).
Who, which, that /
el cual, la cual, los cuales, las cuales, quien, quienes, que, el que, la que
I continue with the theme of identifying relative clauses from Wednesday. Now let's look at some peculiarities.
In English the relative pronoun is often left out if it is the object of an identifying relative clause:
I can't find the sausages that /which my mother gave me yesterday
or,
I can't find the sausages my mother gave me yesterday
No encuentro las salchichas que mi madre me dio ayer
She's the person who / that I don't what to get to know
or,
She's the person I don't what to get to know
Ella es la persona que yo no quiero llegar a conocer
Anything that you do is fine by me
or,
Anything you do is fine by me
Cualquier cosa que haga, por mí no hay problema
Either version is equally correct grammatically but the omission of the pronoun is very frequent in spoken and informal written English. But note this is when the relative pronoun is the object of the clause. ie,: my mother gave me the sausages (object); I don't want to get to know her (object); you do anything (object).
The omission of the relative pronoun is not possible in Spanish.
So that:
No encuentro las salchichas mi madre me dio ayer
...is NOT possible but must read...
No encuentro las salchichas que mi madre me dio ayer
English also allows a gerund (verb + ing) to replace a relative pronoun yet Spanish cannot do this in these following sentences:
There was a drawer that contained socks
or,
There was a drawer containing socks
Había un cajón que contenía calcetines
and not,
Había un cajón conteniendo calcetines
What you've said is a reply amounting to a refusal
Lo que has dicho es una respuesta que equivale a una negativa
However, you should not get confused here with the use of continuous tenses, which do allow a gerund in Spanish:
There were children who were playing in the street
or,
There were children playing in the street
Había niños que jugaban / estaban jugando en la calle
or,
Había niños jugando en la calle
Learners of English may get confused with constructions like the following because the preposition comes at the end of the clause:
The room (that / which) he was sitting in was very nice
El cuarto en el que estaba sentado era muy bonito
The girls (who / that) I work with sit around all day painting their nails
Las chicas con las que trabajo pasan el día sentadas pintándose las uñas
However, this is the colloquial style of English these days where prepositions fall at the end in examples such as the above. In formal English of today and colloquial English of 50 years ago, the following is / was possible:
The room in which he was sitting was very nice.
The girls with whom I work sit around all day painting their nails.
Whom is used when who falls after a preposition. (That cannot be used after a preposition in a relative clause.) This form is closer to the Spanish syntax of con que but is rarely heard these days.
Learners of Spanish should note that que is often (though not always) used alone (ie. without el / la / los / las, which I'll talk about later) after the prepositions discussed in the examples below:
After the preposition a (but not when the antecedent is a person):
El libro a que me refiero es muy bueno
The book (that / which) I'm referring to is very good
but,
La persona al que / a quien dio una paliza está en el hospital
The person (that / who) he gave a hiding to is in hospital
After con (but not when the antecedent is a person):
Los ingredientes con que se hace una tortilla están en el armario
The ingredients (that / which) you make an omelette with are in the cupboard
After de: (but not when it means "from"):
Los acontecimientos de que tengo noticia son estos
The only events (that) I know about are these
And after en (but not when it means "inside"):
La manera en que lo dijo me dejó pasmado
The way (that / in which) he said it left me flabbergasted
**Note, learners of English, that "preposition + that" is not possible in relative clauses. We must use which, which can also be omitted as it refers to the object:
The way in that (in which) he said it left me flabbergasted
Learners of Spanish note that en que is often used when antecedent is a period of time.
Learners of English should note that when the antecedent refers to a time ( (eg.: night / day / month) English speakers usually choose that instead of which. However, again, in the examples below that can be omitted.
La noche (en) que vino a verme...
The night (that) he came to see me...
Yet, only que is usually used with the time words: momento, día, semana, mes, año,
El día que llegó mi hermana se puso a llover
The day (that) my sister arrived it started to rain
El mes que ocurrió...
The month (that) it happened in...
Five-minute Spanish Lessons - comparing the two languages. Lesson 12.
Relative Pronouns (4).
Who, which, that /
el cual, la cual, los cuales, las cuales, quien, quienes, que, el que, la que
We'll, now let's look at non-identifying relative clauses (also called non-defining or non-restrictive relative clauses).
This is where we do not identify the antecedent (the noun the relative pronoun refers to) but add complementary information. The difference is important to note as the meaning can change depending on the punctuation of the relative clause.
Taxi drivers who / that drink are a danger on the roads
Los conductores de taxi que beben son un peligro en la carretera
(identifying relative clause)
Taxi drivers, who drink, are a danger on the roads
Los conductores de taxi, que beben, son un peligro en la carretera
(non-identifying relative clause)
The first sentence states that the only dangerous taxi drivers are those who / that drink. The second is insulting because it says ALL taxi drivers drink!
Note that in Spanish and English a non-identifying clause must have commas separating the clause from the rest of the sentence. In English, only who can be used with reference to people and only which with reference to things and abstract nouns, ie.: non-human antecedents; that is not possible.
In Spanish, que, quien or el cual (plus other variations: la cual, los cuales, las cuales) can be used in non-identifying clauses when referring to people and all the above except for quien when the referring to an object or abstract noun. No accent is placed on these relative pronouns. Here are some examples:
My father, who is much better now, has started jogging again
Mi padre, que / quien / el cual / está mucho mejor, ha vuelto a hacer footing
The old, rusty car, which they found in the ditch, had been there for weeks
El viejo coche oxidado, que / el cual encontraron en la cuneta, llevaba allí varias semanas
The bells, which were restored last year, now chime every quarter
Las campanas, que / las cuales fueron restauradas el año pasado, tocan todos los cuartos
After prepositions, Spanish also uses el que / la que / los que / las que also for human or non-human antecedents. (Que by itself after prepositions is only used in the few exceptions I talked about in the lesson relative pronouns III.) In colloquial Spanish these are preferable to el cual and its variants. Learners should note, once more, the preference for the preposition at the end of the clause:
Una amiga, con la que / con quien pasé un fin de semana, me ha escrito
A friend, who I spent a weekend with, has written to me
Dos chicos de Sevilla, por los que / por quienes se enteró Juan del partido de fútbol, le dieron una entrada gratis
Two lads from Seville, who he found out about the football match from, gave him a free pass
Yo fui por el vino, con el cual no tardé en despachar la salchicha
I went for the wine, which I didn't take long to finish the sausage off with
However, learners of Spanish should note that el cual and its variants are used frequently in the following situations. These relative pronouns are reserved for more formal Spanish. And it is often used after según (according to):
El Alcalde de Paysmuga, según el cual la presencia de tanta basura no causa problemas, tiene sus días contados en el ayuntamiento
The Mayor of Paysmuga, according to whom the presence of so much rubbish is not a problem, is on borrowed time in the Town Hall
(Note the necessary yet formal whom when who falls after a preposition.)
Learners of English note that many native speakers talking colloquially would avoid the "whom" structure and re-structure the sentence:
The Mayor of Paysmuga, who believes the presence of so much rubbish is not a problem, is on borrowed time in the Town Hall
El cual is, in fact, fairly common after long prepositions of more than one syllable or more than one word: para / mediante / a pesar de / detrás de etc.
Las lluvias torrenciales, a pesar de las cuales pude llegar a mi trabajo, han dejado las carreteras inundadas.
The torrential rain, despite which I still managed to get to work in, left the roads flooded. (formal English)
As in the previous example, the colloquial version of this sentence may avoid the preposition + which structure:
Despite the torrential rain, which left the roads flooded, I still managed to get to work
or,
The torrential rain, which I still managed to get to work in, left the roads flooded.
Five-minute Spanish Lessons - comparing the two languages. Lesson 11.
Relative Pronouns (5).
Who, which, that /
el cual, la cual, los cuales, las cuales, quien, quienes, que, el que, la que
Here are some more points to note about relative pronouns and relative clauses:
There may be more than one noun in the phrase before the relative pronoun. In English, this may lead to some confusion as to which noun the pronoun is referring to.
I want to watch a film at the cinema, which I like very much
In correct English, the antecedent (the word that the relative pronoun refers to) should always come directly before the relative pronoun. So, in this case, the speaker should be talking about the cinema and not a film. This rule should especially be remembered in written English. However, in spoken English this rule is often ignored and the speaker could be talking about the cinema or a film. This means such a sentence may be ambiguous; does he like the cinema or the film? Spanish has a way of dealing with this possible ambiguity:
I want to watch a film at the cinema, which I like very much
Quiero ver una peli en el cine, que / el cual / me gusta mucho
I want to watch a film at the cinema, which I like very much
Quiero ver una peli en el cine, la cual me gusta mucho
In the first example, we assume the speaker is referring to el cine because que (like which) should immediately follow the antecedent. However, the use of el cual here makes the meaning much clearer as only el cine is masculine. So el cual and not que is preferred if there is possible ambiguity. In the second example la cual must be referring to una peli (feminine). The use of el cual / la cual etc. does not mean this is formal Spanish when used in this case.
There is another point here. A relative pronoun may also refer to a whole phrase:
The girl walked up to me and gave me a letter / that / which / made me quiver with joy
or,
The girl walked up to me and gave me a letter, which made me quiver with joy
Se me acercó la chica y me entregó una carta, lo que / lo cual / me hizo temblar de emoción
The first sentence in English (identifying relative clause - without commas) uses that (or which), which refer to a letter. ie.: a letter made him quiver with joy. The second sentence in English could mean, depending on context, a reference to a letter OR the complete action of: "The girl walked up to me and gave me a letter". In other words, the action of the girl coming up to me and giving me the letter made me quiver with joy. However, I should add that context usually makes meaning clear:
Spanish avoids any posible ambiguity by using lo que or lo cual when referring to a complete phrase. Note, that as the antecedent is a phrase or an idea there is no feminine or plural forms; lo que and lo cual are neutral.
He had a thoughtful expression, which was strange in him
Tenía una expresión pensativa, lo que / lo cual / en él era insólito
Both lo que and el cual can be used after prepositions:
They are different on each occasion, due to which it is difficult to recognize them at a glance
Son diferentes en cada ocasión, por lo que / por lo cual / resulta difícil de reconocerlos a simple vista
Learners of English should remember that what or that are impossible in the above examples. Compare: what is used to refer to an idea (complete clause) but it doesn't refer to an antecedent.
How can you be so cold after what we've lived through?
¿Cómo puede ser tan frío después de lo que hemos vivido?
They didn't think about what would come next
No pensaban en lo que vendría luego
Note that here what, in these last two examples, does not refer to the previous clause.
Five-minute Spanish Lessons - comparing the two languages. Lesson 10.
Relative Pronouns (6).
Who, which, that /
el cual, la cual, los cuales, las cuales, quien, quienes, que, el que, la que
Non-identifying clauses.
The following words in English can be used with of whom and of which: some, any, both, several, enough, many, (much with which), few, none and all. In these structures we cannot use that or who, however, many speakers may choose a more informal way of expressing themselves. Translations in Spanish may vary but the direct translation: de los cuales / de las cuales (del cual or de la cual with non-plural much) is usually possible though note exceptions below. Here are some possible translations:
There were two people at the bar, both of whom spoke perfect German
(or, more informally)
There were two people at the bar, who both spoke perfect German
Había dos personas en la barra, ambas hablaban un alemán perfecto
(or, more informally as ambos is quite formal)
Había dos personas en la barra, las dos hablaban un alemán perfecto
(but rarely heard is: ambas de las cuales)
He asked the passengers on the bus, none of whom had any change
(or, more informally)
He asked the passengers on the bus, but there was nobody who had any change
Preguntó a los pasajeros en el autobus, ninguno de los cuales tenía cambio
(or, more informally)
Preguntó a los pasajeros en el autobus, ninguno tenía cambio
Patients suffering from these illnesses are given archaic drugs, some of which are highly toxic.
Los pacientes que sufren estas enfermedades reciben tratamiento con
medicamentos arcaicos, algunos de los cuales son muy tóxicos.
or, ...medicamentos arcaicos, algunos de ellos son muy tóxicos.
There are about 180,000 European businesses, many of which are small and medium-sized enterprises.
Hay alrededor de 180.000 empresas europeas, muchas de las cuales son pequeñas y medianas.
Hay alrededor de 180.000 empresas europeas, en gran parte pequeñas y medianas.
The city has a lot of pollution, much of which comes from car exhaust fumes
La ciudad tiene bastante contaminación, gran parte de la cual viene de los gases de los tubos de escape
(rarely heard is: mucha de la cual)
If we have a preposition plus a relative pronoun, this can be followed by an infinitive in English:
The children haven't got a garden in which to play
Los niños no tiene jardín en el que jugar
or,
Los niños no tiene jardín para jugar
but a more informal style in English would be:
The children haven't got a garden to play in
The twins didn't have a friend with whom to play (very formal and old-fashioned)
Los gemelos no tenían un amigo con quien jugar
less formal in English would be:
The twins didn't have a friend to play with
Finally, notice how in English a relative clause usually has a third person singular verb although the subject is I (me) or singular you:
It's me who wants to watch the football tonight
(Note that in Spanish, verb agreement may be in first or third person in these two examples.)
Soy yo el que quiero / el que quiere / ver el fútbol esta noche
You're the one who does it, Paco
Tú eres el que lo haces, Paco / Tú eres el que lo hace, Paco
In formal and literary style you may note in English:
It is I who want to watch the football tonight
That is, the verb agrees with the subject and there is the use of it is I rather than it's me.
It is I who am complaining (literary)
(Soy yo el que / me quejo / se queja)
The informal plural vosotros requires the 2nd person agreement in Spanish:
Vosotros sois los que vais a pagar (not: los que van...)
You're the ones who are going to pay
