236. The two most common relative
pronouns in Spanish are:
| que, |
who, which, that. |
| quien, |
who. |
a. Que is invariable, and either as
subject or object of a verb refers to persons or things.
| el hombre que vino, |
the man who came. |
| los hombres que vimos, |
the men whom we saw. |
| la casa en que vivo, |
the house in which I live. |
| los libros de que hablo, |
the books of which I speak. |
b. Quien (plural quienes)
agrees in number with its antecedent, and refers only to persons.
| el hombre a quien
ví, |
the man whom I saw. |
| las niñas de quienes
hablo, |
the girls of whom I speak. |
1. When que refers to persons it cannot follow
a preposition.
| la casa en que vivo, |
the house in which I live. |
| |
la niña que ví
la niña a quien ví |
} |
the child whom I saw. |
2. Relative pronouns are never omitted in Spanish.
| la sillas que compré, |
the chairs I bought. |
3. The preposition always precedes the relative in Spanish.
| el señor
de quien le hablé, |
the gentleman I spoke to
you about. |
237. The relative pronouns el cual (la
cual, los cuales, las cuales, lo cual), el que
(la que, los que, las que, lo que), are
also used for que, quien, in cases of ambiguity,
when the antecedent is lengthy or widely separated from the relative,
or when it is necessary to distinguish between nouns differing in
gender or number.
Deseo un criado y una
criada,
y un secretario del cual me
pueda fiar. |
I desire a womanservant and
a manservant, and a secretary
in whom I can trust. |
| Nos contaron unos cuentos interesantes
y chistosos con los cuales nos divertimos mucho. |
They told us a few interesting
and humorous stories with which
we were much amused. |
| Daba siempre regalos a los niños,
con los que ellos se divertían mucho. |
He always gave presents to the children,
with which they amused themselves much. |
a. The neuter forms lo que, lo cual
refer to a whole clause, idea, or phrase:
| Me dió un
libro, lo cual me alegró. |
He gave me a book,
a thing which pleased me. |
b. Quien may often include its antecedent:
| Quien le dió
la caja fué ella. |
She was the one who gave
her
the box. |
| Quien fué ayer lo hizo. |
He who went yesterday did it. |
238. Cuyo (-a, -os, -as) is a
possessive relative and refers to either persons or things. It agrees
in gender and number with the person or thing possessed.
el hombre cuyo valor
(= el valor del cual or
el valor de quien)
es bien conocido, |
the man whose courage is well
known. |
Viví en una aldea cuyo nombre
(= el nombre de la cual)
he olvidado. |
I lived in a village, the name
of which I have forgotten. |
239. Cuanto (-a, -os, -as),
when used as a relative, may include its antecedent and
means ' as much as,' ' as many as,' ' all that':
| Me dió cuanto
tenía. |
He gave me all he had. |
Habló a cuantas personas
pudo. |
He spoke to as many persons
as he could. |
|
