4.1.1 Relative Clauses - an Introduction
A relative clause gives more precise information on the main clause. Object of this more precise information can be the subject, the object or the whole context. The relative clause is connected to the main clause by a relative noun.
some relative clauses that refer to one object
The lady who sells flowers is my friend.
The book that you where looking for is under the table.
The man whom we met in London is a web designer.
The garden that you like so much is right around the corner.
The wall behind which you hear the noises is painted black.
The place where he was born didn't exist anymore.
The book that you where looking for is under the table.
The man whom we met in London is a web designer.
The garden that you like so much is right around the corner.
The wall behind which you hear the noises is painted black.
The place where he was born didn't exist anymore.
some relative clauses that refer to a context
He didn't write a letter to her what made everything more complicated.
They ate as if they hadn't had any food for weeks.
He had shouted at her what made her really angry.
She had deceived him what made him loose his temper.
They ate as if they hadn't had any food for weeks.
He had shouted at her what made her really angry.
She had deceived him what made him loose his temper.
Now let's have a look what the Spanish does with this matter.
4.1.2 Relative pronouns in Spanish - basic form and direct object, referring to a single object
As we have seen in the examples there are different forms of a relative clause and different relative pronouns. The first one to look at is the basic form (nominative) and the direct object when referring to a single object of the main clause.
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* The relative pronoun que is comparable with that. It is quite universal and can be used with persons and with things, with feminine and masculine nouns. The direct object in a relative clause with a relative pronoun que can be formed with a, but it is not a must.
In English the relative pronouns are often left out. That doesn't work in Spanish!
Miperro, al que yo quise mucho está muerto. = My dog that I loved very much is dead.
Mi perro, que yo quise mucho está muerto. = My dog that I loved very much is dead.
Mi perro, que yo quise mucho está muerto. = My dog that I loved very much is dead.
El hombre al que nadie envidia no es feliz. = The man who (that) is not envied is not happy.
El hombre que nadie envidia no es feliz. = The man that is not envied is not happy.
El hombre que nadie envidia no es feliz. = The man that is not envied is not happy.
La mujer, a la que veo, es guapa. = The woman (that) I see is beautiful.
La mujer, que veo, es guapa. = The woman I that see is beautiful.
La mujer, que veo, es guapa. = The woman I that see is beautiful.
Sometimes the preposition a is needed to be able to understand the sentence.
Es el hombre, al que ama. = The man that she loves.
Es el hombre, que ama. = The man that loves or The man that she loves?
Es el hombre, que ama. = The man that loves or The man that she loves?
If the relative pronoun que is used with a preposition the article has to be used.
El hombre que habla. (no preposition => no article) = The man that (who) talks.
El hombre que ves. (no preposition => no article) = The man (that) you see.
El hombre para el que lo haces. (preposition => article) = The man for whom you do this.
La mujer de la que lo tienes. (preposition => article) = The woman from whom you got it. / The woman that you got it from.
Los hombres de los que lo tienes. (preposition => article) = The man from whom you got this. / The woman that you got it from.
El hombre que ves. (no preposition => no article) = The man (that) you see.
El hombre para el que lo haces. (preposition => article) = The man for whom you do this.
La mujer de la que lo tienes. (preposition => article) = The woman from whom you got it. / The woman that you got it from.
Los hombres de los que lo tienes. (preposition => article) = The man from whom you got this. / The woman that you got it from.
** The relative pronoun el cual, la cual, los cuales, las cuales are rather unusual. They are used to be more precise or to clear up something that got a bit mixed up. They are furthermore used together with prepositions (see below).
Basic form (nominative) and person
| Simon dijo que no pretendía derribar a la mujer, la cual cayó al piso y tuvo algunos raspones, pero no se lesionó de gravedad. |
Simon said that they didn't want to take the woman that fell down and got some scratches without getting injured down. |
| La mujer, la cual dijo ser epiléptica, declaró que el agente se aprovechaba de los vendedores ambulantes como ella. | The woman that said to be epileptic said that the police officer abused the situation of the street vendors like she is. |
| Génesis. 2, 21 Entonces Yahveh Dios hizo caer un profundo sueño sobre el hombre, el cual se durmió. |
Genesis 2. 21 Then God let down a deep sleep on man, and he fell asleep. |
| Ésta es la sala la cual tiene TV a color y equipo de Video. | This is the room that has TV and VCR. |
Basic form (nominative) - thing
| Por eso continuamos avanzando hacia la puerta verde y deteriorada de la casa, la cual estaba cerrada con un candado. |
That's why we continued until the green and deteriorated door, which was locked with a lock of the house. |
| En 1938 Manuel Toussaint puso la primera piedra de la casa, la cual fue construida por el arquitecto Carlos Rousseau. |
In the year 1938 Manuel Toussaint put down the first stone of the house, which was designed by the architect Carlos Rousseau. |
Direct object - person
| Éste es el hombre al cual los soldados Romanos torturaron. | This is the man who was tortured by the Roman soldiers. |
| Ellos son conocidos como los siniestros hijos de la sombra y su único deseo es el gobernar sobre el hombre al cual consideran una raza inferior. |
They are known as the sinister sons of the shadow and their only desire is to rule man whom they considered as an inferior race. |
| Si el Estado al cual corresponda la presidencia no tuviera representante titular, el vicepresidente ejercerá la presidencia. | If the state that should correspond the presidency doesn't have a candidate the vice-president will act as president. |
| Daniel 9:21: "Aún estaba hablando en oración, cuando Gabriel, el hombre al cual yo había visto en visión al principio, voló rápidamente y me tocó, como a la hora del sacrificio del atardecer. |
Daniel 9:21: "Just as I still talked in my prayer the man Gabriel whom I had seen in a vision flew towards me around the time of the evening sacrifice. |
Direct object - thing
| Es el proyecto mediante el cual buscamos formas de organización social que trasciendan las vías de representación corporativa. |
Through this project we search for forms of social organisation that go further than the corporative representation. |
| Es un buen día para Venezuela en medio de un conflicto histórico el cual buscamos canalizarlo pacíficamente. | In the middle of this historical conflict that we want to resolve peacefully is this a good day for Venezuela. |
Even if you find results in Google the relative pronouns el/la cual, los/las cuales are rather rare.
La tía de mi amigo, la cual tiene un coche muy bonito, es una persona muy amable.
= The aunt of my friend the one that has a very nice car is a very nice person.
Las manzanas de los arbóles, las cuales cayeron por el viento, las comieron las vacas.
= The apples of these tree those that fell down through the wind the cows eat them.
= The aunt of my friend the one that has a very nice car is a very nice person.
Las manzanas de los arbóles, las cuales cayeron por el viento, las comieron las vacas.
= The apples of these tree those that fell down through the wind the cows eat them.
If the same sentences are constructed with que or quien you have to keep in mind that que and quien refers to the element directly before the relative pronoun.
La tía de mi amigo, que tiene un coche muy bonito, es una persona muy amable.
= The aunt of my friend who has a very nice car is a very nice person. (- the friend!)
La tía de mi amigo, quien tiene un coche muy bonito, es una persona muy amable.
= The aunt of my friend who has a very nice car is a very nice person. (- the friend!)
= The aunt of my friend who has a very nice car is a very nice person. (- the friend!)
La tía de mi amigo, quien tiene un coche muy bonito, es una persona muy amable.
= The aunt of my friend who has a very nice car is a very nice person. (- the friend!)
As we can see the trick with el cual / la cual does only work to clear things up if the object that are potentially referred to differ in gender or number.
In this case there is nothing you can do
La tía de mi amiga, la cual tiene un coche muy bonito, es una persona muy amable.
= The aunt of my friend that has a very nice car is a very nice person.
Now you cannot know which one of the girls has the nice car and is a very nice person.
= The aunt of my friend that has a very nice car is a very nice person.
Now you cannot know which one of the girls has the nice car and is a very nice person.
*** quien is used only for persons. It is comparable with who. In a construction as a direct object the preposition a is used (the English translation is whom).
quien can be used only in non-restrictive relative clauses. Non-restrictive relative clauses are relative clauses that have only additional information to the referred object. The object itself is defined already in itself without the relative clause.
non-restrictive relative clause: quien can be subject of the relative clause
Miguel de Cervantes Savedra, quien participió en la batalla de Lepanto, era un escritor español.
= Miguel de Cervantes Savedra who participated in the battle of Lepanto was a Spanish writer.
= Miguel de Cervantes Savedra who participated in the battle of Lepanto was a Spanish writer.
restrictive relative clause: quien can't be the subject of the relative clause.
incorrect: Nos encontramos con un hombre quien vivio diez años en Rusia.
correct: Nos encontramos con un hombre que vivió diez años en Rusia.
We met with a man that / who lives in Russia.
correct: Nos encontramos con un hombre que vivió diez años en Rusia.
We met with a man that / who lives in Russia.
If quien is a direct object the preposition a has to be used (= personal direct object, personal acusativo)
4.1.3 Relative pronouns in Spanish - with pronouns referring single elements
With relative pronouns prepositions can be used. In English there are two possibilities - with whom the preposition is put before the relative pronoun; with that the preposition is put behind the verb. With who and which it can have both positions:
The man to whom we were talking in the train was an architect.
The man who we were talking to in the train was an architect.
The man that we were talking to in the train was an architect.
The book to which I was referring is quite expensive.
The book, which I was referring to is quite expensive.
The book that I was referring to is quite expensive.
The man who we were talking to in the train was an architect.
The man that we were talking to in the train was an architect.
The book to which I was referring is quite expensive.
The book, which I was referring to is quite expensive.
The book that I was referring to is quite expensive.
In Spanish, the system is a bit simpler. The preposition is put before the relative pronoun. Next in line is the article (in right gender and number according to the referred object!) and then the verb.
In Spanish things are different. Prepositions do not require a special declination. The are adapted to
number and gender of the object, which is referred to. The complete overview looks as follows.
number and gender of the object, which is referred to. The complete overview looks as follows.
| preposition | + article | + relative pronoun | + verb | ||
| que | cual | quien | |||
| el hombre los hombres la mujer las mujeres |
por de enfrente delante encima sobre con etc. |
(d)el que (de) los que (de) la que (de) las que |
(d)el cual (de) los cuales (de) la cual (de) las cuales |
(de) quien | hablamos ,etc. |
example
El hombre sobre el que hablamos. = The man (that) we are talking about.
El hombre sobre el cual hablamos. = The man who we are talking about.
El hombre sobre quien hablamos. = The man about whom we are talking.
Los hombres sobre los que hablamos. = The men (that) we are talking about.
Los hombres sobre los cuales hablamos. = The men (who) we are talking about.
Los hombres sobre quienes hablamos. = The men about whom we are talking.
La mujer sobre la que hablamos. = The woman (that) we are talking about.
La mujer sobre la cual hablamos. = The woman (who) we are talking about.
La mujer sobre quien hablamos. = The man about whom we are talking.
Las mujeres sobre las que hablamos. = The women (that) we are talking about.
Las mujeres sobre las cuales hablamos. = The women (who) we are talking about.
Las mujeres sobre quienes hablamos. = The man about whom we are talking.
Las mujeres con quien hice un viaje por España. = The women with whom I travelled through Spain.
La naranja, por la cual me volví al centro.= The orange because of which I went back into the center.
El libro con el que aprendí el Español. = The book with which I learnt Spanish.
La oficina en la que trabajo. = The office (that) I work in.
La oficina en la cual trabajo. = The office in which I work.
El hombre sobre el cual hablamos. = The man who we are talking about.
El hombre sobre quien hablamos. = The man about whom we are talking.
Los hombres sobre los que hablamos. = The men (that) we are talking about.
Los hombres sobre los cuales hablamos. = The men (who) we are talking about.
Los hombres sobre quienes hablamos. = The men about whom we are talking.
La mujer sobre la que hablamos. = The woman (that) we are talking about.
La mujer sobre la cual hablamos. = The woman (who) we are talking about.
La mujer sobre quien hablamos. = The man about whom we are talking.
Las mujeres sobre las que hablamos. = The women (that) we are talking about.
Las mujeres sobre las cuales hablamos. = The women (who) we are talking about.
Las mujeres sobre quienes hablamos. = The man about whom we are talking.
Las mujeres con quien hice un viaje por España. = The women with whom I travelled through Spain.
La naranja, por la cual me volví al centro.= The orange because of which I went back into the center.
El libro con el que aprendí el Español. = The book with which I learnt Spanish.
La oficina en la que trabajo. = The office (that) I work in.
La oficina en la cual trabajo. = The office in which I work.
If the preposition has two syllables a construction with cual is used*
La empresa para la cual trabajo. = The company for which I work.
rather seldom:
La empresa para la que trabajo. = The company (that) I work with.
La casa debajo de la cual encontraron el tesoro. = The house under which they found the treasure.
rather seldom:
La casa debajo de la que encontraron el tesoro. = The house that they found the treasure under.
rather seldom:
La empresa para la que trabajo. = The company (that) I work with.
La casa debajo de la cual encontraron el tesoro. = The house under which they found the treasure.
rather seldom:
La casa debajo de la que encontraron el tesoro. = The house that they found the treasure under.
* Did you ever notice that it's obviously the same in English?
If the preposition has only one syllable a construction with que is used*
La ciudad en la que vivo. = The city I (that) live in.
rather seldom:
La ciudad en la cual vivo. = The city in which I live.
El hombre con el que habla. = The man (that) he talks to.
rather seldom:
El hombre con el cual habla. = The man to whom he talks.
rather seldom:
La ciudad en la cual vivo. = The city in which I live.
El hombre con el que habla. = The man (that) he talks to.
rather seldom:
El hombre con el cual habla. = The man to whom he talks.
Some more examples
La mujer para la que yo diseño no es un compradora compulsiva, ni una fashion victim que pasa horas arreglándose.
= The woman that I design for is neither a compulsive buyer nor a fashion victim that spends hours dressing up.
Descubre la nueva fragancia especialmente creada para la mujer para la que todo momento cuenta.
= He discovered the new fragrance especially created for a woman for who every moment counts.
= The woman that I design for is neither a compulsive buyer nor a fashion victim that spends hours dressing up.
Descubre la nueva fragancia especialmente creada para la mujer para la que todo momento cuenta.
= He discovered the new fragrance especially created for a woman for who every moment counts.
4.1.4 Relative pronouns referring to a larger context
Compare the two sentences
The dog that barks on the street.
The war broke out which made it impossible to leave the country.
The war broke out which made it impossible to leave the country.
In the first sentence reference is made to one element - the dog. The second sentence has a reference to a larger context - the war broke out. In English those references are made with what. In Spanish it is similarly simple - it's lo que / lo cual.
4.1.5 Referring a larger context without prepositions
The relative pronoun for relative clauses that refer tolarger contexts are lo que / lo cual. Lo is the neutral article that describes a context, que / cual are the relative pronouns we already know. Therefore this is not different in the logic from that what we have seen with single elements.
what, which = lo que / lo cual
| Dijo lo que quería. | He said what he wanted |
| Hace lo que le da la gana. | She does what she wants to. |
| El coche se estropeó lo que fue una gran pérdida. | The car was wrecked which was a big loss. |
| Perdí mi monedero lo cual fue una catástrofe. | I lost my wallet, which was a catastrophe. |
| No se lo dijo lo cual estuvo bastante mal. | He didn't tell him anything what was quite bad. |
| A pesar de la lluvia salimos, lo que fue una mala idea. | Despite the rain we went out which was a bad idea. |
| No me interesa lo que dice ni lo que piensa ni su persona en general. | I do not care what he says nor what he thinks nor the person in general. |
all that = todo / todos lo que
| Él sabe todo, lo que nosotros queremos saber. | He knows all that we want to know |
| Es la mejor solución para todos los que estén buscando trabajo. | This is the best solution for all that are searching for employment. |
something that / nothing that = que (without lo!)
| Él sabe algo que no quiere decirnos. | He knows something that he doesn't want to tell us. |
| Él no sabe nada que nos pudiera interesar. | He doesn't know anything that could be interesting for us. |
4.1.6 With prepositions referring larger contexts
A bit more interesting is the construction with prepositions and lo que or lo cual. Also in English these kind of constructions sound a bit difficult. Usually one would change the word order to avoid something like that.
lo que or lo cual with a preposition
| Se quebró una pierna, por lo cual no pudo ir de vacaciones. | He broke a leg because of which (that) he couldn't go on vacations. (He broke a leg and therefore he couldn't go on holidays.) |
| Él trabajaba mucho, por lo cual se hizo un hombre rico. | He worked a lot because of which (that) he turned out to be a rich man. (He worked a lot and therefore he turned out to be a rich man) |
| Ella era muy hermosa, por lo cual todo el mundo la quería. | She was very pretty for which (that) everyone loved her. (She was very pretty and therefore everyone loved her.) |
Some more examples with more prepositions
| Pagó todo, con lo cual el problema fue resuelto. | He paid everything what solved the problem. (with that the problem was solved) |
| Se permitió todo, por lo cual perdió todos sus amigos. | He took all the freedom for which he lost all his friends. (therefore he lost all his friends) |
| Lo busqué por toda la ciudad, por lo cual ni siquiera me fuiste agradecido. | I searched the whole town for which you weren't even grateful. (and you weren't even grateful for that) |
| Le di el dinero, por lo que ni siquiera me agradeció. | I gave him money for what he didn't even say thanks. (and he didn't even say thanks) |
4.1.7 cuyo, cuya, cuyos, cuyas
cuyo, cuya, cuyos, cuyas = whose, which
| La mujer, cuyo hijo se va a la escuela con mi hija, es gentil. | The lady whose son goes to school with my daughter is very nice. |
| La ciudad, cuya torre vemos de lejos, es Chicago. | The city whose tower we see from far is Chicago. The city of which we see the tower from far is Chicago. |
| Las ciudades, cuyas historias hemos estudiado, se encuentran todas en España. | The cities whose history we studied are all over Spain. The cities the history of which we studied are all over Spain. |
| Los paises, cuyos gobiernos apreciamos, son democráticos. | The countries whose governments we appreciate are democracies. The countries the governments of which we appreciate are democracies. |
| El hombre, cuya hija conozco, es mi vecino. | The man whose daughter I know is my neighbour. |
note the specialty in these sentences: the gender and number is defined by the referred object!
| La mujer, cuya casa fue destruida, es rubia. | The woman whose house was destroyed is blond. |
| El hombre, cuya casa fue destruida, es rubio. | The man whose house was destroyed is blond. |
| Las mujeres, cuya casa fue destruida, son rubias. | The women whose houses was destroyed are blond. |
| Los hombres, cuya casa fue destruida, son rubios. | The men whose house was destroyed are blond. |
| Las mujeres, cuyas casas fueron destruidas, son rubias. | The women whose houses were destroyed are blond. |
| Los hombres, cuyas casas fueron destruidas, son rubios. | The men, whose houses were destroyed are blond. |
| Las mujeres, cuyo jardín fue destruido, son rubias. | The women whose garden was destroyed are blond. |
| Los hombres, cuyo jardín fue destruido, son rubios. | The men whose garden was destroyed are blond. |
| Los hombres, cuyos jardínes fueron destruidos, son rubios. | The men whose gardens were destroyed are blond. |
The constructions with whose are in the spoken language not that common. The same we can state for the Spanish cuyo(s)/cuya(s). Most likely the sentence would be constructed the following way:
El jardín de la mujer que es rubia ha sido destruido.
= The garden of the woman that / who is blond was destroyed.
alternatively:
La mujer, el jardín de la cual ha sido destruido, es rubia.
= The woman the garden of which was destroyed is blond.
= The garden of the woman that / who is blond was destroyed.
alternatively:
La mujer, el jardín de la cual ha sido destruido, es rubia.
= The woman the garden of which was destroyed is blond.
You see we have endless possibilities - languages are so rich!!!
cuyo, cuyos, cuya, cuyas with a pronoun
| Ésta es la mujer, por cuyo hijo hemos organizado la fiesta. | This woman for whose son we have organised the party. |
| as an alternative: | |
| Ésta es la mujer, por el hijo de la cual hemos organizado la fiesta. | This woman for the son of which we have organised the party |
| Éste es el hombre, a cuyo jefe hemos escrito una carta. | This is the man to whose boss we have written a letter. |
| as an alternative: | |
| Éste es el hombre, al jefe del cual hemos escrito una carta. | This is the man to the boss of which we have written a letter. |
If reference is mad to alguno or cada uno the construction with cual is to be used. The Genitive construction with cuyo, cuyas, cuyos, cuyas can't be used.
Habían muchos prográmas de gramática española en el Internet, algunas de las cuales eran útiles.
= There were many programs of Spanish grammar in the net of which some were useful.
La ciudad tenía muchos hoteles cada uno de los cuales tenía habitaciones libres.
= The city had many hotels every one of which had vacancies.
= There were many programs of Spanish grammar in the net of which some were useful.
La ciudad tenía muchos hoteles cada uno de los cuales tenía habitaciones libres.
= The city had many hotels every one of which had vacancies.