Five-minute Spanish Lessons - 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. Spanish has a way of dealing with this possible ambiguity by showing gender:

I want to watch a film at the cinema, which I like very much.

Quiero ver una peli en el cine, el cual me gusta mucho.

I want to watch a film at the cinema, which I like very much. (heard in colloquial speech)

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 (= 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.

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.

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 lo 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):

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.

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