Five-minute Spanish Lessons - Lesson 2.

Whose / Cuyo / De quién

"Cuyo" is usually translated by "whose" in English. Both words can refer to objects or people. Cuyo is usually used in written Spanish while spoken Spanish often prefers other forms. Both whose and cuyo can be the subject or object of a sentence. Whose and cuyo can form part of identifying or non-identifying clauses.

Referring to objects:

We attended the meeting, whose importance nobody understood.

Asistimos a la reunión, cuya importancia nadie reconoció.

Less formal versions of the above:

We attended the meeting, which nobody understood the importance of.

Asistimos a la reunión, de la que nadie reconoció la importancia.

Referring to subjects:

She introduced me to the old soldier, whose eyes stared at me.

Me presentó al viejo soldado, cuyos ojos me miraron fijamente.

Colloquial versions of the above:

She introduced me to the old soldier, who had eyes that stared at me.

Me presentó al viejo soldado, que tenía los ojos que me miraron fijamente.

Object of a preposition in Spanish:

El terremoto, de cuyos efectos nos comunicaron por radio...

The earthquake, whose effects were radioed to us...

Less formal versions of the above:

El terremoto, los efectos del cual nos comunicaron por radio...

The earthquake, the effects of which were radioed to us...

or,

(Colloquial) The earthquake which they radioed the effects to us about.

(Object of a preposition in Spanish and English)

The Catholic youth, on whose shoulders lies the future of the church.

La juventud católica, sobre cuyos hombros reside el porvenir de la iglesia.

Less formal versions of this prepositional use is difficult to find without changing the sentence completely. But in Spanish:

La juventud católica, sobre los hombros de quien reside el porvenir de la iglesia.

A very common use of cuyo is in the phrase en cuyo caso, which in English must be translated by in which case:

Este horario es provisional y puede sufrir modificaciones, en cuyo caso se avisará con suficiente antelación.

This timetable is temporary and may be subject to changes, in which case you will be informed with sufficient warning.

As has been seen, cuyo agrees with the noun that comes immediately after it. If there are more than one noun in the clause, cuyo will only agree with the first in the list. Whose is unchangeable:

An old man whose hands and feet were covered in scars.

Un hombre mayor cuyas manos y pies estaban cubiertos de cicatrices.

A whale whose back and fins show white marks.

Una ballena cuyo lomo y aletas muestran manchas blancas.

In the above examples whose and cuyo are adjectives. De quien (pronoun) is used to talk about possession in questions. Whose can be a pronoun or an adjective here:

¿De quién son estos guantes?

Whose are these gloves? (pronoun)

Whose gloves are these? (adjective)

¿De quién es esa moto?

Whose is that motorbike? (pronoun)

Whose motorbike is that? (adjective)

Also possible is de quienes if referring to plural possessors. Whose cannot distinguish between singular and plural:

¿De quiénes son estos bolígrafos?

Whose are these pens?

Whose pens are these?

However, sometimes heard in South America is the use of adjective cuyo in questions such as these:

¿Cuyos guantes son estos?

¿Cuya moto es ésa?

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