Relative Pronouns (que, quien, el que)

Transcripción

1 Relative Pronouns (que, quien, el que) Pronouns are words that refer to a noun. Therefore, relative pronouns refer to a noun that has previously been stated. Another way to look at relative pronouns is to recognise that they link two sentences that share a common noun. I. Que The most common relative pronoun in Spanish is que. Dónde está el chocolate? Me gusta mucho este chocolate. Where is the chocolate. I really like this chocolate. Dónde está el chocolate que me gusta mucho? Where's the chocolate that I really like? Here, with this example you can see that que combines the two sentences together. However, the relative pronoun que can have another use. It can be used to modify the noun in the sentence. Look at this example ; Terminé mis deberes anoche. Los deberes son muy dificiles. I finished my homework last night. Homework is very difficult. 1

2 Los deberes que terminé anoche son muy dificiles. The homework that I finished last night is very difficult. In both of the examples above the que is translated as that. Howere the relative pronoun que may refer to both people and things. "Que" is the Spanish equivalent of the English words: who, whom, which, and that. Mi hermano, que tiene treinta años, es el más joven en mi familia. My brother, who is 30, is the youngest in my family. Los amigos que quiero más son María y Miguel. The friends that I like best are María and Miguel. El libro que terminé anoche es muy interesante. The book that I finished last night is very interesting. Juan tiene dos perros que son negros. Juan has two dogs which are black. Mis gatos que son negros son muy lindos. My cats which are black are very cute. Sometimes in English we can write a sentence without the relative pronoun que but in Spanish it must always be present. El coche que compré es rojo. The car (that) I bought is red. El diccionario que utilizo es excelente. The dictionary (that) I use is excellent. 2

3 II. Quien The second relative pronoun that you need to know is quien. Remember that relative pronouns are called "relative" because they are "related" to a noun that has previously been stated. The relative pronoun quien is used only to refer to people, and has a plural form quienes. (There is no masculine/feminine form.) Mi hermano, quien es profesor, tiene veinticinco años. My brother, who is a teacher, is 25 years old. La chica, con quien fui a la fiesta, es mi novia. The girl, with whom I went to the party, is my girlfriend. Mi tío, quien es médico, me va a visitar hoy. My uncle, who is a doctor, is going to visit me today. When the relative pronoun refers to a person and is in the direct object position, either que or a quien* may be used. Each is correct. *Notice that the personal a is used with quien but is not used with que. El chico que conocí anoche está en mi colegio. El chico a quien conocí anoche está en mi colegio. The girl whom I met last night is in my school. In English, although really it's incorrect, we often find a sentence ending in a preposition. Notice that this never occurs in Spanish. Mi amigo Carlos es la persona a quien envío la invitación. My friend Carlos is the person that I sent the invitation to. 3

4 My friend Carlos is the person to whom I sent the invitation. III. El que The final relative pronoun that you need to know is el que. The relative pronoun el que (and its related forms) is used to refer to both people and things. Note that there are four forms to cover singular and plural, masculine and feminine: el que, la que, los que, las que. Mi amigo, el que es inglés, viene al cine este fin de semana. My friend, the one who is English, is coming to the cinema this weekend. Los boligrafos, los que son negros, son baratos. The pens, the ones that are black, are cheap. Las casas, las que son blancas, son bonitas. The houses, the ones that are white, are pretty. 4

5 Quiz 1. Dónde está mi camisa,... es blanca y negra? a) el que b) la que c) los que d) las que 2. Quiero un coche negro.. tiene cuatro puertas. a) quien b) el que c) que d) lo que 3. Mis amigos,... son medicos, son ricos. a) quien b) el que c) quienes d) los que 4. Mi amigo, con... voy a la piscina, es muy deportivo. a) quien b) el que c) quienes d) lo que 5. La fruta.. me gusta más es la naranja. a) quien b) el que c) lo que d) que 6. El país.. prefiero visitar es la Italia. a) quien b) el que c) que d) lo que 7. Mi amiga a... te conoces también vive en Barcelona. a) quien b) la que c) que d) lo que 8. Tengo dos hermanas... se llaman Ana y Lola. a) quien b) que c) quienes d) las que 9. Los flores allí,... son rojos son muy bonitos. a) el que b) la que c) los que d) las que 5

6 10. El profesor... me gusta más, se llama Sñr Smith a) a quien b) quien c) a quienes d) quienes 6