el que, la que, el cual, la cual?
La mujer con la que está hablando.
The woman with whom he is speaking. (It probably needs a second clause, for example "is ugly", but ignore that and bear with me)
What I'm wondering is what is the function of the articles with these pronouns.
Would
La mujer con que está hablando. / La mujer con quien está hablando.
Mean something different? Or are they just wrong?
**El autobús en el que viajo.
El que acaba de llegar es su hijo.**
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ That one is maybe easier because it's sort of like colloquial English where you say "him what has just arrived is his son." Except its "the what"
Any more info or examples you could give me of this stuff would be appreciated.
Thanks!
4 Answers
La mujer con que está hablando. / La mujer con quien está hablando. Mean something different? Or are they just wrong?
They mean the same, BUT... in "con (la) que" the "la" has been omitted, and some grammars recommend avoiding that omission (but it is not wrong). "Quien" is also correct, but only with people and only after a preposition (eg. "quien"). "La que" can be used with things, people, prepositions and without prepositions.
El que acaba de llegar es su hijo.** ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ That one is maybe easier because it's sort of like colloquial English where you say "him what has just arrived is his son." Except its "the what"
Not quite. You are saying "El (chico) que acaba de llegar", which translates as "The (child) that has just arrived", or using a better translation, "The one who...". Nothing colloquial here in Spanish, just normal Spanish.
La persona a la que invité...
El que esté libre de culpa que tire la primera piedra (from the Bible).
Esto es para el que lo quiera.
Las chicas las que cuidan a los ninos.
The teachers (who / that) look after the children.
This is an appositive in Spanish.
Las chicas, las que cuidan a los ninos, son cansadas.
The teachers, those who care for the children, are tired.
And, these (el que, la que, lo que, etc.) are "relative pronouns," and should be translated as such (what, who, etc.), but I really struggled with the whole using "the" in such cases until I remembered the "the which" pattern we have in English. {The link will take you to a list of Bible verses containing the "the which" pattern.}
Genesis 1:29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
"The which" above refers to "every tree."
"The which" is antiquated, but being a student of the KJV Bible since I was twelve, it is one I am familiar with. But even one not that familiar with it has probably heard it enough to be comfortable somewhat with the phrase...enough to not choke on hearing the word "the" be used as part of a "relative pronoun."
No, not whenever you like. When used with ser or a similar verb, you can use la/el/lo/los /las to express a selection:
El ciudad de México es la que mas le gusta a Juan.
Many times the article appears after a preposition:
Dijo que sabe algo con lo que te podría ayudar a encontrarla.
However, the whole subjec of relative pronouns is broader than this. Try this:
as a place to start.
J
So can I use an article + que as a relative pronoun wherever I like?
Las chicas las que cuidan a los ninos.
The teachers (who / that) look after the children.
El profesor con el que estudio.
The professor (with whom) I study. Are those ok? -
