"I was the one who opened the door"

Question

I know the phrase 'the most important person IS me' translates to 'la persona más important SOY yo'. But does this extend to more complex phrases, like "I was the one who opened the door"?

---

Which of these is correct:

"Yo fui el que abrí la puerta"

"Yo fui el que abrió la puerta"

I'm torn because I was one who did the opening, but 'the one' is who the verb is applying to, even though that was me. (Sorry if this is a pretty basic question, but I can't seem to figure out which would be correct and thought I'd just come to you guys for help

Great question! I've been wondering this lately too! - mayodude, Jul 26, 2011

Very good question! - webdunce, Jul 26, 2011

The second one is the one I think it will turn out to be, though. - webdunce, Jul 26, 2011

This is actually a fairly complex question, not a simple one. - webdunce, Jul 26, 2011

Answer 1

I just confirmed with my tutor, a native Spanish speaker.

Yo fui éel que abrió la puerta (because I'm male)

CORRECTION. el, not él

I concur. Vote!!! - webdunce, Jul 26, 2011

My tutor was correct, I just didn't spell it correctly. - Jack-OBrien, Jul 26, 2011

Answer 2

Not a native, but except for Kiwi's answer, I disagree w/ everyone's.

I'd say: Fui yo el que abrió la puerta. (el has no accent)

In the present, I'll say this as: Soy yo el que abre la puerta.

El here is an article, not a pronoun. Why? Let's assume we all know the person is a woman.

It will be: Fui yo la que abrió la puerta.

If él (with accent) is correct, then the last sentence should have been ella, not la, and that would be incorrect.

I would also agree w/ Paco's answer, but quien here should not have an accent either.

You are correct. I mistyped my response and I'm editing it to correct it. - Jack-OBrien, Jul 26, 2011

except 'for' :) - Kiwi-Girl, Jul 26, 2011

Kiwi, how dare you, I even supported you! lol! jeje thanks :) - Deanski, Jul 26, 2011

Answer 3

Yo fuí quién abrió la puerta.

Yo fuí = I was.

the one who= quién.

opened the door = abrió la puerta

I am using abrió (third person), because we are speaking about the one that did the opening of the door. And I am using quién, because prhase is using "who"

That is the way I have heard it used, and when I have asked for the explanation this is what I was told.

Quien or que will work. I think you are right about using third person in the second clause, though. - webdunce, Jul 26, 2011

I like your option. Short and accurate. - Agora, Jul 27, 2011

Answer 4

I would say 'fui yo' - I don't think that Spanish works like English using the 'it' (fue) was me. So depending on what follows I would use either 'fui yo' or 'era yo' in this case 'fui' but I also am not a native - I hope you get some confirmation here Good question!

Either way is fine. It's like the difference in English between "I was the one who..." or "It was I who..." - gintar77, Jul 26, 2011

gracias amigo :) - Kiwi-Girl, Jul 26, 2011

Answer 5

Fue yo que abrió la puerta.

That's the way I would say it. I'm not a native Spanish speaker though.

I know it has to be fui (not fue). I *think* it needs to be abrí in this case. - webdunce, Jul 26, 2011

Well, googling it makes me think it could be abrió OR abrí, but that abrió would be the more commonly used one. - webdunce, Jul 26, 2011

Answer 6

Era yo que abrí la puerta.

Answer 7

fui yo que abrí la puerta, pero las dos frases funcionan, depends on the context