Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Clauses in Spanish

Question

I don't have any difficulty with the difference between restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses; I'm just wondering if they are formed the same way in Spanish as in English.

Would the following use of 'quien' be correct?

Every year I visit my friend Jessica, who moved to Washington two years ago.

Cada año visito mi amiga Jessica, quien movió a Washington hace dos años.

And here, the same question applies. Is this the way to use 'que' in a restrictive clause?

I enjoyed visiting the mountains that towered over the lake.

Me divertí visitar las montañas que se elevaba por encima del lago.

Thanks ahead of time for any answer you can give me!

It's my understanding that you can always use "que" as the relative pronoun in Spanish, with a few exceptions related to prepositions.. i don't understand this very well! - rabbitwho, Dec 11, 2011

Great question Falchion - ian-hill, Dec 11, 2011

Yep, excellent question, with a super response by Izanoni! - territurtle, Dec 13, 2011

Answer 1

I'm just wondering if they are formed the same way in Spanish as in English.

Yes, the construction is quite similar from one language to the next. In English text, we typically offset "non-restrictive clauses" with a comma, and the same is generally true of Spanish.

A couple of corrections/suggestions:

Cada año visito a mi amiga Jessica, (la que) quien movió se mudó a Washington hace dos años.

In Spanish, this sort of construction is referred to as an "oraciòn relativa explicativa," "oraciòn relativa en aposición" or often simply as an "apositiva." Also, the verb "mudarse" is what you would use to indicate a change of address.

Suggestions and corrections:

Me divertí visitar Disfrutaba visitando las montañas que se elevaban por encima del lago.

By contrast, this sort of construction is referred to as an "oración relativa especificativa" or "oración relativa restrictiva." You could probably use the verb "divertirse," but it would be more like "amused myself." For "towered over" you might also try "dominar" or "alzarse sobre"

I can't add much to that - in fact nothing at all :) - ian-hill, Dec 11, 2011

Wow, thanks! That's a very helpful answer. - Emeralda, Dec 11, 2011

I didn't think that the gerund could be used as a noun Iza? shouldn't it be 'disfrutaba de visitar'? - Kiwi-Girl, Dec 11, 2011

Shouldn't the second use of "oración relativa explicativa" be phrased differently than the first? - territurtle, Dec 13, 2011

@Terri...Yes, you are right. It should read "especificativa" - Izanoni1, Dec 13, 2011

Answer 2

I didn't think that the gerund could be used as a noun ...

In the sentence given by Iza and the ones from the RAE citation, the "gerundio" (not "gerund") is being used as an adverb (which is not uncommon).

P.S. And, no, the gerundio can't be used as a noun.

Answer 3

I didn't think that the gerund could be used as a noun Iza? shouldn't it be 'disfrutaba de visitar'?

Hi Kiwi. Have a look at this excerpt from the DPD:

disfrutar.

Cuando significa ‘sentir placer a causa de algo’ es normalmente intransitivo y se construye con un gerundio, o con un complemento introducido por de o con, que expresa la causa del disfrute:

«Disfruta mirando ese mar enfurecido» (Vázquez Narboni [Esp. 1976]);

«Farnesio y él irían a acompañarlo para [...] disfrutar del clima sano» (UPietri Visita [Ven. 1990]);

«Disfrutó con la comprobación de saberse protegido»

Or you might consider the syntactic arrangement found in this quote from El País

Recuerdo que, "en aquel tiempo", disfrutaba desmintiendo en el círculo de mis amigos de distancia media el (imaginario) rumor que me atribuía una relación ...

Awesome, thanx so much Iza :) - Kiwi-Girl, Dec 12, 2011

for ever rule there is an exception, without exception for Spanish - 0074b507, Dec 12, 2011

Including the word "every" spelled as "ever." Don't you just hate it when your fingers do that to you? ;)) - territurtle, Dec 13, 2011