To which it refers. A or Al que se refiere.

Question

I am wanting to say that I have a question which I have written alongside the item (a sentence) to which it refers.

I can find the following two expressions but am not sure which is correct or whether both are. All the examples I have found are for things that are masculine - eg los problemas, los documentos, los paises, los casos. In this case I have a feminine subject so I am not sure which if any of these are correct.

My guess would have been the first one but if someone could tell me the right way to say it that would be great.

"Tengo una pregunta que está escrita junto a la frase a que se refiere." · "Tengo una pregunta que está escrita junto a la frase al que se refiere."

"Tengo una pregunta que está escrita junto a la frase a la que se refiere."

For that matter I´m not sure about the rest of the sentence either so any suggestions on the normal way to say this would be helpful.

Answer 1

I can't back this up (as yet) with textbook material, but I would simply use "a que." I did find this usage on a Spanish website.

But I found some sources that also use for feminine, "a la que se refiere."

So could it be that both are correct? I notice all Polenta1´s examples do take the article - ErikainAndalusia, Jun 3, 2017

Erikain, it would seem that both forms are correct but only in the approriate context as Polenta's examples show ie: feminine matched with feminine, singular form with singular and plural with plural. - FELIZ77, Jun 3, 2017

Before Daniela or Polenta had posted their responses, I would have opted for: a que rather than al que but as I was not sufficiently sure I decded to wait and see what the natives recommended :) - FELIZ77, Jun 3, 2017

Always best when you're not a native speaker FELIZ77. It gets so confusing when people weigh in meaning well but without really knowing what is idiomatically correct. - ErikainAndalusia, Jun 4, 2017

Living in Spain I hear a lot that's not in textbooks and, like so many English, many people speak incorrectly. It's hard to balance speaking well with still being colloquial . LOL - ErikainAndalusia, Jun 4, 2017

One can't really interrogate a friend about their grammar so that's why I'm so grateful for the access to the native speakers, who know their grammar and give their time to help, afforded by this forum. Bss. - ErikainAndalusia, Jun 4, 2017

Answer 2

Erikain:

You might find the following helpful. Basically al means a el and should be used only when referring to a masculine noun. You would use a la if referring to a feminine noun. Whether you can use a que without the article (el or la) is the one of the subjects that is addressed below. This comes from lengalia.com, an excellent grammar course written by Spaniards which I have spent a lot of time on.

As I recall, it is never wrong to include the definite article when using a que as a relative pronoun. (Sometimes a que can be used like para que, in which case the definite article should not be used.) The site indicates that with certain prepositions, including a, it is OK to omit the definite article. Sometime the article is needed for clarity when there are multiple nouns in the preceding phrase, since the relative pronoun does not necessarily refer to the closest antecedent. In other words, if there is a masculine antecedent and a feminine one in the prior clause then the inclusion of the definite article can make it clear to which antecedent you are referring. I think it is generally best to avoid such situations by rewording if possible and since it is just one little word, I tend to use the definite article.

From Lengalia:

• It introduces specifying (restrictive) and explicative (non-restrictive) sentences.

El corresponsal que escribía reportajes desde Beirut murió anoche.
The correspondent who used to write reports from Beirut died last night.

Ese periodista, que lleva años trabajando como corresponsal, fue amigo mío.
That journalist, who worked for years as a correspondent, was a friend of mine.
• When "que" it is not preceded by a preposition, it appears without a definite article.
Los invitados, que estaban en casa, brindaron por los novios.
• When we refer to objects and "que" appears after one prepositions, it depends on the preposition:
? with prepositions a, con, de y en, can go with or without the article.

El pueblo en que nací se llama Hacinas.
The town in which I was born is called Hacinas.

El pueblo en el que nací se llama Hacinas.
The town in which I was born is called Hacinas.
? with the rest of prepositions normally is not usual to delete the article.

Los invitados, entre los que había solo amigos, brindaron por los novios.
The guests, between whom there were only friends, drank a toast to the bride and groom.

El pueblo "en que nací" - Daniela2041, Jun 2, 2017

Dani: Not sure what you're getting at. The text has El pueblo en que nací and El pueble en el que nací. It is saying with or without the definite article is OK grammatically. Are you saying that using the definite article is wrong or sounds strange? - DilKen, Jun 2, 2017

You don't need the second "el", just "el publo en que nací" is just much more common. - Daniela2041, Jun 2, 2017

Thanks for that kenhuizenga. This looks really interesting but I´m going to have to reread it carefully and slowly to get my head around it. Nearly 2am here so a bit hard to absorb right now. Something for the morning. - ErikainAndalusia, Jun 3, 2017

Thanks Daniela. "el pueblo en que naci" sounds right. But "to which it refers" sounded fomal enough to need more words probably only because it is a formal construction in English. So you would say " junto a la frase a que se refiere."? - ErikainAndalusia, Jun 3, 2017

Erikain, if you look at the end of Polenta's first example you will see the correct construction: ( Tengo una pregunta que está escrita) " junto a la frase a LA que se refiere " - FELIZ77, Jun 3, 2017

Thanks FELIZ77 but as Daniela did not use the article in the example of the pueblo I was querying her reason for the difference. ;-) - ErikainAndalusia, Jun 4, 2017

Answer 3

Tengo una pregunta que está escrita junto a la frase a la que se refiere.

Tengo una pregunta que está escrita junto al adjetivo al que se refiere.

Tengo una pregunta que está escrita junto a las frases a las que se refiere.

Tengo una pregunta que está escrita junto a los adjetivos a los que se refiere.