RELATIVE PRONOUNS – SOME BASIC CONCEPTS I. Combining two sentences. Replace the “repeated” concept with a connecting word or phrase called a relative pronoun. Comimos las galletas. Las galletas estaban en el platillo. Comimos las galletas que estaban en el platillo. La mujer es una estrella de películas. Entrevisté a la mujer. La mujer a quien entrevisté es una estrella de películas. II. Essential information? Look at the two situations. Which one requires both sentences to be understood clearly? #1 Juan habló con una mujer. #2 Juan habló con una mujer. La mujer era rubia. La mujer era rubia. In situation #1, we see only one woman, so we don’t need the second statement to identify which woman we are talking about. “La mujer era rubia” is not essential. In situation #2, we see three women, so we need more information (the second statement) to be able to identify which woman we are talking about. “La mujer era rubia” is essential. Non-essential / Non-restrictive clause Juan habló con una mujer. La mujer era rubia. Juan habló con una mujer, que era rubia. Notice the comma! We can leave off the clause and still be understood. Essential / Restrictive clause Juan habló con una mujer. La mujer era rubia. Juan habló con una mujer que era rubia. No comma! We must include the clause in order to be understood. que quien (es) el/la cual los/las cuales el/la que los/las que cuyo/a/os/as lo que lo cual donde Refers to persons Refers to things Restrictive clauses (no commas) Non-restrictive clauses (commas) when speaking (informal usage) Invariable (no plural form) Refers to persons Restrictive clauses (no commas) when preceded by a preposition Non-restrictive clauses (commas) Refers to persons Refers to things Agrees in gender and number with the antecedent Non-restrictive clauses (commas): alternative to que/quien(es) Also used to avoid ambiguity when there are two antecedents of different genders An alternative to el/la/los/las cual(es) after a preposition Agrees in gender and number with the antecedent Refers to possession Agrees in gender and number with the antecedent Never used as a question word! Use ¿De quién? Refers to an entire clause Neuter (neither masculine nor feminine) Invariable (no plural form) Refers to location Invariable (no plural form)