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Five Minute Study - SPANISH and ENGLISH compared Guía de la gramática inglesa...
En estas lecciones breves se comparan el inglés hablado y coloquial con el español con el fin de ayudar al estudiante a apreciar tanto las diferencias como las similitudes lingüísticas entre los dos idiomas.
Relative Pronouns (6) Who, which, that / el cual, la cual, los cuales, las cuales, quien, quienes, que, el que, la que
In non-identifying clauses, the following words in English can be used with of whom and of which: some, any, both, several, enough, many, (much with which), few, none and all. In these structures we cannot use that or who, however, many speakers may choose a more informal way of expressing themselves. Translations in Spanish may vary but the direct translation: de los cuales / de las cuales (del cual or de la cual with non-plural much) is usually possible though note exceptions below. Here are some possible translations:
There were two people at the bar, both of whom spoke perfect German (or, more informally) There were two people at the bar, who both spoke perfect German Había dos personas en la barra, ambas hablaban un alemán perfecto (or, more informally as ambos is quite formal) Había dos personas en la barra, las dos hablaban un alemán perfecto (but rarely heard is: ambas de las cuales)
He asked the passengers on the bus, none of whom had any change (or, more informally) He asked the passengers on the bus, but there was nobody who had any change Preguntó a los pasajeros en el autobus, ninguno de los cuales tenía cambio (or, more informally) Preguntó a los pasajeros en el autobus, ninguno tenía cambio
Patients suffering from these illnesses are given archaic drugs, some of which are highly toxic. Los pacientes que sufren estas enfermedades reciben tratamiento con medicamentos arcaicos, algunos de los cuales son muy tóxicos. or, ...medicamentos arcaicos, algunos de ellos son muy tóxicos.
There are about 180,000 European businesses, many of which are small and medium-sized enterprises. Hay alrededor de 180.000 empresas europeas, muchas de las cuales son pequeñas y medianas. Hay alrededor de 180.000 empresas europeas, en gran parte pequeñas y medianas.
The city has a lot of pollution, much of which comes from car exhaust fumes La ciudad tiene bastante contaminación, gran parte de la cual viene de los gases de los tubos de escape (rarely heard is: mucha de la cual)
If we have a preposition plus a relative pronoun, this can be followed by an infinitive in English:
The children haven't got a garden in which to play Los niños no tiene jardín en el que jugar or, Los niños no tiene jardín para jugar but a more informal style in English would be: The children haven't got a garden to play in
The twins didn't have a friend with whom to play (very formal and old-fashioned) Los gemelos no tenían un amigo con quien jugar less formal in English would be: The twins didn't have a friend to play with
Finally, notice how in English a relative clause usually has a third person singular verb although the subject is I (me) or singular you:
It's me who wants to watch the football tonight (Note that in Spanish, verb agreement may be in first or third person in these two examples.) Soy yo el que quiero / el que quiere / ver el fútbol esta noche
You're the one who does it, Paco Tú eres el que lo haces, Paco / Tú eres el que lo hace, Paco
In formal and literary style you may note in English: It is I who want to watch the football tonight
That is, the verb agrees with the subject and there is the use of it is I rather than it's me.
It is I who am complaining (literary) (Soy yo el que / me quejo / se queja)
The informal plural vosotros requires the 2nd person agreement in Spanish:
Vosotros
sois los que vais a pagar (not:
You're the ones who are going to pay
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