Business Spanish - Relative Pronouns

. Learn Spanish Grammer .

LESSON XIII.
(Lección décima tercera.)

RELATIVE PRONOUNS.

+------------+-----------+------------------------------------+
| _Sing._ | _Plu._ | |
+------------+-----------+------------------------------------+
|Quien |Quienes |(who, whom) |
|El cual |Los cuales |(who, whom _or_ which) |
|La cual |Las cuales | |
|Que | |(that) |
|Cuyo |Cuyos |(whose, _or_ of which (denoting |
|Cuya |Cuyas | possession)) |
+------------+-----------+------------------------------------+

_Quien_ is used for persons only.
_El cual_ and _que_ are used for persons and things.

EXAMPLES--

El agente á quien (_or_ al cual) hemos escrito: The agent to whom we
have written.

¿Son aquéllas las partidas de azúcares de las cuales me habló V. ayer?
Are those the lots of sugar of which you spoke to me yesterday?

Me acuerdo de las personas y las cosas que V. ha mencionado: I remember
the people and things that you mentioned.

El buque cuya tripulación ha desembarcado: The ship whose crew has
landed.

El comerciante á cuyo hijo hemos conocido: The merchant whose son we
have known.

_Que_ is used very often instead of _quien_ and _el cual. Que_ is to be
preferred when the clause following is a mere complement of the
principal clause (preceding), and _Quien_ or _El cual_ only when the
following clause is considered not less in importance than the clause
preceding, viz., when it introduces _a new idea,[99] as--

¿Ha visto V. al viajante que nos visitó esta mañana?
Have you seen the traveller who called on us this morning?

He conocido al banquero quien era hombre muy juicioso
y prudente: I knew the banker who was a very wise and
prudent man.

[Footnote 99: This is practically saying: after a comma, only the use
of the comma is so arbitrary that we preferred to explain the rule
fully.]

After _ser_ and a noun or pronoun, translate "who" by _quien_, as--

Es él (Carlos) quien me lo ha dicho: It is he (Charles) who told it to
me.

After a preposition translate "whom" by _quien_ (pl., _quienes_)[100],
and "which" by _el cual (la cual_, etc.).

[Footnote 100: "Que" is found but rarely.]

EXCEPTION--

After _á, con, de, en_, we can also translate "which" equally well by
_que_, or _el que, la que, los que, las que_.[101]

[Footnote 101: "Que" or "El que" is found also after other prepositions
but rarely.]

"Which" relating to a whole sentence is _lo cual_ or _lo que_
(naturally, because a whole sentence has no gender).

Instead of _cuyo_ we may use _de quien, del cual, de que, del que_, as--

El buque, la tripulación del cual, de que, _or_ del que ha desembarcado:
The ship whose crew has landed.

El comerciante al hijo de quien, _or_ del cual hemos conocido: The
merchant whose son we have known.

"He who" is translated by _aquel que, el que_,[102] also _quien_.

"She who" is translated by _aquella que, la[102] que_, also _quien_.

"Those who" is translated by _aquellos que, los[102] que_, also
_quienes_.

[Footnote 102: See Lesson XII.]

=Relative Pronouns= cannot be left out, understood, in Spanish, as--

El hombre á quien, _or_ que ví: The man I saw.

Expressions as "The man I spoke to" must, of course, be rendered "The
man to whom I spoke" (El hombre á quien hablé).

Expressions as "I recommend you Messrs. So-and-So than which no better
firm exists," are rendered "Le recomiendo á V. la casa de los Srs.
Fulanos de Tal que no la hay mejor (_or_ de la cual, _or_ de la que no
hay otra mejor)".

+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
| _Subjunctive Mood, Imperfect Tense_. |
+-------------------+---------------+---------------+-----------------+
| =Haber=. | =Tener=. | =Ser=. | =Estar=. |
|Que yo hubiese |Tuviese (that I|Fuese (that I |Estuviese (that I|
| (that I might, | might, would,| might, would,| might, would, |
| would, or should| or should | or should | or should |
| have, etc.) | have, etc.) | be, etc.) | be, etc.) |
| " tú hubieses |Tuvieses |Fueses |Estuvieses |
| " él hubiese |Tuviese |Fuese |Estuviese |
| " nosotros |Tuviésemos |Fuésemos |Estuviésemos |
| hubiésemos | | | |
| " vosotros |Tuvieseis |Fueseis |Estuvieseis |
| hubieseis | | | |
| " ellos hubiesen |Tuviesen |Fuesen |Estuviesen |
+-------------------+---------------+---------------+-----------------+

VOCABULARY.

=amargo=, bitter
=armador de buques=, shipowner
=arreglar=, to arrange
=el bien=, the good
=buque, barco, navio=, boat
=cauto=, cautious
=*conocer=, to know through the senses, to be acquainted with
=deuda=, debt
=doloroso=, painful
=endosar=, to endorse
=enseñar=, to teach, to show
=esperar=, to expect, to hope, to wait
=estadísticas=, statistics
=falta=, want, absence of
=flojo=, slack
=fundar=, to found
=gratitud=, gratitude
=*hacer mención=, to mention
=herida=, wound, sting
=informar (de)=, to inform of, to acquaint with
=llevar chasco=, to be disappointed, to be baffled
=*negar=, to deny
=periódico=, newspaper
=premio=, reward, prize, premium
=robar=, to rob, to steal
=simpático=, pleasant, winsome, taking
=*tener empeño=, to be earnest, anxious about anything

EXERCISE 1 (25).

Translate into English--

1. El hombre que me habló no es el á quien hemos escrito.

2. Hé aquí (here is) el libro que me enseñó esta regla.

3. He escrito al hombre que nos endosó la letra.

4. He comprado el periódico que contiene aquellas estadísticas.

5. He arreglado con el negociante quien (_or_ el cual) parece hombre muy
simpático.

6. El corredor, quien (_or_ el cual) tiene mucho empeño en concluir la
transacción, me vino á ver otra vez (again) esta mañana.

7. El capital, el cual se ha destinado á la explotación de las minas, es
intangible (cannot be touched).

8. El hombre á quien (_or_ al cual) me refiero es armador de buques.

9. El negociante de quien (_or_ del cual) le hablaba es integérrimo
(most upright).

10. El asunto á que me refería (_or_ de que trataba).

11. La pluma con que escribía y con la cual (_or_ con la que) puede
escribir V.

12. La mina en que (_or_ en la cual) fundaba sus esperanzas.

13. El dinero sobre el cual contaba.

14. Los géneros para los cuales se dió (was given) la orden.

15. ¿Es él quien lo quiere y á cuyo hijo (_or_ al hijo de quien) V.
conoce?

EXERCISE 2 (26).

Translate into Spanish--

1. He who robs you of (roba) money robs you of little, but he who denies
you a debt of well-deserved gratitude robs you of more, which is
obvious.

2. Those who deny this (nieguen, (_subj._)) have not experienced how
(cuán) painful is the sting of ingratitude.

3. Those who do good should do it expecting ingratitude for (por) their
reward, then they will not be disappointed.

4. It is a truth than which no bitterer exists.

5. The steamer I have bought is a first-class boat.

6. The little (pequeña) house I paid for.

7. The firm I made mention of enjoys good credit.

8. I wonder (me pregunto yo) if this is the engineer whose son is a
lawyer.

9. Their market is very slack at present, which accounts for (explica)
the want of their remittances.

10. I acquainted them with all the facts, which made them very cautious.

11. We are acquainted with Mr. McIntyre (conocemos al), who is a
Scotchman.

12. He is only an acquaintance (un conocido _or_ un conocimiento).