REL ATIVE PRONOUNS
11.3
(a) El que, etc. can also mean ‘he who’, ‘the one which’, etc. (see 4.3.1). El que (but none of the other forms given here) is also used as a complementizer (see 26.1.1). (b) El que/el cual etc. are preferred
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when there is a break in intonation (a comma in print) between the antecedent noun and the relative clause: Llegó otro turista, el cual se quejó de los precios. Another tourist, who complained about the prices, arrived.
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when the relative pronoun refers to a specific person or object: Esta es la iglesia en la que nos casamos. This is the church we got married in.
(c) El que/el cual etc. are not normally used when they immediately follow their antecedent noun and there is no break in intonation (no comma in print): El chico que conociste en México era mi hermano. (el cual or el que would sound very odd here) The boy you met in Mexico was my brother. (d) El que/el cual (or quien(es)) must be used after a preposition other than those mentioned above, or with a and de when these have a directional meaning such as ‘to(wards)’, ‘from’: Yo escuchaba lo que decía mi tío, según el cual la empresa podría ser muy peligrosa. I was listening to my uncle, according to whom the enterprise could be very dangerous. A lo lejos divisé una iglesia, a la que me dirigí con paso alegre. In the distance I made out a church, to which I made my way happily. (e) See also neuter lo que, lo cual (see 2.7).
Quien(es)
11.3
(a) Quien (pl. quienes) refers only to people, and may be used in more or less the same circumstances as el que/el cual. la chica a quien quiere the girl he loves Isabel quería ir a ver a su madre, quien estaba muy enferma. Isabel wanted to go and see her mother, who was very ill. el estudiante hacia quien ibas the student you were going towards (b) Quien(es), like el que, etc. (see 4.3.1), also has the meaning of ‘he who’, etc. Quien no tenga dinero no puede entrar. Those who have no money cannot come in.
䊉 䉴
46
18.2.5 (p. 90)