18 Possessive/relative/interrogative pronouns
Ejemplos el hombre con quien platiqu´e (M) / habl´e ayer la chica a quien te referiste los pol´ıticos de quienes no me f´ıo
the man to whom I spoke yesterday the girl to whom you referred the politicians I don’t trust
ii A peculiarity of quien, either as subject or object, is that it may include its antecedent. It therefore corresponds to he who or those who:
Quien no sabe esto es francamante ignorante La culpa no fue suya sino de quien se lo aconsej´o Hay quien cree que esto es f´acil Quien no aventura no gana Quien paga manda
Anyone who doesn’t know this is frankly ignorant The blame was not hers but of the person who advised her (to do it) There are those who think this is easy Nothing ventured nothing gained He who pays the piper calls the tune
iii The last two examples in this list illustrate how widespread this construction is. There are innumerable sayings which start with Quien . . .
2.3 Use of lo que Lo que is used as a relative pronoun when it refers to an idea or a statement which is expressed by the previous clause. Its closest equivalent in English is that which although this does not always fit the Spanish. The following examples will illustrate this feature: Dijo que no ir´ıa, lo que me enoj´o (M) / enfad´o Pas´o todo su tiempo estudiando, lo que la ayud´o a aprobar sus ex´amenes Lo que no acabo de entender es su negativa a mandar la tarjeta
He said he wouldn’t come, which angered me She spent all her time studying, which helped her to get through her examinations What I fail to understand is her refusal to send the card
2.4 Use of Que´ in exclamations i The use of que´ in exclamations with the meaning of What (a)! occurs before an adverb, or an adjective. It corresponds to the English How!
Ejemplos ¡Qu´e bien / bueno (M)! ¡Qu´e lujo! ¡Qu´e suerte! ¡Qu´e vista encantadora! ¡Qu´e bien habla! ¡Qu´e feliz eres t´u!
How splendid! What luxury! What luck! What a lovely sight! How well she speaks! How happy you are! 173