Spanish: An Essential Grammar

Como él era del pueblo adonde iba, ofreció llevarme en su

furgoneta.

As he was from the village I was going to, he offered to take me in

his van.

Por fin llegamos a la cima, desde donde había unas vistas

espectaculares.

We finally reached the summit, from where there were spectacular

views.

Translating ‘why’ in a relative clause (restrictive clauses only)

To translate English ‘why’ used as a relative adverb, a combination of por

and la que(for antecedent la razón) should be used:

No se sabe la razón por la que se fue.

The reason why he went away is not known.

Translating ‘whose’ in a relative clause

In careful Spanish, English ‘whose’ is translated by cuyo, which functions as

a possessive adjective within a relative clause (restrictive or non-restrictive).

Cuyoagrees in number and gender with the item possessed, or if there are

several items only with the first.

Unlike ‘whose’, which some speakers do not use with non-human anteced-

ents, cuyooccurs with both human and non-human antecedents:

El dueño, cuyo mayor interés era no ofender a la clientela,

no pudo oponerse.

The owner, whose main concern was not to offend the customers,

could not object.

Vi varias casas a cuyas ventanas les faltaba el cristal.

I saw several houses the windows of which had no glass.

La policía ha detenido a un hombre cuya identidad y

domicilio se desconocen.

The police have arrested a man whose identity and abode is not

known.

Note: The phrase en cuyo casomeans ‘in which case’.

25.4.7

25.4.6

1111

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

1011

1

12111

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

20111

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

30111

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

40

41111

25

Relative
clauses

262