Él nada muy bien.
He swims very well. (subject pronoun)No conozco a Elvira.
I don’t know Elvira.Nola conozco.
I don’t know her. (object pronoun)Este libro es de Enrique.
This book belongs to Enrique.Este libro es mío.
This book is mine. (possessive pronoun)Reflexive (see 23 )
In its literal use, a reflexive verb form involves the use of an object pronoun which
refers back to the subject of the verb, e.g. Pilar se lavó‘Pilar washed herself’. However,
the reflexive verb form has a wide variety of functions in Spanish, which are described
in 23.Relative clause
A relative clause is a group of words within a sentence, containing a verb, and
introduced by a relative pronoun, which refers back to a preceding noun or pronoun
(theantecedent).Las personas que fueron a la reunión estaban de acuerdo.
The people who attended the meeting were in agreement.El pueblo en que se establecieron está muy lejos.
The town in which they established themselves is very far away.Relative pronouns (see 11 )
Relative pronouns are words like que, el que/el cual and quien, which introduce a
relative clause:La mujer a quien verdaderamente quiere es Alicia.
The woman he really loves is Alicia.Éste es el colega que te presenté ayer.
This is the colleague I introduced to you yesterday.Relative pronouns can be missed out in English, as the above translations show, but
they can never be omitted in Spanish.Subject
This is a word or group of words within a sentence, which shows the person or thing
performing the action denoted by the verb:El español no es difícil.
Spanish is not difficult.Gabriel y Victoria vendrán conmigo.
Gabriel and Victoria will come with me.xxiv
GLOSSARY