CSG256

Relative Pronouns 245

Relative pronouns may refer to people, things, actions, events, or ideas. However, the correct pronoun must be used to convey the proper message. Observe the relative pronouns que and quien in the following sentences:

El libro que esta en la mesa es mio.    The book that is on the tahle is minę.

El autor, quien acaba de llegar de    The author: zuho has just arrived fro m

France,

Francia, firmo muchos libros.    signed many books.

The antecedent of the relative pronoun quien is always a person. Notę that in English, relative pronouns (that, which, who, whom) are not necessarily included in acomplex sentence. Notę the English equivalent of the following example:

La playa que nosotros visitamos    The beach we visited was deserted.

estaba desierta.

Qwe: When Is the Relative Pronoun Ąue Used in Spanish?

The most common relative pronoun in Spanish, especially in conversational exchanges, is que, the equivalent of that. The antecedent of que is never omitted in Spanish. Use que in a relative clause:

• that refers to people, animals, things, ideas, or events in the singular and plural.

El hombre que sale del banco ahora

lleva una małe ta.

El pajaro que canta es mi regalo para ti.

No queremos ir a la fiesta que organizan los estudiantes.

dNo vas a usar los zapatos que compraste ayer?

• where it functions as the subject of a clause.

The man who is leaving the bank now carńes a suitcase.

The bird that is singing is my gift to you.

We do not want to attend the party (that) the students are organizing.

Aren ’t you going to wear the shoes that you bought yesterday?

In the following example, que, referring back to el guia, functions as the subject of the verb (llevó) in the relative (dependent) clause.

Este es el gula que lo llevó al museo.    This is the guide who took him to the

museum.

• where it functions as the object of a clause.

In the example below, que refers back to the direct object (al tecnico) of the verb (reco-miendo) in the main clause. Que functions as the direct object of the verb (llamamos) in the relative (dependent) clause. (Nosotros [implied] is the subject of the relative clause.)

Te recomiendo al tecnico que    I recommend to you the technician whom

llamamos ayer.    we called yesterday.