Relative Pronouns with Prepositions

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RELEVANT LESSON:

Explanation

Quick Answer

Relative pronouns (pronombres relativos) connect sentences or phrases by referring back to a noun, pronoun, or phrase that was talked about previously. If the relative pronoun is used with a preposition, the preposition must precede the relative pronoun.

Let's take a look at some relative pronouns that are commonly used with prepositions.

El Que

Queon its own cannot be preceded by a preposition. However, when que is preceded by a definite article, it can be used with a preposition. El queand its related forms la que, los que, las queare used when the antecedent (the part of a sentence that is later replaced by a pronoun) refers to a person or a thing. Prepositions used with el que are generally just one-syllable prepositions, such as conand de.

Use this formula to form a sentence that uses the relative pronoun el que in combination with a preposition.

preposition + definite article + que

Check out the following examples.

examples
Los lugares de los que hablan son difíciles de alcanzar.
The places they are talking about are hard to get to.
Carmen, la chica con la que salí ayer, nos invitó a una fiesta.
Carmen, the girl I left with yesterday, invited us to a party.

El Cual

El cualand its related forms la cual, los cuales, las cualesare used in the same way as the relative pronoun el que and its related forms. When using a prepositional phrase or multi-syllable preposition, el cual is preferred to el que. El cual is also considered to be more formal.

Let’s take a look at some examples.

examples
Estaba parado al lado de un tocador, encima del cual había un joyero antiguo.
He was standing next to a dresser, on top of which there was an antique jewelry box.
Denunciaron las injusticias sociales contra las que luchaban.
They spoke out about the social injustices they were fighting against.

Quien

If there is a preposition before quien(or its plural form quienes, it can be used instead of el que or el cual when the antecedent refers to a person. Quien and quienes are commonly used after prepositions like de, para, and con.

Here are some examples.

examples
Me acabo de tropezar con Juana, la mesera con quien fuimos al concierto.
I just ran into Juana, the waitress who we went to the concert with.
Todas las chicas con quienes vivo son muy agradables.
All the girls I live with are very pleasant.

Lo Que and Lo Cual

The neuter relative pronouns lo queand lo cualare used to refer to an abstract situation or concept that is not specifically masculine or feminine. Both lo que and lo cual can be used after prepositions.

Take a look at these examples.

examples
Elegí no ir a la universidad, de lo que no me arrepiento.
I chose not to go to college, which I don't regret.
No deberías rechazar algo de lo cual no sabes nada.
You shouldn’t reject something you know nothing about.
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