Quote:
Originally Posted by Premium
<> This dialog was copied from another thread to here. <> Now, the following phrases confuse me.
- El amigo que llega mañana es árabe.
- Los turistas que visitan España vienen de todo el mundo.
Why is "que" used in these two sentences?
Thank you in advance.
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The rule I learnt was that "quien/quienes" never can be used if the relative is subject of the subordinate clause. The exception is if the clause is explicative and goes between comas*.
In your examples:
- El amigo
que llega mañana es árabe -
"quien" can't be used because the relative is the subject of the subordinate clause
- Los turistas
que visitan España vienen de todo el mundo -
Same as above
If you take look at the examples you provided in which "quien/quienes" was used:
- La familia
con quien vivo es muy amable.
-> Subject of the subordinate: I
- Esta es la amiga
de quien te hablé.
-> Subject of the subordinate: I
- Ofelia,
a quien amlet tanto amó, era muy joven. ->
Subject of the subordinate: Hamlet
- La secretaria,
a quien le entregué la carta, me dijo que regresara mañana.
-> Subject of the subordinate: I
- Estas son las amigas
de quienes te hablé/Estas son las amigas de las que te hablé.
-> Subject of the subordinate: I
- El alumno,
quien acaba de llegar, estudia esperanto.
-> This is the exception: Quien is the subject of the subordinate clause, but can be used because it's a explicative sentence and goes between comas
*For the exception to work it's not imperative to go always between comas, it can been coma-dot.
Example: Estuve con mi amigo, quien me invitó.
Hope this all makes sense