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Old September 23, 2016, 02:51 AM
seanbarkley seanbarkley is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Premium View Post
<> 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.
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

Last edited by seanbarkley; September 23, 2016 at 02:55 AM.
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