Ch 26 · Lesson 18Spanish · Chapter 26 · Lesson 18 · Grammar primer
Cuyo: whose, agreeing with the thing owned
: takes the gender and number of the thing owned, never of the owner.
The short version
agrees with the thing owned
.
Why?Hide
means 'whose' and behaves like a possessive adjective, so it matches the thing possessed and ignores the owner entirely. In , is feminine plural because is, even though the author is a man. Getting that agreement right is the classic .
Cuyo: whose
means "whose". It sits right in front of the thing owned and agrees with that thing, never with the owner:
| Owner | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| the author whose novels I read | |
| the woman whose car we saw | |
médica | the boy whose mother is a doctor | |
| the writer whose books I admire |
No article follows it: , never " ". is mostly written Spanish. In speech, people often rephrase: .
Mistakes English speakers make
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| con | | the preposition goes in front |
| the article agrees with | |
| no preposition, no comma: | |
| , ... | , ... | a whole idea needs |
| only means what | |
| agrees with the thing owned | |
| is not standard |
Going further: The advanced relatives on one screen and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
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