There’s a phrase in Spanish I wish to name the possession police.
This phrase shouldn’t be a possessive per se, however it all the time has one thing to do with possession.
As you could have guessed from the title, this possession police phrase is Spanish cuyo (whose, of which), and this put up will educate you all about it.
So, why is it the possession police?
The reply is sort of easy, however you’ll perceive it utterly after you learn the entire put up.
Briefly, cuyo and its types all the time refer again to an individual or factor which seems earlier than them within the sentence (that is known as the antecedent).
Following cuyo is one other individual or factor.
Cuyo‘s mission within the sentence is making clear that the antecedent is the possessor of the second individual or factor. Nobody can overrun this. It’s the possession police, in spite of everything!
However jokes apart, cuyo is a vital phrase that helps us determine possessor and possessed in a sentence, and moreover permits us to introduce extra data within the type of a relative clause.
Despite the fact that I name it the possession police, cuyo is definitely not a possessive phrase however a relative adjective.
And also you should be questioning now… what on earth is a relative adjective?
Obtain:
This weblog put up is on the market as a handy and transportable PDF that you simply
can take anyplace.
Click on right here to get a duplicate. (Obtain)
All About Relative Adjectives like Cuyo in Spanish
Relative adjectives are adjectives that present relation in sentences. They refer again to one thing or somebody that has already been talked about (the antecedent) and introduce new details about them within the type of a relative clause.
All this sounds far more sophisticated than it’s in actuality.
Let’s take a look at one instance with our visitor star of the day:
La chica cuyo gato es negro es mi hermana. (The woman whose cat is black is my sister.)
This sentence incorporates an antecedent (the woman), the relative adjective cuyo (whose) and extra data that may be analyzed like this:
gato (cat) — That is the noun possessed by the woman, who’s the proprietor.
es negro (is black) — That is the brand new details about the cat.
es mi hermana (is my sister) — That is the brand new details about the antecedent.
Each sentence with cuyo or one among its siblings (cuya, cuyos and cuyas, all which means “whose”) will look just like the earlier instance. They’ll all the time comply with this sample:
antecedent + cuyo + a noun
The brand new data will usually come on the finish of the sentence:
El hombre cuya bufanda es roja es mi padre. (The person whose scarf is purple is my father.)
Nonetheless, we will even have that data in the beginning:
Mi padre es el hombre cuya bufanda es roja. (My father is the person whose scarf is purple.)
Both means, each in Spanish and English, the which means of the sentence is identical: I’ve a father and he’s the person who’s carrying a purple scarf.
Now that you realize what a relative adjective is and the best way to type sentences with it, let’s take a look on the entire cuyo household.
Cuyo is a type of phrases English audio system love due to its simplicity.
It is vitally simple to translate (whose, of which) and it behaves very effectively for a Spanish phrase. Don’t let it intimidate you simply because it’s the possession police!
Cuyo has three siblings: cuya, cuyos and cuyas, however earlier than we check out them intimately, let’s get to know cuyo slightly higher and evaluate it with English “whose.” And when you learn this put up, you’ll be able to take a look at the phrase in all its types and makes use of on FluentU.
Learn how to Use Cuyo in Spanish: Cuyo vs. Whose
Cuyo and “whose” operate very equally of their respective languages. They each check with an antecedent and introduce data within the type of a relative clause.
You possibly can observe the parallelisms in these two sentences:
La mesa cuya pata está partida es mía.
The desk whose leg is damaged is mine.
After all, not all Spanish sentences and their translations into English can have a one-to-one correspondence, however usually talking, cuyo and “whose” require the very same parts of their sentences (antecedent, relative, possessed factor/individual, new data), so their buildings will probably be very comparable a lot of the instances.
There are a few variations between the 2 phrases, although, and a few issues to bear in mind when constructing sentences with cuyo:
1. Whereas English solely has “whose” for all genders and numbers, Spanish has 4 types: cuyo (masculine singular), cuya (female singular), cuyos (masculine plural) and cuyas (female singular). Right here they’re in motion:
El niño cuyo libro es verde vive en Madrid. (The child whose e-book is inexperienced lives in Madrid.)
El hombre cuya bicicleta está rota vende coches. (The person whose bike is damaged sells automobiles.)
La mujer cuyos hijos son cocineros acaba de llegar. (The girl whose kids are cooks has simply arrived.)
El avión cuyas azafatas son de Miami acaba de aterrizar. (The aircraft whose stewardesses are from Miami has simply landed.)
2. These 4 types all the time should agree with a noun (as a result of they’re adjectives), however they don’t agree with the antecedent! As a substitute, they agree with the possessed factor or individual:
El niño cuyo libro es verde vive en Madrid. (The child whose e-book is inexperienced lives in Madrid.)
El hombre cuya bicicleta está rota vende coches. (The person whose bike is damaged sells automobiles.)
La mujer cuyos hijos son cocineros acaba de llegar. (The girl whose kids are cooks has simply arrived.)
El avión cuyas azafatas son de Miami acaba de aterrizar. (The aircraft whose stewardesses are from Miami has simply landed.)
3. The nouns these relative adjectives agree with will all the time comply with them:
Visitó la casa cuyo dueño es de Venezuela. (He visited the home whose proprietor is from Venezuela.)
Not: *Visitó la casa dueño cuyo es de Venezuela. (*He visited the home proprietor whose is from Venezuela.)
Now you’re utterly able to get pleasure from the whole lot every of those 4 little phrases can give you in Spanish!
I’ve divided them into 4 teams only for readability’s sake.
Imagine it or not, you already know the whole lot there may be to find out about them, so the remainder of this put up consists primarily of examples. The sentences in every group solely comprise the corresponding relative adjective, so it will likely be simpler so that you can see and perceive every of them.
Take pleasure in!
The Spanish Cuyo and Its Siblings
1. Cuyo
Cuyo is the masculine singular relative adjective. The nouns following it should be masculine singular as effectively:
He comprado el teléfono cuyo teclado es amarillo. (I’ve purchased the telephone whose keyboard is yellow.)
El hombre cuyo paraguas he encontrado es de Nueva York. (The person whose umbrella I’ve discovered is from New York.) Observe: Despite the fact that paraguas appears to be like plural, it’s singular!
Mi madre, cuyo vestido es azul, está allí. (My mum, whose gown is blue, is over there.)
2. Cuya
Cuya is the female singular relative adjective. The nouns that comply with it are additionally female singular:
Ha venido la chica cuya madre es peruana. (The woman whose mother is Peruvian has arrived.)
El hombre cuya mujer es Marta acaba de llamar. (The person whose spouse is Marta has simply known as.)
Mi ordenador, cuya letra F no funciona, es muy caro. (My laptop, whose F key doesn’t phrase, may be very costly.)
3. Cuyos
Cuyos is the masculine pural relative adjective. The nouns following it should be masculine plural, too:
Hemos visitado al chico cuyos amigos viven en Guadalajara. (We’ve got visited the man whose associates reside in Guadalajara.)
Los estudiantes cuyos libros han sido robados están tristes. (The scholars whose books have been stolen are unhappy.)
El niño, cuyos padres están divorciados, vive con su abuela. (The child, whose mother and father are divorced, lives together with his grandma.)
4. Cuyas
Cuyas is the female plural relative adjective. The nouns following it are female plural as effectively:
Vivo en una ciudad cuyas calles son muy estrechas. (I reside in a metropolis whose streets are very slender.)
La chica cuyas hermanas puedes ver en esta foto vendrá luego. (The woman whose sisters you’ll be able to see on this image is coming later.)
El perro, cuyas patas están partidas, no puede caminar. (The canine, whose legs are damaged, can’t stroll.)
Apply the Spanish Cuyo: Attempt It Your self!
Able to put this data into observe? Full the next sentences with the right relative adjective. Don’t forget to have a look at the noun after the clean to determine which type of cuyo to make use of! You’ll find the options on the finish of the put up.
1. El niño, _______ madre es enfermera, es muy divertido. (The child, whose mother is a nurse, may be very humorous.)
2. Este es el hombre _______ hijos son cocineros. (That is the person whose kids are cooks.)
3. La chica _______ libro es verde no ha llegado todavía. (The woman whose e-book is inexperienced has not arrived but.)
4. Necesito el teléfono _______ teclado es amarillo. (I want the telephone whose keyboard is yellow.)
5. Esta es la mujer _______ padres murieron el año pasado. (That is the girl whose mother and father died final yr.)
6. Ana, _______ hermanas son estudiantes, vive conmigo. (Ana, whose sisters are college students, lives with me.)
7. Esta es la frase _______ solución puedes encontrar al last del put up. (That is the sentence whose resolution yow will discover on the finish of the put up.)
And that’s it!
Didn’t I let you know this was as simple as pie?
Sentences with cuyo could seem slightly bit extra sophisticated and complicated than regular ones, however I promise you that you’ll really feel tremendous pleased with your self when you begin utilizing this household of phrases.
So get on the market and begin utilizing cuyo like there isn’t any tomorrow in order that someday I will say:
Le enseñé español a un estudiante cuyo español ahora es fantástico. (I taught Spanish to a learner whose Spanish now’s improbable.)
Keep curious and, as all the time, completely happy studying!
Options:
1. cuya 2. cuyos 3. cuyo 4. cuyo 5. cuyos 6. cuyas 7. cuya
Obtain:
This weblog put up is on the market as a handy and transportable PDF that you simply
can take anyplace.
Click on right here to get a duplicate. (Obtain)
And One Extra Factor…
In case you’ve made it this far meaning you most likely get pleasure from studying Spanish with participating materials and will then love FluentU.
Different websites use scripted content material. FluentU makes use of a pure strategy that helps you ease into the Spanish language and tradition over time. You’ll be taught Spanish because it’s really spoken by actual individuals.
FluentU has all kinds of movies, as you’ll be able to see right here:
FluentU brings native movies inside attain with interactive transcripts. You possibly can faucet on any phrase to look it up immediately. Each definition has examples which were written that can assist you perceive how the phrase is used. In case you see an attention-grabbing phrase you don’t know, you’ll be able to add it to a vocab listing.
Evaluation an entire interactive transcript beneath the Dialogue tab, and discover phrases and phrases listed beneath Vocab.
Study all of the vocabulary in any video with FluentU’s strong studying engine. Swipe left or proper to see extra examples of the phrase you’re on.
The most effective half is that FluentU retains monitor of the vocabulary that you simply’re studying, and provides you additional observe with tough phrases. It will even remind you when it’s time to assessment what you’ve discovered. Each learner has a really personalised expertise, even when they’re studying with the identical video.
Begin utilizing FluentU on the web site along with your laptop or pill or, higher but, obtain the FluentU app.
