Learn about using relative and interrogative pronouns
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Natalia: Buenos días, soy Natalia. |
| Carlos: What’s going on? My name is Carlos. “I like very much the United States.” |
| Natalia: Okay. |
| Carlos: What’s going on pod101world? Welcome to Spanishpod101.com the fastest, easiest and with us the most fun way to learn Spanish. |
| Natalia: I’m Natalia and thanks again for being here with us for this beginner series season two lesson. |
| Carlos: You are welcome, Naty. I like very much the United States. |
| Natalia: Okay Carlos, but you know what, this lesson we are going to learn about pronouns. |
| Carlos: Pronouns! Well, who’s in our conversation now? |
| Natalia: Héctor and Paul. |
| Carlos: Héctor and Paul. |
| Natalia: Yes. |
| Carlos: So are they friends? |
| Natalia: No, the speakers here have just met so the conversation is more formal. |
| Carlos: Okay, so that’s something you have to recognize when you are talking to people. |
| Natalia: Okay, you know so everybody that’s listening you should get ready to follow along on today’s lesson’s guide on your pdf reader. Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| Carlos: I’m down. |
| DIALOGUE |
| HECTOR: Usted no es costarricense... |
| PAUL: No, yo soy de los Estados Unidos, de Philadelphia mejor dicho. |
| HECTOR: I e-like verry much the Junited Estates... |
| PAUL: Jaja... ¿Qué le parece si hablamos en castellano, está bien? |
| HECTOR: ¡Claro! Tiene que practicar. Yo soy Hector Ramírez de la Peña. ¿Con quién tengo el gusto? |
| PAUL: Paul Feldman. Encantado, Hector. |
| HECTOR: You're not Costa Rican... |
| PAUL: No, I'm from the United States, Philadelphia that is. |
| HECTOR: I e-like verry much the Junited Estates... |
| PAUL: I'm glad, Sir. But I prefer to speak Spanish, is that OK? |
| HECTOR: Of course. You have to practice. I am Hector Ramirez de la Peña. With whom do I have the pleasure? |
| PAUL: Paul Feldman. Nice to meet you, Hector. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Carlos: That’s not bad, I love doing the Spanglish accent. |
| Natalia: Carlos, you don’t really need to put effort that much. |
| Carlos: You mean the Spanglish accent... |
| Natalia: No, no it comes out kind of natural you know. |
| Carlos: It does, Nat. It’s like, it’s like I used to remember growing up always like Christmas like my grandmother “meri crima meri crima!” “Carlos tiene ungri?” |
| Natalia: Hungry? |
| Carlos: No “ungri”. |
| Natalia: You know something actually, my little brother, I have an eleven year old brother and he was born in the States and he learned English, that was his first language, then he came down to Costa Rica when he was two and then instead of saying milk or leche he would say “milche”. Half and half and then he would say instead of shoes which is zapato he would say “shopato”. |
| Carlos: Well, he sounds pretty confused. |
| Natalia: That was pretty Spanglish hardcore. |
| Carlos: Did he lose all his English? |
| Natalia: Oh no, he like knows a little bit of English but Spanish is his main now. |
| Carlos: Alright, so let’s move to the vocabulary section in today’s pdf lesson guide. Here we are going to break down these words and give you some key points. Listen closely, to start off we have a verb. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Natalia: “Alegrarse”. |
| Carlos: “To make glad”, “to delight.” |
| Natalia: “A-le-grar-se”, “alegrarse”. |
| Carlos: As in the example... |
| Natalia: “Me alegra que estés conmigo”. |
| Carlos: “I’m glad that you are with me.” Next up we have... |
| Natalia: “Mejor”. |
| Carlos: “Better”, “best.” |
| Natalia: “Me-jor”, “mejor”. |
| Carlos: As in the example... |
| Natalia: “Es una ciudad pequeña, o mejor dicho, es un gran pueblo”. |
| Carlos: “It’s a small city or better yet it’s a large town.” This time we’ll hear... |
| Natalia: “Preferir”. |
| Carlos: “To prefer”, “to rather.” |
| Natalia: “Pre-fe-rir”, “preferir”. |
| Carlos: As in the example... |
| Natalia: “Ellos prefieren viajar en avión”. |
| Carlos: “They prefer to travel by plane.” Next up we have... |
| Natalia: “Quién”. |
| Carlos: “Who”, “that”, “whom.” |
| Natalia: “Quién”, “quién”. |
| Carlos: As in the example... |
| Natalia: “¿Quién fue?” |
| Carlos: “Who was it?” And now a verb. |
| Natalia: “Practicar”. |
| Carlos: “To practice.” |
| Natalia: “Prac-ti-car”, “practicar”. |
| Carlos: As in the example... |
| Natalia: “Tengo que practicar”. |
| Carlos: “I have to practice.” Finally, a past participle. |
| Natalia: “Encantado, encantada”. |
| Carlos: “Enchanted”, “delighted.” |
| Natalia: “En-can-ta-do, en-can-ta-da”, “encantado, encantada”. |
| Carlos: As in the example... |
| Natalia: “Estoy encantada de ir a la playa”. |
| Carlos: “I am delighted to go to the beach.” Okay. |
| Natalia: Carlos. |
| Carlos: Yes, Naty. |
| Natalia: You should try to go ahead and practice some of these. |
| Carlos: Some of these? |
| Natalia: Yes! “Preferir”. |
| Carlos: “Preferir”. |
| Natalia: “Encantado”. |
| Carlos: “Encantado”. |
| Natalia: “Alegre”. |
| Carlos: “Alegre”. |
| Natalia: “Mejor”. |
| Carlos: “Mejor”. |
| Natalia: “Quién”. |
| Carlos: “Quién”. |
| Natalia: “Es”. |
| Carlos: “Es”. |
| Natalia: “Mejor”. |
| Carlos: “Mejor”. |
| Carlos: “Para preferir”. |
| Natalia: “Para preferir”. |
| Natalia: I always get you. |
| Carlos: “Para preferir”. |
| Natalia: “Preferir”. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Carlos: Okay, so let’s have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Natalia: Well, okay let’s go. The first word or phrase we’ll look at is “alegrarse”. En este verbo no hay nada difícil, siempre lo usamos. Como por ejemplo, “Me alegra que estés conmigo”. “I’m glad that you are with me.” |
| Carlos: Me alegra que me lo hayas contado. Any related words to learn while we are on this one? |
| Natalia: How about the adjective “alegre”? That’s “joyful” or “happy” and the feminine noun “alegría”, “joyfulness.” |
| Carlos: That sounds happy to me. So next up. |
| Natalia: “Mejor”. |
| Carlos: “Mejor”. |
| Natalia: Almost like “major” but it means “better”. “Es una ciudad pequeña, o mejor dicho, es un gran pueblo”. |
| Carlos: Okay so “it’s a small city or better yet it’s a large town.” |
| Natalia: In Spanish we use the phrase “mejor dicho” to introduce {inaudible 04:28} of some sort. For example, “Carlos, ¿tú eres tonto o mejor dicho haces lo mejor que puedes?”. “Carlos, you are dumb or better yet you will do the best that you can?” |
| Carlos: My best is all I can offer. |
| Natalia: Let’s continue. Next up we have “preferir”. |
| Carlos: “Preferir”. |
| Natalia: See we use this verb a lot in Spanish so in general it’s to show our preferences, “la preferencia”. Como por ejemplo, “ellos prefieren viajar en avión”, “they prefer to travel by plane.” |
| Carlos: Okay, so instead of saying “quieren”, “they want”, or “quisieran”, “they would like”, you say that “prefieren”, “they prefer”. |
| Natalia: For example, we could say “gracias por su preferencia” which is kind of like saying “thanks for choosing us”, “thanks for your preference.” |
| Carlos: That seems clear enough. What’s next? |
| Natalia: “Practicar”. |
| Carlos: “Practicar”, a verb that everyone listening to this podcast must learn. There’s no way out. |
| Natalia: Let’s also note that the feminine noun “práctica” in the singular and in the plural “prácticas” means “practice”, “internship” or “training.” |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Carlos: Duly noted, Naty. Okay guys, stick around because today’s grammar point is coming up. Okay Naty, grammar time. |
| Natalia: You never stop. |
| Carlos: Can’t stop, won’t stop. |
| Natalia: Oh my God. Anyways, so as we promised today we are studying pronouns, relative and interrogative. Carlos, why don’t you reach back, back there in your mind in your high school English teacher years and define exactly what a pronoun is? |
| Carlos: A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. |
| Natalia: What makes a pronoun relative? |
| Carlos: Well, we say that a pronoun is a relative pronoun when it carries out a function in the sentence that it belongs. Relative pronouns are inserted into sentences which can be thought of as greater units. But these relative pronouns also have an explicit or implicit antecedent. |
| Natalia: Well, I actually have to admit I didn’t expect you to be so precise. |
| Carlos: Ask and you shall receive, Naty. |
| Natalia: Okay, so you know what I like that I’m asking the questions for once, how about if you know about the antecedent. |
| Carlos: Well, the antecedent is just the nominal expression that is the noun phrase to which some pronouns make reference. |
| Natalia: That seems kind of difficult. |
| Carlos: Well, it seems more difficult than it really is, Naty. Everybody does it all the time in their native language without having to think about the mechanics of it. |
| Natalia: Sure, so these expressions like “mi primo, quien es escritor, tiene una vida solitaria”, “my cousin who is a writer has a solitary life” or "la mujer con quien me encontré en la calle es mi profesora", “the woman who I ran in the streets is my teacher.” |
| Carlos: Seems like there’s something noticed. |
| Natalia: You are right. Keep in mind that when the pronoun is required after a preposition and refers to a person, “quien” must be used. Never "que" or "cual" both of which are relative pronouns that never refer to people. |
| Carlos: Oh, that’s why someone look at me strange when I use "que" or "cual" |
| Natalia: I’m sure it wasn’t only that, Carlos. |
| Carlos: Maybe not. |
| Natalia: But you know you should also remember that “quién” is accentuated when is used as an interrogative expression such as "¿con quién tengo el gusto?", “with whom do I have the pleasure?” |
| Carlos: Very proper, Natalia. |
| Natalia: So where as the relative pronouns are for an antecedent and the noun is previously mentioned subject pronouns do not accompany a noun. They don’t make any direct reference to an antecedent. |
| Carlos: Yes, what she said. |
| Natalia: Carlos. |
| Carlos: What about formation? |
| Natalia: So, well you know as a relative pronoun “quien” only shows a number not a gender. |
| Carlos: So the gender doesn’t matter, the pronoun only changes with number. |
| Natalia: Right, so masculine and feminine singular would be “quien”. |
| Carlos: I’m going to bet that masculine and feminine plural would be “quienes”. |
| Natalia: That’s a safe bet. |
| Carlos: How about some examples then. |
| Natalia: "El chico con quien saliste el fin de semana pasado es el hermano de mi amiga." |
| Carlos: Okay, “the guy who you went out with last week is my friend’s brother.” Masculine singular. |
| Natalia: “El contador a quien conocí anoche me va a ayudar”. |
| Carlos: “The accountant who I met last night is going to help me out.” You know Naty, there’s a couple of things you need in life and a good accountant is one of them. And by the way that’s also masculine singular. |
| Natalia: Okay, so how about… |
| Carlos: Oh man, tax time. |
| Natalia: Oh my God, don’t go there. “¿Con quién tengo el gusto?” |
| Carlos: “With whom do I have the pleasure?” Naty, do I bow when I say that? |
| Natalia: No, don’t be silly, Carlos. Well, “vamos a salir con los hermanos Pérez, con quienes hemos compartido muchas mesas”. |
| Carlos: “We are going to go out with the Pérez brothers whom we’ve shared many a table with.” |
| Natalia: “Quien paga elige”. |
| Carlos: “He who pays gets to choose.” It’s an interesting example |
| Natalia: Why? |
| Carlos: Because I know you don’t agree with that. |
| Natalia: I do not? |
| Carlos: I know she doesn’t. |
| Natalia: "Dime con quién andas y te diré quién eres." That’s a classic. |
| Carlos: “Tell me who you hang out with and I’ll tell you who you are.” Now isn’t that the truth. |
| Natalia: Carlos, I believe that who your friends definitely speak for who you are. |
| Carlos: Interesting, something I noticed. |
| Natalia: Does it have to do with accents? |
| Carlos: Yes, you read my mind, Naty. |
| Natalia: Okay, good. You notice that there’s no accents on either “quien” in the singular or “quienes” in the plural. Don’t confuse the usage of relative pronouns with that of interrogative pronouns. Pronouns which are used as questions such as “¿quién llamo?”, “who called?”. Or “¿con quiénes saliste?”, “who do you leave with?” |
| Carlos: With whom did you leave? |
| Natalia: Carlos, I recommend starting other pronouns while you are in this topic like "que" and "cual" both of which are used just as much as “quien”. |
| Carlos: Pronouns are useful because they help us make reference to people, places or things which are either implicit or explicit. In this way, they let us build more complex structures which in turn give us the ability to be more precise. |
| Natalia: Well, think of building blocks. Learn this and you’ll learn the base to build off of. |
| Carlos: I love blocks. |
| Natalia: Oh my God! Poor thing never had a childhood. Well… |
| Carlos: I love them, I had a…. well you know what before you know it you’ll be at the top of that pyramid. |
| Natalia: Okay. Carlos. |
| Carlos: Yes? |
| Natalia: Time for “la tarea”. |
| Carlos: That’s right. Before we wrap up today, it’s time to assign today’s homework. |
| Natalia: In today’s grammar point, we studied the word “quien” which we saw can mean either who or whom. We also saw that it can be formed in the singular “quien” and in the plural “quienes”. |
| Carlos: So here’s what you have to do. We are going to give you five sentences in Spanish, each of which will include either “quien” or “quienes”, what you have to do is translate the sentence to English and figure out if the pronoun is singular or plural and why. Ready? |
| Natalia: ¡Ahí vamos! Número uno, “la mujer con quien me encontré en la calle es mi tía“. Número dos, “los congresistas, quienes recién ganaron las elecciones, renunciaron”. Número tres, “quien lo hace una lo haces dos veces”. Número cuatro, “quien paga elige” . Número cinco, “llamé a mi amiga, quien es doctora, y le pedí su consejo”. |
Outro |
| Carlos: And remember overachievers, you can always check the answers and comments to the answers by downloading the premium audio track titled “tarea”, which means “homework.” Well Naty, that’s about it for today. |
| Natalia: ¡Hasta luego! |
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