Relative Clauses. The article in the relative phrase

As we said previously, a relative clause in Spanish is one that is introduced by a relative pronoun, a relative demonstrative or a relative phrase. And it is about this last one I want to discuss about. Let´s take a look at these sentences:

A) Rodrigo extrajo de su bolsillo el boli con que normalmente firma y empezó a escribir
B) Rodrigo extrajo de su bolsillo el boli con el que normalmente firma y empezó a escribir

These two sentences are the same. They express the same thing in Spanish. But for a native speaker, one will probably sound better than the other one (or maybe both will same natural). However, the final conclusion is that both are perfectly correct. In both of them we find a relative clause introduced by a relative group/phrase. This relative group is made up of a preposition ("con" in this case) followed by "que" in A and by a "definite article + que" in B.

Let´s now see these other sentences:

C) Rodrigo trajo consigo una libreta a que apodaba cariñosamente "hija" (INCORRECT)
D) Rodrigo trajo consigo una libreta a la que apodaba cariñosamente "hija" (CORRECT)

On this occasion we have also two sentences with the same characteristics as A and B (a relative clause introduced by a relative group). But this time the first one is not correct and does not sound natural to a native speaker. But, why? Why is "A" correct but on the other hand "C" is not if they have the same pattern (Preposition + que) when it comes to the relative clause?

This is something that creates chaos and confusion among students of Spanish as a foreign language. Generally speaking, the European variety tends to use the article always in these structures but the American variety tends to use it only when it is mandatory/needed. And that is why we can hear examples as "C" coming from students.

The aspects that make mandatory the presence of the definite article in these Spanish structures are mainly four:

1. The preposition

2. The type of relative clause

3. The antecedent of the relative pronoun/group/demonstrative

4. The syntactical structure of the relative clause 

I will explain these aspects in the next posts, making two posts explaining two of the aspects in each.

The Relative Clauses. Types and Troubles

After finishing for now the topic related to articles, I would like to draw attention to another topic: Relative Clauses (also known in Spanish as "Adjective Clauses"). In the Spanish language, the relative clauses are the ones whose head is a relative word (adverb, pronoun or determiner) or a relative phrase. The most usual relative pronoun in Spanish is "que".

- La magia que utilizó me dejó perplejo

The relative pronoun has usually an antecedent which can be expressed or implied.

- La persona que me diga algo sobre Juan la abofoteo (on this example, the relative pronoun "que" has an expressed antecedent because we can see it in the sentence: "persona").

- Quien me diga algo sobre Juan la abofeteo (on this other example, although we cannot see an antecedent for the relative pronoun "Quien", we understand it refers to a person and that is why it is called implied).

Also, the relative sentences are divided into two types: restrictive and explanatory. The restrictive ones specify something about the antecedent and act as a modifier of this one syntactically speaking. On the other hand, the explanatory ones add some extra information about the antecedent, act as an adjunct syntactically speaking and they are written between commas. For example:

- Los libros que me costaron un montón son muy interesantes
- Los libros, que me costaron un montón, son muy interesantes

The first sentence is a restrictive relative clause and points out that ONLY the books that were overpriced are very interesting (I have other books, but only the overpriced ones are interesting). But on the second example, we have an explanatory relative clause and states that ALL the books are interesting (we may be talking about the books I have or some collection) and ALSO overpriced (extra information).

Knowing the difference between these two types of relative clauses in Spanish is key to understand a very common mistake many students of Spanish as a foreign language make.

As we said before, the most usual relative pronoun in Spanish is "que" but we may also use "quien" in certain contexts. As well as in the English language, "quien" is used when the antecedent refers to a person but, on the contrary of English, in Spanish there is a strict rule about this: It cannot be used in restrictive relative clauses. For example:

- El amigo de Juan quien dejó la escuela a los 8 años es carpintero ahora (INCORRECT)

On this example, we are using a restrictive relative clause because we are referring to a specific friend of Juan. And even though the antecedent of "quien" would be a person (amigo), it is not correct to use it in the Spanish language. Therefore, we must use "que" instead:

- El amigo de Juan que dejó la escuela a los 8 años es carpintero ahora (CORRECT)

The relative pronoun "quien" can only be used in the explanatory relative clauses and in the relative clauses with incorporated antecedent.

- Los estudiantes, quienes llegaron tarde, no pudieron entrar a clase (explanatory) // Quienes lleguen tarde mañana recibirán una amonestación severa (relative clause with implied antecedent).

However it is still possible to find "quien" in a restrictive relative clause but under a special condition: it must be accompanied by a preposition. For example:

- Los chicos de quienes te hablé son bastante majos. (restrictive relative clause)

In conclusion, the students of Spanish as a foreign language must be careful when they choose "quien" as relative pronoun. They must pay attention to the type of relative clause they are going to express and use "quien" in the explanatory relative clauses or in the relative clauses with implied antecedent. If they wish to use it in the restrictive ones, they have to make sure the verb inside the relative clauses goes along with a preposition that can be put beside the relative pronoun "quien".

The Definite Article: The Endophoric Use

The endophoric use will be the last one we are going to discuss about. Although I am not finished with the anaphoric use of the definite article, we are going to make a pause about articles after this post.

The endophoric use is usually the easiest one to explain and, probably, to understand as well. This use, allows the definite article without any previous mention or anchor´s point. The reason behind this is because there is an internal modifier or complement in the Noun Phrase that defines the noun, allowing the use of the definite article. For example:

- A Laura le dieron la noticia.

If the presented information is like this, the only explanation for the use of the definite article would be because there is an anchor´s point previously in the speech/text. However:

- A Laura le dieron la noticia de que su coche había sido robado.

In this last example we can observe that there is a subordinate clause that defines the information, therefore, allowing the use of the definite article.

That is all we are going to see regarding definite articles for now. Further on, we will see more details that the anaphoric use of the definite article has.

The Definite Article: The Deictic Use

Up until now, we've discussed about the anaphoric use of the definite article as well as its presence in idioms and stereotyped actions. We still have two more uses to discuss about and in this post we are going to cover one of them: the deictic use.

As a general explanation, we may say that the deictic use of the definite article is that that is interpreted according to the situation where the statement is said. That is, it is more related to the surroundings that covers the statement. That is the reason why it is also called the "pointer" (because it points out the object that is being defined). It is easy to see in the example "Cierra la puerta, por favor" where I am asking the listener to close the nearest door to him/her and not one that is far away. It is the same when I say "El presidente de Francia viajó a China" where the article works as a deictic one as we talk about the current president of France.

There are two types of deictics: Spatial and Time. The spatial one is very usual on panels and warnings that we can see everywhere. For example, in "Suene el timbre", "Cruza por el paso de cebra" or "Se ha roto el vaso" we are mentioning objects that are in the surroundings of the speaker and/or listener. The time one is easy to find in calendar words as in "Regresaré el viernes" where using the definite article implies that we are talking about the closest future Friday from now. We should also remember that the weekdays have definite articles by their side in Spanish almost always. If we change the verb to the past tense in the previous example, "Regresé el viernes" the using of the definite article implies that I came back the closest past Friday from now.

However, it is important to say that if the verb of the sentence is in a secondary time tense (like Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto), the interpretation of the statement may be understood according to the moment of the enunciation (Anclaje deíctico) or  to the moment that indicates the verb itself (Anclaje Anafórico). That would be the case of "El otro día me avisaron de que Raúl había hecho el examen el martes" where we may understand Tuesday as the one immediately before from the moment the sentence is said or to another Tuesday way more back in time that is expressed by the Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto.

It is also to underline that there are three situations where in Spanish the days of the week have no article:

A) In the opening of letters, newspaper covers or other media: Lunes, 12 de Julio de 2019.

B) In appositional-adverbial phrases (ayer, anteayer, mañana, hoy...): Mañana, lunes 8 de Junio, quiero que vengas conmigo a la reunión.

C) In Attributive Phrases: Por fin es sábado.    

The Article: Idioms and Stereotyped Actions

Previously we discussed about the anaphoric uses of the definite article. On this entry, we will see both articles (definite and indefinite) from a very problematic perspective for the students: idioms and stereotyped actions. On this occasion, the answer to "why do we need a definite (or indefinite) artice?" has no grammatical base but a social one.

Although the name is different, the book Nueva Gramática de la lengua española from La Real Academia Española defines idiom exactly as Wikipedia does. That is, a group of words established as usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words. For example, in Spanish we have "echar una mano" which does not mean to take out oneself´s hand and toss it away but actually to help someone. As we can see, there is an indefinite article in this idiom and that indefinite article is fixed, which means it cannot be removed or replaced by a definite one. "Echar la mano" is considered incorrect. Another example is "mirar las musarañas" where the definite article is also fixed and cannot be replaced or removed. Nevertheless there are some exceptions to this rule. There are a very few idioms which the article they posses is interchangeable. That would be the case of "levantarle la/una mano a alguien" where we can choose between any article. Although this case is not common and, as it was said, most of the idioms cannot change the article they posses.

More idioms with fixed articles are:

Dar a alguien la mano
Aflojar el ritmo
Ver las estrellas
Hacerse el sueco
(...)

There is another verbal group with fixed definite article which are not considered idioms. That is the stereotyped actions often done: "tomar el autobús, pasear por la playa, ir al médico, leer el periódico, hacer la cama, salir a la calle...". These sentences required of the definite article to make sense because although they could change it for the indefinite one, that would result in a slightly change of the meaning. Take for example the sentence "salir a la calle". When we say this sentence with the definite article, we mean that we are going outside, out from home. If we change the definite article for a indefinite one "salir a una calle", the sentence would not be referring to go outside from home but to go to some specific street not mentioned (maybe Broadway Street in New York, or maybe Pase de Recoletos in Madrid). Therefore, these sentences have their article fixed. Also, if we pay attention we would realize that most of these sentences refer to some public places we share with everyone (la calle, la playa, el autobús...) hence their "social" status.

However, it is crucial that we say that in the case of the stereotyped actions, the verb fulfills a fundamental role for the presence of the definite article. For example: "Leer el periódico es algo bueno"  the definite article is possible because of the stereotyped action status but if we change the verb "leer" for "resumir" like in "Resumir el periódico es algo bueno", we have that the definite article presented here is not because of a stereotyped actions but because of an anaphoric use (saw in previous entries) and so, that "el periódico" should have been mentioned before in the speech in order to make sense the definite article in the sentence with the verb "resumir". If it has not been mentioned previously, the correct form would be the use of the indefinite article.