Spanish, Relative Pronouns , Disjunctive Pronouns, Past Perfect, Suffixes

Relative Pronouns

A relative pronoun connects a dependent clause to a main clause and refers to something already mentioned (the antecedent.) This pronoun may serve as the subject or object of a verb, or the object of a preposition. Que and quien are the most commonly used relative pronouns.

Que (who, whom, that, which) refers to persons or things, except after a preposition, when it refers to things only. El que (and its forms - la que, los que, las que) and el cual (and its forms - la cual, los cuales, las cuales) may replace que or quien. These pronouns are used for clearness when there are two antecedents, and with prepositions.

La casa en que vivo es pequeña. The house in which I live is small.
He visitado la ciudad cerca de la cual vive. I visited the city near which he lives.

Quien (-es) (who) is used in a supplementary clause. When used with a preposition, it means whom. Quien (-es) is often used in place of el que and its forms as well, when it means one who, those who, etc.

Lo que and lo cual (which) refer to the whole sentence.

Cuyo (-a, -os, -as) is a possessive adjective and it agrees in gender and number with the thing possessed, which is always the word that follows it.

Disjunctive Pronouns

Disjunctive pronouns are used independently of the verb. They are the pronouns which follow prepositions, or show emphasis.

mí
ti
él
ella
Usted

nosostros (-as)
vosotros (-as)
ellos
ellas
Ustedes

Ello is also used as a neuter pronoun meaning it. Sí can mean yourself, himself, herself, yourselves or themselves. When con combines with mí, ti or sí, the words become conmigo, contigo and consigo. For clearness, the forms of mismo (-a, -os, -as) can be added to these pronouns.

Past Perfect

The past perfect tense corresponds to the English "had + past participle." It indicates an event that happened prior to another event in the past. It consists of the imperfect of haber and a past participle. Sometimes the preterite of haber is used, but the imperfect is more common.

Carlos había vivido en México. Carlos had lived in Mexico.
Habíamos aprendido el español. We had learned Spanish.

Suffixes

Suffixes may be attached to nouns, adjectives or adverbs. Unaccented vowels should be dropped before adding the suffixes. The most common suffixes are -ito (a) and -cito (a). They express size, affection, admiration, appreciation or pity. The ending -ero (a) indicates the maker or dealer in charge of something. To indicate where something is made or sold, add -ería. When -eza and -ura are added to adjectives, they express abstract nouns. When -dor is added to a verb (minus the final letter), it indicates the performer of the action.