la qual cosa (relatiu oracional)
Sentential Relative La Qual Cosa
La qual cosa and cosa que refer back to a whole preceding statement.
How It Works
An ordinary relative modifies a noun: la decisió que va prendre. A sentential relative instead comments on the preceding situation as a whole: va dimitir, la qual cosa ens va sorprendre. The antecedent is the resignation event, not just the nearest noun.
Use the fixed feminine singular expression la qual cosa, or the shorter cosa que. Its feminine form comes from cosa rather than from the gender of a participant in the preceding sentence.
A comma separates this explanatory continuation. Do not write a bare gendered relative merely by copying English which when the intended antecedent is an entire statement. For long sentences, a new sentence beginning with això may make the relation easier to follow.
Examples (3)
- Va dimitir, la qual cosa ens va sorprendre.
She resigned, which surprised us.
- No va ploure, cosa que va facilitar el viatge.
It did not rain, which made the journey easier.
- Han reduït el termini, la qual cosa complica la feina.
They have shortened the deadline, which complicates the work.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Identify the subject or object function of relative que before extending relative structure.
Related Patterns
- que (relatiu àton)Unstressed Relative Que
Compare a relative modifying a noun.
Level 4 - el que / allò queNeuter Relatives El Que and Allò Que
Distinguish free relatives without an antecedent.
Level 4 - la qual cosa (referència a tota l'oració)Sentential Relatives Referring to a Whole Clause
Use whole-clause reference in a longer text.
Level 6
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Words in This Pattern
Practice la qual cosa (relatiu oracional) in Bubblegum
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