cuxo / cuxa

Possessive Relative Cuxo

Level 5

Cuxo means whose. It agrees with the thing that is owned: o escritor cuxa obra estudamos (the writer whose work we are studying).

How It Works

The forms

  • cuxo + masculine singular: cuxo pai
  • cuxa + feminine singular: cuxa obra
  • cuxos + masculine plural: cuxos fillos
  • cuxas + feminine plural: cuxas praias

Agreement with the thing owned

Like seu and súa, cuxo agrees with what is possessed. In a rapaza cuxo pai traballa no porto, the owner is feminine (a rapaza), but pai is masculine, so the form is cuxo.

No article after it

Cuxo replaces the article: say cuxo pai, never cuxo o pai.

Prepositions and commas

A preposition goes before cuxo: un autor de cuxa vida sabemos moi pouco. Cuxo works in both defining and non-defining clauses: Os veciños, cuxas casas quedaron sen luz, protestaron onte.

Register

Cuxo belongs to formal writing, such as news, essays and official texts. In conversation, people usually split the idea: Esa é a rapaza. O seu pai traballa no porto. What you should not do is combine que with a possessive (o escritor que a súa obra...); that is a common error in informal speech. See formal and colloquial register.

Examples (5)

  1. O escritor cuxa obra estudamos naceu en Ourense.

    The writer whose work we are studying was born in Ourense.

    Cuxa agrees with obra (feminine singular), not with o escritor.

  2. Esa é a rapaza cuxo pai traballa no porto.

    That is the girl whose father works at the harbour.

    Cuxo is masculine because pai is masculine, even though the owner is a girl.

  3. Visitamos unha vila cuxas praias son famosas.

    We visited a town whose beaches are famous.

    Cuxas agrees with praias (feminine plural).

  4. Os veciños, cuxas casas quedaron sen luz, protestaron onte.

    The neighbours, whose houses were left without power, protested yesterday.

    A non-defining clause with cuxo, set off by commas.

  5. É un autor de cuxa vida sabemos moi pouco.

    He is an author about whose life we know very little.

    The preposition de goes before cuxa.

Common Mistakes

  • Using que with a possessive instead of cuxo.

    Coñezo o escritor que a súa obra estudamos.
    Coñezo o escritor cuxa obra estudamos.

    In standard Galician, whose is cuxo, cuxa, cuxos or cuxas. Que + a súa is a colloquial error.

  • Adding an article after cuxo.

    Esa é a rapaza cuxo o pai traballa no porto.
    Esa é a rapaza cuxo pai traballa no porto.

    Cuxo already does the job of the article, so no o or a follows it.

  • Making cuxo agree with the owner.

    Esa é a rapaza cuxa pai traballa no porto.
    Esa é a rapaza cuxo pai traballa no porto.

    Cuxo agrees with the thing owned (pai, masculine), not with the owner (a rapaza).

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

cuxo / cuxaLevel 5Possessive Relative Cuxo

Learn This First

Cuxo connects an owner to a possessed noun and agrees with the possessed noun.

Words in This Pattern

cuxo