La dedicación horaria depende del relevo.

Because del is the normal contraction of de + el.

• de + el = del
• So depende del relevo literally has de built into it because depender is followed by de.

You only keep de el separate in special cases, mainly when el is part of a proper name, for example:

• de El Escorial

But with an ordinary noun like relevo, you use del.

In Spanish, depender normally works as depender de.

So the pattern is:

• depender de algo
• depender de alguien

Examples:

• Todo depende del tiempo.
• Depende de ti.
• El resultado depende de varios factores.

For an English speaker, this is worth learning as a fixed combination: depender de.

Because in this sentence the phrase is being used as a full noun phrase, the subject of the verb:

• La dedicación horaria = the time commitment / the number of hours involved

Spanish often uses the definite article more readily than English does.

Here, la makes the phrase sound complete and natural as the subject of the sentence. Without the article, dedicación horaria might sound more like a heading, a label, or a very compressed bureaucratic style.

So:

• La dedicación horaria depende del relevo. → normal sentence
• Dedicación horaria → possible as a title or form heading

Because it agrees with dedicación, which is a feminine noun.

• la dedicación
• therefore horaria must also be feminine singular

Agreement in Spanish means adjectives match the noun in gender and number:

• dedicación horaria
• horarios flexibles
• jornada completa

Even though horaria may feel abstract in English, grammatically it is just an adjective describing dedicación.

Horaria relates to hours or schedule/time allocation.

In this sentence, it does not simply mean hourly in the English sense of paid by the hour. Instead, it refers to the amount or distribution of time involved.

So dedicación horaria is something like:

• time commitment
• required hours
• hours assigned
• time allocation

The exact English wording can vary depending on context, but horaria is pointing to the hours/schedule aspect of the dedication.

Because in Spanish, most descriptive adjectives normally come after the noun.

So:

• dedicación horaria
• jornada laboral
• horario flexible

This is the standard order. English often puts adjectives before the noun, but Spanish usually puts them after.

Putting horaria before the noun would sound unusual here and would not be the normal phrasing.

Because the subject is singular:

• La dedicación horaria = one singular idea

So the verb must also be singular:

• La dedicación horaria depende...

Compare:

• La dedicación horaria depende del relevo.
• Las dedicaciones horarias dependen del relevo.

The ending -e in depende is the third-person singular form of depender.

Because Spanish usually omits subject pronouns when the subject is already clear.

Here, the subject is explicitly stated:

• La dedicación horaria

So adding a pronoun would be unnecessary.

Spanish is a pro-drop language, which means subject pronouns are often left out unless needed for contrast, emphasis, or clarity.

Relevo can have several related meanings depending on context, such as:

• replacement
• relief
• handover
• shift change
• the person who takes over

In Spain, it is often used in work contexts for the idea of one worker replacing another or one shift handing over to the next.

So in this sentence, relevo probably refers to the type of replacement/shift/handover involved, and that is what affects the dedicación horaria.

It is not always exactly the same as turno:

• turno = shift, turn
• relevo = relief, replacement, handover, changeover

Sometimes they overlap, but they are not identical.

Not automatically. They are related, but they are not perfect synonyms.

• turno focuses on the scheduled shift or turn
• relevo focuses on the replacement/changeover/taking over

So whether you can replace one with the other depends on the context.

For example:

• turno de noche = night shift
• hacer el relevo = to take over / to relieve someone

If the original sentence uses relevo, there is probably a reason the context is about handover or substitution, not just the shift itself.

It sounds fairly formal or administrative, especially because of the phrase dedicación horaria.

This kind of wording is common in:

• workplace documents
• HR language
• official notices
• schedules or staffing information

In everyday conversation, people might choose a simpler wording depending on what they mean. But as a formal sentence, it is perfectly natural.

The stress is on the last syllable:

• de-di-ca-CIÓN

It has a written accent because words ending in -n, -s, or a vowel are normally stressed on the second-to-last syllable, unless an accent mark shows otherwise.

Without the accent, Spanish readers would stress it incorrectly.

The same idea applies to many nouns ending in -ción:

• información
• organización
• dedicación

Yes. Very often, depende by itself means it depends.

For example:

• ¿Vienes mañana?
• Depende.

In your sentence, though, it is not an impersonal it depends. It has a clear subject:

• La dedicación horaria depende del relevo.

So here it means that the time commitment depends on the handover/shift/replacement.