Breakdown of Vi a los delegados, sin los cuales no hay pacto.
no
no, not
ver
to see / to look / appear
haber
to be (there is / there are)
sin
without
el pacto
the pact
el delegado
the delegate
los cuales
which / who (masculine plural)
a
personal 'a' (marks a human direct object)
Questions & Answers about Vi a los delegados, sin los cuales no hay pacto.
Could I use quienes instead of los cuales in this sentence?
Yes, you absolutely could! After a preposition like sin (without), you can use quienes to refer to people. However, los cuales is a more formal option that means the exact same thing here ("without whom").
Why do we use the masculine plural form los cuales here?
The relative pronoun always has to match the gender and number of the noun it refers back to. Since it refers back to los delegados (the delegates), which is masculine and plural, we use los cuales.
Is it possible to just say sin cuales and drop the los?
No, you can't drop the article here. When using this type of formal relative pronoun, it must always include the definite article (el, la, los, or las). You will never see cual or cuales used this way without the article right in front of it.
Why is there an a in Vi a los delegados?
This is a quick reminder of the "personal a." In Spanish, whenever a specific person or group of people is the direct object of a verb (meaning they receive the action), you must put an a in front of them. Because you saw the delegates, they receive the action of the verb ver (to see).
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