Breakdown of Las instituciones, sin las cuales no podemos trabajar, cerraron hoy.
no
no, not
trabajar
to work
hoy
today
poder
to be able to / can
sin
without
cerrar
to close
la institución
the institution
las cuales
which / who (feminine plural)
Questions & Answers about Las instituciones, sin las cuales no podemos trabajar, cerraron hoy.
Why do we use las cuales here instead of just que?
When a relative pronoun follows a preposition like sin (without), you cannot use que all by itself to mean 'which'. You must use an article plus que or a form of el cual. Because instituciones is feminine and plural, we use las cuales.
Could I use las que instead of las cuales in this sentence?
In English we often say 'which we cannot work without'. Can I put sin at the end of the phrase in Spanish?
No, Spanish never leaves a preposition dangling at the end of a clause. The preposition must always come immediately before the relative pronoun. You have to use the structure that matches the formal English 'without which' (sin las cuales).
Why does this sentence use the simple past cerraron with hoy (today)?
In Latin American Spanish, the simple past (preterite) is widely used for actions that are completely finished, even if they happened today. So, cerraron hoy is perfectly natural. In Spain, you would more typically hear the present perfect used for events that happened today (han cerrado hoy).
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