Breakdown of Mi cuñada y mi sobrina son las que prepararán la fiesta.
ser
to be
y
and
las
the (feminine plural)
mi
my
la fiesta
the party
que
that / than
preparar
to prepare
la
the (feminine)
la cuñada
sister-in-law
la sobrina
niece
Questions & Answers about Mi cuñada y mi sobrina son las que prepararán la fiesta.
Why do we use las que to mean "the ones who"?
In Spanish, you can combine a definite article (el, la, los, las) with que to avoid repeating a noun. This combination translates to "the one(s) who" or "the one(s) that". Here, las que refers back to the women mentioned earlier, acting as a shortcut so you don't have to say "the women who".
Why is it las que instead of los que?
The article must match the gender and number of the people or things it replaces. Since it refers to mi cuñada (my sister-in-law) and mi sobrina (my niece)—two females—we use the feminine plural las. If even one of the people mentioned were male (for example, a nephew), the masculine plural los que would be used instead to group them.
Could I use quienes instead of las que in this sentence?
What tense is prepararán and how is it formed here?
It is the simple future tense of preparar (to prepare) conjugated for "they" (ellas). Remember that for regular verbs in the future tense, you don't drop the -ar, -er, or -ir ending. Instead, you add the ending directly to the full infinitive, which is why you see the whole word preparar followed by the ending -án.
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