Breakdown of Entramos al banco, debajo del cual hay una bóveda antigua.
una
a, an (feminine)
el banco
the bank
haber
to be (there is / there are)
a
to
entrar
to enter
debajo de
under
antiguo
ancient
la bóveda
the vault
cual
which / who (relative pronoun)
Questions & Answers about Entramos al banco, debajo del cual hay una bóveda antigua.
Why do we use del cual here instead of just que?
After compound prepositions (prepositions made of more than one word) like debajo de, you can't use the simple relative pronoun que on its own. You need a complex relative pronoun that agrees in gender and number with the noun it refers to. Since banco is masculine singular, we use el cual. The de in debajo de merges with el to form the contraction del, giving us debajo del cual.
Could I use el que instead and say debajo del que?
Yes, absolutely. debajo del que is completely correct and means the exact same thing. In everyday spoken Latin American Spanish, el que (and its forms) is often preferred, while el cual can sound slightly more formal or written. Both are perfectly fine to use here.
Why do we say al banco? Doesn't entrar mean "to enter" directly?
Unlike in English, where you just "enter a place," the Spanish verb entrar requires a preposition to connect it to the destination. In Latin America, entrar is almost always followed by a (literally "to enter to"). Because a + el forms a mandatory contraction, we get al banco.
Does the position of antigua change its meaning in this sentence?
Yes! Adjective placement matters here. When antiguo or antigua comes after the noun (like una bóveda antigua), it means "old" in a physical or historical sense (an old vault). If it came before the noun (una antigua bóveda), it would mean "former" (a former vault, implying it might be used as something else now).
Learn Entramos al banco, debajo del cual hay una bóveda antigua and more in Spanish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free