Breakdown of Quienquiera que gane la elección, queremos promover la economía.
querer
to want
ganar
to win / to earn
que
that / than
la
the (feminine)
la economía
the economy
promover
to promote (a person, a product, a cause)
quienquiera
whoever
la elección
the election
Questions & Answers about Quienquiera que gane la elección, queremos promover la economía.
Why does quienquiera que trigger the subjunctive in gane?
Expressions like quienquiera que (whoever) or dondequiera que (wherever) trigger the subjunctive when they refer to an unknown or hypothetical subject. Since the election hasn't happened yet, we don't know who the winner is, so we must use the subjunctive gane.
Is quienquiera always singular?
Not always! If you were talking about a plural subject, you would use quienesquiera. For example, if you expected a group of people or a whole team to win, you might say quienesquiera que ganen. Here, we assume a single winner, so we use the singular quienquiera que gane.
Could I just say quien gane instead of quienquiera que gane?
Yes, you can! Saying quien gane (whoever wins / the one who wins) also requires the subjunctive and is very common. However, using quienquiera que makes the statement more emphatic, similar to saying "no matter who wins" or "whosoever wins."
Why doesn't quienquiera que need the personal "a" here?
The personal "a" is used when a person is the direct object of a verb. In this clause, quienquiera que is the subject of the verb gane (they are the one doing the winning), so no personal "a" is needed.
Learn Quienquiera que gane la elección, queremos promover la economía 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