Breakdown of El participante a quien descalificaron no usó el comodín, sino el celular.
no
no, not
usar
to use / to wear
quien
whom / who (relative singular)
el celular
the cell phone
sino
but (rather)
descalificar
to disqualify
el participante
participant
el comodín
wildcard / lifeline
a
personal 'a' (marks a human direct object)
Questions & Answers about El participante a quien descalificaron no usó el comodín, sino el celular.
Why is sino used here instead of pero for the word 'but'?
Sino is used for corrective contrast. When you have a negative statement (no usó el comodín) and you want to completely replace it with the true statement ('but rather, he used the cell phone'), you use sino. If you used pero, it would mean 'but', but only to add contrasting information, not to correct a negative premise.
Why is there an a before quien in this sentence?
This is the 'personal a'. The participant is a specific person who is the direct object of the verb descalificaron (they disqualified him). Because quien refers to that specific person receiving the action, the personal a must go right before it.
The verb descalificaron is plural, but the participant is singular. Who is the subject here?
Does comodín always mean 'wildcard'?
Yes, it generally means a wildcard, a joker in a deck of cards, or a 'lifeline' in a game show. It comes from the word cómodo (comfortable or convenient) because it is a handy tool that gives the player an advantage.
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