Breakdown of La respiración, la cual debe ser tranquila, ayuda a concentrarse.
ser
to be
a
to
ayudar
to help
tranquilo
quiet / calm
deber
must / should
concentrarse
to concentrate
la cual
which / who (feminine singular)
la respiración
the breathing
Questions & Answers about La respiración, la cual debe ser tranquila, ayuda a concentrarse.
Why use la cual instead of just que for "which"?
While you could perfectly use que here, la cual is a more formal relative pronoun. It is often used in non-defining relative clauses (the extra information placed between commas) in written or elevated Spanish. We use la because it refers back to the feminine singular noun la respiración.
Could we use lo cual in this sentence instead of la cual?
Why is there an a between ayuda and concentrarse?
In Spanish, the verb ayudar (to help) requires the preposition a when it connects to a following infinitive verb. You will always see the pattern ayudar a + [infinitive].
Why is the reflexive pronoun se attached to the end of concentrarse here?
The verb concentrarse means "to concentrate oneself" or "to focus." In this sentence, it is being used in a general, impersonal way (helping "one" to focus). When speaking generally like this, the third-person reflexive pronoun se remains attached to the infinitive.
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