Question 1

Why use el cual here instead of just que?

Accepted Answer

In Spanish, que is the most common relative pronoun, but in non-defining relative clauses—the ones set off by commas that add extra, non-essential information—you can use el cual to sound more formal. Using que here (El tatami, que estaba preparado...) is also perfectly correct and much more common in everyday spoken Spanish.

Question 2

How do I know whether to use el cual, la cual, los cuales, or las cuales?

Accepted Answer

It must match the gender and number of the noun it refers back to (the antecedent). Here, it refers to el tatami, which is a masculine singular noun, so we use el cual. If the sentence were about la sala (the room), it would be la cual.

Question 3

Why are there two different "to be" verbs in this sentence (estaba and es)?

Accepted Answer

You use estar (estaba) with preparado because it describes a state resulting from an action—someone prepared the mat, so it is in a temporary "prepared" condition. On the other hand, you use ser (es) with esencial because being essential is an inherent characteristic of the mat in this context, rather than a temporary state.

Question 4

Why is it para la práctica instead of por la práctica?

Accepted Answer

We use para here because it expresses purpose. The mat is essential for the purpose of doing the practice. If you used por, it would mean "because of" or "on behalf of," which changes the meaning completely.

El tatami, el cual estaba preparado, es esencial para la práctica.

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