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El dominio, el cual toma años, es la meta.

El dominio, el cual toma años, es la meta.
The mastery, which takes years, is the goal.
From Lesson 424:Formal relative pronouns (el cual / la cual)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about El dominio, el cual toma años, es la meta.

Why use el cual instead of just que?
Both are grammatically correct and mean "which." In everyday speech, you will hear que much more often. However, el cual is used in formal writing or speech to sound more elevated and precise. Notice that it consists of two words and must match the gender and number of the noun it refers to (masculine singular el dominio becomes el cual).
Why are there commas around el cual toma años?
The commas show that this is a non-defining clause—it adds extra, bonus information about el dominio, but the main sentence still makes sense without it (El dominio es la meta). When used as the subject of a clause like this, el cual can only be used in non-defining clauses set off by commas. If the clause were essential to the meaning (no commas), you would have to use que.
Is it common to use tomar for "taking time" in Spanish?
Yes! While you probably first learned tomar as "to take" (a bus) or "to drink," it is perfectly natural in Latin America to use it for taking time, just like in English. You might also hear the verbs llevar (lleva años) or tardar (tarda años) used to express the exact same idea.
Why doesn't el cual match the gender of la meta?
A relative pronoun like el cual must agree with its antecedent—the noun that comes right before it, which it is replacing. Here, the "which" refers to el dominio (masculine), not la meta (feminine).

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