Log inSign up

El instructor enseña el saludo, el cual muestra la sabiduría del dojo.

El instructor enseña el saludo, el cual muestra la sabiduría del dojo.
The instructor teaches the bow, which shows the wisdom of the dojo.
From Lesson 424:Formal relative pronouns (el cual / la cual)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about El instructor enseña el saludo, el cual muestra la sabiduría del dojo.

Why use el cual instead of que for "which"?
In everyday spoken Spanish, you could absolutely use que. However, el cual is used in formal or written Spanish for non-defining relative clauses—the ones set off by commas that add extra background information but aren't essential to identifying the noun.
Why is it el cual instead of lo cual? Don't both mean "which"?
Lo cual is a neuter pronoun used when "which" refers to an entire previous situation, action, or idea. Here, "which" refers specifically to a single noun: el saludo (the bow). Because saludo is a masculine singular noun, you must use el cual to match its gender and number.
Is the comma before el cual strictly necessary?
Yes. When used as a subject relative pronoun, el cual almost always requires a comma before it. This punctuation marks it as a non-defining clause. If you were giving essential information without commas (a defining clause), you would be required to use que.
I learned that saludo means "greeting". Why is it translated as "bow"?
El saludo broadly means a greeting or salutation. Because the context here is martial arts (indicated by the word dojo), the standard physical greeting is a bow. Therefore, "the bow" is the most natural English translation for this specific scenario.
How do we know the gender of a foreign word like dojo?
When a foreign loanword is adopted into Spanish, it is usually assigned the masculine gender by default, unless it specifically refers to a female person or ends in an obviously feminine suffix like -a. That is why it becomes el dojo, combining with de to form del dojo.

Learn El instructor enseña el saludo, el cual muestra la sabiduría del dojo 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
Start learning Spanish →