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La caja de la que cojo las grapas está vacía.

La caja de la que cojo las grapas está vacía.
The box from which I take the staples is empty.
From Lesson 261:Relative pronouns for things (el que, la que)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about La caja de la que cojo las grapas está vacía.

Why do we say de la que instead of just de que?
In Spanish, when a preposition like de is followed by a relative pronoun referring to a thing, we must include the definite article. Since we are referring back to la caja, we use la que to match its feminine singular form, creating de la que (from which).
Could I say en la que instead of de la que here?
It would change the meaning. The phrase de la que means "from which", because you are taking the staples out of the box (coger de). If you used en la que, it would mean "in which", implying the action of grabbing staples is happening while inside the box!
I have heard that the verb coger (cojo) is a bad word. Is it safe to use here?
Yes, absolutely! In Spain, coger is a completely standard, everyday verb meaning "to take", "to grab", or "to catch". While it is a vulgar slang word in several Latin American countries, it is perfectly polite and very commonly used in Spain.
Why do we use está instead of es for "is empty"?
We use the verb estar (está) because being empty (vacía) is a physical state or condition of the box, not an inherent characteristic or permanent identity. The state of the box can easily change if someone fills it with staples again.

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