Learn Spanish (Spain): Fueron esos mentirosos los que se burlaron del niño. - It was those liars who made fun of the boy.

Fueron esos mentirosos los que se burlaron del niño.

It was those liars who made fun of the boy.

Breakdown of Fueron esos mentirosos los que se burlaron del niño.

that (m.sg., also esa, esos, esas, eso)

el que

which (after preposition) / the one who (in emphatic sentences)

Questions & Answers about Fueron esos mentirosos los que se burlaron del niño.

Why does the sentence start with the plural Fueron instead of the singular Fue like the English "It was"?

In Spanish cleft sentences, the verb ser must agree with the thing or people being emphasized. Because esos mentirosos (those liars) is plural, you must use the plural Fueron. English always uses the singular "It was", but Spanish adjusts the verb to match the focus element.

Could we use quienes instead of los que in this sentence?

Yes! When referring to people in a cleft sentence, you can use either el que / la que / los que / las que or quien / quienes. Saying Fueron esos mentirosos quienes... would be perfectly correct and sounds a bit more formal.

Why is there a se in se burlaron?

The verb for "to make fun of" or "to mock" is the pronominal verb burlarse. The pronoun is a required part of the verb's dictionary form. Since esos mentirosos is a third-person plural subject, it takes the matching pronoun se.

Why does it say del niño instead of just al niño?

The verb burlarse is always followed by the preposition de to indicate who or what is being mocked, much like "to make fun of" in English. When de is followed by the masculine article el for el niño, they must combine into the contraction del.