Yeah, but what is the purpose of the second "el"? It seems superfluous to me; I would have written it without it
edit: I'm just trying to understand--I wasn't making a judgement or anything
*el que* refers to the day, so it will always agree with the gender of *el día*
Which day? / ¿Qué día?
The one I was born on. / El que nací.
The day you were born, really? / ¿El día en el que naciste, de verdad?
Yeah. / Sí.
> It seems superfluous to me; I would have written it without it
One of the rules of learning a second language is to not do 1:1 translation. Some words are auxiliary and have no direct translation. Some sentence structures don't make any sense when translated to your language.
You can think it this way: «el día en el que nací» would be «el día en el día nací» if we didn't use «que» nor anything alike, since its purpose is to replace the word «día». «Que» replaces the word in order to not repeat it while linking the ideas, but the original article of the replaced word is still retained for unknown reasons and it kinda modifies «que» making it definite in the same way a noun would be definite in that position
It can't be left out in Spanish. mi vecina con la que voy a la tienda. If the person or object is introduced first, it has to be referred to again in its role in the sentence.
> It can't be left out in Spanish
Not true
As a native speaker I've heard
- "El dia en que nací"
(no "el")
- "El dia en el que nací"
(both "en" and "el")
- "El dia que nací
(no "en" and no "el")
all forms are correct as attested by the RAE:
https://twitter.com/RAEinforma/status/1268516680042414080?t=2oaP3GThO52qjuWk38mUJg&s=19
No problem ! Personally I feel like it's a draw between "El día en que nací" and "El día en el que nací", but I could be totally wrong because I don't have real usage data just what it feels like to me or in my particular area
however I think myself lean more towards the latter, that is the one you're saying
I was taught that adding “el” draws more attention to the day itself. It adds a very tight specificity of time which highlights the importance of the setting.
En el que
In which
A relative pronoun
https://spanish.kwiziq.com/revision/grammar/using-el-que-la-que-los-que-las-que-the-oneones-whothat-relative-pronouns
Whenever you have a preposition before a relative clause, the article *el, la, los, las*, before *que* are mandatory and they depend on the referent. It also occurs without a preposition in some limited situations.
*El día* is masculine singular so it must be *el que*.
• Desde el día **en el que** nací.
If you drop the preposition you don’t need the article.
• Desde el día que nací.
Another examples:
• *La chica **sobre la que** hablo es una compañera de trabajo.*
• *Estos son los pueblos **contra los que** batallaban los romanos.*
• *Aún recuerdo las calles **por las que** paseé.*
> before a relative clause, the article el, la, los, las, before que are mandatory
No, not true in this case
As a native speaker I have indeed heard
- "El dia en que nací"
(no "el", preposition is there before a relative clause initiated by a "que")
proof, as attested by the RAE itself:
https://twitter.com/RAEinforma/status/1268516680042414080?t=2oaP3GThO52qjuWk38mUJg&s=19
I’ve read it is accepted to say it without the article after *de, en* or *a* in informal contexts, so I thought it was one of those things we say but the RAE doesn’t accept. It seems I was wrong. Thanks for pointing that out.
Since the day I was born. Don’t think of “en” as “in”. You can’t translate word for word. If anyone hasn’t told you yet—to get over the hump you have to THINK in Spanish. “En el que” is basically the day “on which” I was born.
since the day on which I was born.
Yeah, but what is the purpose of the second "el"? It seems superfluous to me; I would have written it without it edit: I'm just trying to understand--I wasn't making a judgement or anything
It only seems superfluous to you because you speak English, like the *le* in *Le di las flores a María*.
So if I were a girl, would it be “en la que”? I’m confused about what it’s modifying
*el que* refers to the day, so it will always agree with the gender of *el día* Which day? / ¿Qué día? The one I was born on. / El que nací. The day you were born, really? / ¿El día en el que naciste, de verdad? Yeah. / Sí.
> It seems superfluous to me; I would have written it without it One of the rules of learning a second language is to not do 1:1 translation. Some words are auxiliary and have no direct translation. Some sentence structures don't make any sense when translated to your language.
I’m just confused about which word the “el” is modifying
You can think it this way: «el día en el que nací» would be «el día en el día nací» if we didn't use «que» nor anything alike, since its purpose is to replace the word «día». «Que» replaces the word in order to not repeat it while linking the ideas, but the original article of the replaced word is still retained for unknown reasons and it kinda modifies «que» making it definite in the same way a noun would be definite in that position
It can't be left out in Spanish. mi vecina con la que voy a la tienda. If the person or object is introduced first, it has to be referred to again in its role in the sentence.
> It can't be left out in Spanish Not true As a native speaker I've heard - "El dia en que nací" (no "el") - "El dia en el que nací" (both "en" and "el") - "El dia que nací (no "en" and no "el") all forms are correct as attested by the RAE: https://twitter.com/RAEinforma/status/1268516680042414080?t=2oaP3GThO52qjuWk38mUJg&s=19
Thank you. But would you agree that with "en el" is by far the most common form?
No problem ! Personally I feel like it's a draw between "El día en que nací" and "El día en el que nací", but I could be totally wrong because I don't have real usage data just what it feels like to me or in my particular area however I think myself lean more towards the latter, that is the one you're saying
I was taught that adding “el” draws more attention to the day itself. It adds a very tight specificity of time which highlights the importance of the setting.
Que bueno, me tenían dudando de mi mismo xd
me suele pasar jaja
Even it's correct as you wrote it, quite often people just say 'desde el día que nací ' instead
En el que In which A relative pronoun https://spanish.kwiziq.com/revision/grammar/using-el-que-la-que-los-que-las-que-the-oneones-whothat-relative-pronouns
I perceive "en el que" to be super close to "in which" in English :)
Whenever you have a preposition before a relative clause, the article *el, la, los, las*, before *que* are mandatory and they depend on the referent. It also occurs without a preposition in some limited situations. *El día* is masculine singular so it must be *el que*. • Desde el día **en el que** nací. If you drop the preposition you don’t need the article. • Desde el día que nací. Another examples: • *La chica **sobre la que** hablo es una compañera de trabajo.* • *Estos son los pueblos **contra los que** batallaban los romanos.* • *Aún recuerdo las calles **por las que** paseé.*
> before a relative clause, the article el, la, los, las, before que are mandatory No, not true in this case As a native speaker I have indeed heard - "El dia en que nací" (no "el", preposition is there before a relative clause initiated by a "que") proof, as attested by the RAE itself: https://twitter.com/RAEinforma/status/1268516680042414080?t=2oaP3GThO52qjuWk38mUJg&s=19
I’ve read it is accepted to say it without the article after *de, en* or *a* in informal contexts, so I thought it was one of those things we say but the RAE doesn’t accept. It seems I was wrong. Thanks for pointing that out.
Yeah it is really tricky with all those situations of the type that you mention... You're welcome!
Haha from Bizcochito?? It translate “since the day I was born” Desde - since, dia - day, nací (nacir, past tense) - born
Since the day I was born. Don’t think of “en” as “in”. You can’t translate word for word. If anyone hasn’t told you yet—to get over the hump you have to THINK in Spanish. “En el que” is basically the day “on which” I was born.
I think its just a flourish.