Cuyo – Relative Adjective

Cuyo, cuya
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Adjetivo relativo

Cuyo is a relative adjective that means "whose," "of whom," or "of which." Like other Spanish adjectives, cuyo has masculine, feminine, singular, and plural forms:

  Singular   Plural
masc cuyo   cuyos
fem cuya   cuyas

Cuyo is used to indicate the noun which is the object of the clause that follows it. Cuyo is relative because it introduces a relative clause, and an adjective because it must be followed by a noun. Note that cuyo has a possessive value as well.

Por ejemplo …

Esa casa, cuya puerta es amarilla, es muy bonita.   That house, whose door (or "the door of which") is yellow, is very pretty.
¿Dónde está el profesor cuyas clases comienzan a las ocho?    Where is the teacher whose classes begin at 8?
Es el chico cuyo padre murió.   It’s the boy whose father died.
El escritor, cuyos libros Ana quiere comprar, vive en México.   The writer, whose books Ana wants to buy, lives in Mexico.

Expressions

en cuyo caso   in which case
por cuya razón   for this reason

 Note that cuyo is formal and therefore rare in spoken Spanish. The colloquial equivalent is que plus some other indication of possession:

Esa casa que tiene la puerta amarilla …   The house with the yellow door (literally, "that has the yellow door") …
¿Dónde está el profesor que sus clases comienzan a las ocho?   Where is the teacher whose classes begin at 8?

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Cuyo - Spanish relative adjective

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