Let's continue studying phrases that combine prepositions, articles, and pronouns since these can be a source of confusion for Spanish learners. Take a look at Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 here.

Check out the following quote from one of our most recent videos. In this clip teacher Carolina is discussing common mistakes that her students make, and says:

El primer caso del que les quiero hablar hoy es...

The first case I want to talk to you about today is...

Caption 7, Lecciones con Carolina - Errores comunes
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The phrase del que les is used frequently in Spanish, and has no direct translation in English. If we break this phrase down, we find that it literally means "of the which to you:" the contraction del (preposition de + article el), plus the relative pronoun que (which), and the personal pronoun les (to you). But in English, we don't really say things like "of the which to you." Instead, English uses a very different structure that requires an additional word: "about."

In fact, a more literal translation of the example would be something like: "The first case about which I want to talk to you today is." In Spanish, by the way, there's a similar construction that uses the phrase acerca de, which literally means "about." So in fact, you can also say the following:

El primer caso acerca del que les quiero hablar hoy es...
The first case about which I want to talk to you today is...

However, these expressions are a bit over complicated, both in Spanish and in English. In Spanish, it's better and more straightforward to simply use the preposition de (of, from) combined with the appropriate articles and pronouns, which must agree with the nouns they refer to in both number and gender. For example:

El tipo del que les hablo nunca más apareció

The guy about whom I speak to you never again showed up

Caption 5, ChocQuibTown - Oro
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So, if you are talking about a noun that is both singular and masculine, like el caso (the case) or el tipo (the guy), you need to use del, that is de + el (the). Let's now see an example with a plural noun like artistas (artists), that needs de + los (or de + las if we were talking about female artists):

Pintó junto a grandes artistas de los que aprendió casi todo.

He painted alongside great artists from whom he learned almost everything.

Caption 15, Europa Abierta - Alejandro Hermann - El arte de pintar
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