Cuya

Cuya is a Spanish relative pronoun used to express possession in a relative clause. It agrees in gender and number with the noun that is possessed (the noun that follows the relative pronoun), not with the possessor. The four basic forms are cuyo (masculine singular), cuya (feminine singular), cuyos (masculine plural), and cuyas (feminine plural).

Cuya is typically placed before the noun it modifies, linking the possessor to the possessed item. Examples illustrate its agreement and function:

- La mujer cuya casa fue vendida. (feminine singular possessed noun: casa)

- El coche cuyo color es rojo. (masculine singular possessed noun: color)

- Los estudiantes cuyos cuadernos están en la mesa. (masculine plural possessed noun: cuadernos)

- Las flores cuyas fragancias llenaron la habitación. (feminine plural possessed noun: fragancias)

Cuya can refer to animate or inanimate antecedents and is commonly used in formal and written Spanish. When the antecedent is a nonhuman noun, the same forms apply (e.g., El edificio cuya fachada fue renovada).

Etymology traces cuyas forms to the Latin cuius, the genitive of cuius “whose,” adapted into Spanish through grammatical gender and number agreement. In many contexts, cuy o, cuy a, cuy os, cuy as provide a concise alternative to longer constructions like “del/ de la cual” or “de cuyo/a/os/as.” Usage varies by dialect, but cuyas forms are widely accepted in standard Spanish.

Related forms include cuyo, cuya, cuyos, cuyas, which all function as possessive relatives, contrasting with other relative pronouns like que, quien, and el/la cual, which do not convey possession.