I was reading some Spanish grammar stuff, and it mentioned the word "cuyo" as basically meaning "whose". I've literally never heard of this word before, and I've studied Spanish since middle school and even spoken it with people conversationally, so I'm very confused.
It seems like this would be a really common word, but I swear I've never encountered it before. Is it regional, or rarely used, or have I just managed to overlook it for years?
Yeah it's pretty common in writing, I've seen it a lot in a few novels that I've read in Spanish.
Edit: here, I've got Cien Años de Soledad in front of me and opened it to a random page, here's an example sentence: "Trataban de aplazar con esa precaución la necesidad de seguir comiendo guacamayas, cuya carne azul tenía un áspero sabor de almizcle."
Here's another one:"De ese cuarto pasaba a otro exactemente igual, cuya puerta abría para pasar a otro exactemente igual, y luego a otro exactemente igual, hasta el infinito."
As you can see from the examples, it is basically "whose" but it works for things and objects, not just for people.
Interesting. Also, you've given me the idea to try reading cien años in It's original spanish, could be a fun undertaking.
It is! It's honestly such beautiful prose. And reading with a dictionary (or smartphone) by your side is a great way to pick up new vocab!
I intend to read it again before the Netflix miniseries comes out, I'm cautiously optimistic for that adaptation.