Complex sentences and subordination

In formal/written Spanish, actions and qualities are often expressed as a noun instead of a clause. This makes the sentence more compact and formal.

• verb → noun: llegar ('to arrive') → la llegada ('the arrival'), decidir ('to decide') → la decisión ('the decision')
• adjective → noun: rápido ('fast') → la rapidez ('speed'), difícil ('difficult') → la dificultad ('difficulty')

When the relative pronoun functions as the object of a preposition, you use el/la que, el/la cual or, for people, quien: con quien, en el que, del que, por el/la que.

Cuyo/cuya/cuyos/cuyas means 'whose' and agrees with the noun that follows it (the thing possessed), not with the possessor. It is a very formal/written pronoun, rarely used in spoken Spanish.

Gerund clauses replace a subordinate clause of simultaneity, manner or cause, giving a more compact, literary style. The subject of the gerund clause is usually the same as that of the main clause.

Absolute participle clauses use a past participle agreeing with its own subject (which can differ from the subject of the main clause) to express an action completed before the main action. This is very literary/formal, typical of news writing. Word order: participle + subject.