Watch your coma usage!

In Spanish class a few days ago, we were learning about relative pronouns, like que, quien, lo que, el que, cuyo, etc. One point we are supposed to know is that it is sometimes necessary to choose between que and quien. For example, quien is only ever used with a person; if the antecedent is not a person, it cannot be used. Also, quien tends to be used with commas. For example:

Mi maestro de fisica, quien trabaja en la Academía Internacional, se llama Sr. Giromini.

means "My physics teacher, who works at IA, is called Mr. Giromini." Without commas, que is used instead:

Mi maestro de fisica que trabaja en la Academía Internacional se llama Sr. Giromini.

This version means "My physics teacher that works at IA is called Mr. Giromini." Stra. Fernández put an overhead projection on the board that contained this information, along with some examples. She caught a small grammatical mistake she had made, explaining that she had had to make the guide quickly. When we got to the part about commas, we realized that she had accidentally used the Spanish spelling of "comma," even though the rest of the writing (save the examples) was in English. In two places, she had written "coma" instead of "comma." She caught the mistake the second time she read it, apologizing for her English spelling skills. We then thought about the difference one single letter m can make.

Remember, quien should only be used after a coma. If you wake up in the hospital after several days and the doctor asks how you were knocked unconscious, it is acceptable to explain, "¡El hombre, quien me dijo que usara 'que,' me pegó!"