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Spanish connectives con lo cual/ por lo cual
Con lo cual / por lo cual are connectives that are used to introduce the consequence of something that has been mentioned previously. These connectives are not commonly used in everyday speech, they belong to a more formal register.
Let's see some examples:
El tiempo está un poco revuelto, con lo cual no es mala idea llevarnos un paraguas.The weather is a bit unsettled, therefore it wouldn't be a bad idea to take an umbrella.
Los adolescentes pasan horas y horas en sus móviles, con lo cual hacen poco ejercicio.Adolescents spend hours on their mobile phones, therefore they do very little exercise.
We could have said the same thing using other more colloquial connectives with the same meaning. The equivalent connectives in everyday speech would be: por lo tanto..., así que..., por lo que..., con lo que... (therefore)
For example:
"Los precios de aquel hotel eran desorbitantes, así que hemos terminado reservando este otro."
"El tiempo está un poco revuelto, por lo que no es mala idea llevarnos un paraguas."
"Señor, aquí no se permite fumar, por lo tanto debe usted apargar ese cigarrillo."
"Los adolescentes pasan horas y horas en sus móviles, con lo que hacen poco ejercicio."
Con lo cual and por lo cual are interchangeable.
Notice that there is NO written accent on "cual" in these cases.
See also:
- Using "o sea/es decir" to clarify, explain and express a consequence in Spanish
- Using con lo que + indicative for despite
- Using [preposition] + lo que = with, for, on + what (relative pronouns)
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