Spanish Relative Pronouns

The words that, which, and who are not just used in questions. They are used in statements, too. Examples include:

• My coat, which is blue, is hanging in your closet.
• Mrs. Castle, who is a music teacher, knows how to play the piano.
• The highway that extends to the north is the one you want to take.

When these words are used in statements, they are called relative pronouns. In this lesson, we’ll look at the many ways in which you can use these words. In addition to que and quien, which you already know, we’ll take a look at some new words: lo que, el cual, and el que.

Resources for further reading:

• Improve your Spanish pronunciation
• How long does it take to learn Spanish?

Using Relative Pronouns

The most common relative pronoun is que. Notice that the relative pronoun que does NOT have an accent mark over the é like the question ¿qué? does.

Get used to using que. It has a variety of meanings, including that, which, who and whom. Whereas we often drop the word that in English, it must ALWAYS be included in Spanish. For example, in English you can say,

• I bought the shoes she wanted.
• We brought the car you asked for.
• Luisa followed the road you told her to follow.

Can you see where the word that should be inserted into each of the following sentences to be able to translate them precisely into Spanish?

• Compré los zapatos que ella quería.
• Trajimos el auto que pediste.
• Luisa siguió el camino que usted le dijo que siga.

Once you get used to inserting that into your sentences, you’ll find it easy to use que. Look at the following examples:

QUE with Prepositions

Que can also be used together with the prepositions a, con, de, or en to form phrases like at which, in which, to which.

• a que - to which
• con que - with which
• de que - of which, about which
• en que - in which, at which

To use these expressions properly, you need to have a basic understanding of English grammatical rules governing prepositions. Spanish has a much more rigid grammatical structure than English in many cases. When it comes to prepositions, you can’t just let them dangle in Spanish. Compare the sentences below.

Informal structure	Formal structure
The person I went with was late.	The person with whom I went was late.
The restaurant we went to was busy.	The restaurant to which we went was busy.
The topic we talked about was boring.	he topic about which we talked was boring.

In Spanish, you MUST use the formal structure. It is impossible to form sentences in Spanish using the informal structure in the first column.

Look again at the first pair of sentences above. Compare these two direct translations into Spanish.

Informal structure	Formal structure
La persona fui con estaba atrasada.	La persona con quien fui estaba atrasada.

The first sentence makes no sense in Spanish. The second sentence is correct.

If you usually speak grammatical English, you’ll find this quite easy. If you’re an ordinary English speaker, you may find that learning how to use prepositions properly in Spanish is a bit difficult at first. If it seems a bit confusing, remember that a similar grammatical rule governs the construction of questions in Spanish.

Informal structure	Formal structure	Spanish
Who am I speaking to?	To whom am I speaking?	¿Con quién hablo?
Who are you going with?	With whom are you going?	¿Con quién vas?
Where are you going to?	To where are you going?	¿A dónde vas?

Again, Spanish always uses the formal structure, and as a result, you’ll never find a Spanish sentence that ends with a preposition.

Por ejemplo (for example):

Talking about Who and Whom

Quien is used to refer to people. It can mean who, whom, or that and is often used with the prepositions a, con, and de.

• a quien - who, whom, to whom
• con quien - with whom
• de quien - about whom, that

Remember that quien reflects the quantity of the subject to which it refers. If its object is plural, quien becomes quienes.

Por ejemplo:

Looking at LO QUE

In the previous examples, que and quien have both referred to specific nouns (e.g. Carmen, la señora, las personas, or el profesor). When what you are talking about ISN’T a particular noun but rather an idea, a wish, a situation, or something that happened in the past, you will need to use lo que. Lo que can mean that, what, or that which.

Por ejemplo:

About CUAL

The word cual can be used in statements as well as in questions, as long as it has a definite article (el, la, los, or las) in front. When used in statements rather than questions, it can mean that, who, and whom.

El cual and its forms (la cual, los cuales, las cuales) are used in very specific circumstances:

After prepositions of more than one syllable, e.g.,

• El pueblo, el cual visité ayer por bus, se llama Conocoto. The town that I visited yesterday by bus is called Conocoto.

When the person or thing to which the relative pronoun refers is unclear, e.g.,

• El empleado de la compañía Vereda, la cual estaba en las noticias, va a dar una conferencia de prensa. The employee of the Vereda company, who was in the news, is going to give a press conference. (If you said, “el que estaba en las noticias,” it would mean that the employee had been in the news, not the company.)

When the clause contains information that is NOT essential, e.g.,

• Los hermanos Torres, los que me gustan, vienen a La Paz el catorce de febrero. The Torres brothers, those whom I like, are coming to La Paz the 14th of February.

Note that el que and its forms la que, los que, and las que can also be used to talk about the one(s) or that one(s) when you are clarifying which person or thing you are referring to.

Examples of sentences that would require the use of a form of el que are:

• "Mi amigo, el que es actor, viene mañana." My friend, the one who’s an actor, is coming tomorrow.
• "Quiero que tomes el auto, el que está estacionado en el garaje." I want you to take the car, the one parked in the garage.
• "¿Hiciste el trabajo, el que te pedí que hicieras?" Did you do the job, that one I asked you to do?

Here are some more examples:

That's all on Spanish relative pronouns! Looking for more? Here are more lessons on Spanish pronouns:

• The construction of the Spanish direct object pronouns
• The concept of the Spanish indirect object pronouns.
• What happens when you put Spanish direct and indirect object pronouns together?

See you soon! ¡Hasta pronto!

Mauricio Evlampieff: Rocket Spanish