Relative Pronouns *que* and *quien* in Spanish

In Brief

Use que for people and things in most basic relative clauses: el libro que leo (“the book that I am reading”) and la mujer que llamó (“the woman who called”). Use quien or quienes only for people, most often after a preposition: la amiga con quien viajé (“the friend I travelled with”). Que never changes form; quien changes to plural quienes.

Overview

A relative clause is a part of a sentence that identifies or adds information about a person or thing. In El hombre que habla es mi padre, the clause que habla tells us which man is meant. The word que connects that clause to el hombre, its antecedent (the earlier person or thing that the relative word refers back to).

Spanish relative pronouns often correspond to English “who,” “whom,” “which,” or “that.” The correspondence is not one-to-one, however. English encourages learners to choose a pronoun according to whether the antecedent is human or not; basic Spanish usually chooses que for both. That makes que the safest starting point at A2.

The second key form is quien, with plural quienes. It refers only to people and is especially useful after words such as con, para, de, and a. Learning these forms lets you combine short statements instead of repeating a noun: Hablé con una chica. La chica vive aquí becomes La chica con quien hablé vive aquí.

How It Works

The basic pattern with que

The simplest structure is:

antecedent + que + relative clause

• el hombre que habla — the man who is speaking
• el libro que leo — the book that I am reading
• las estudiantes que vinieron — the students who came

Que is invariable, meaning that its form does not change. It remains que whether the antecedent is masculine, feminine, singular, plural, human, or non-human.

Antecedent	Spanish phrase	English meaning
masculine singular	el café que está abierto	the café that is open
feminine singular	la película que vimos	the film that we saw
masculine plural	los vecinos que llegaron	the neighbours who arrived
feminine plural	las cartas que escribí	the letters that I wrote

The relative pronoun can do different jobs inside its clause:

• In el hombre que habla, que is the subject (the person performing the action) of habla.
• In el libro que leo, que is the direct object (the person or thing directly affected by the action) of leo.

Spanish uses the same form in both cases. Unlike English, it normally does not omit an object relative pronoun. English can say “the book I’m reading,” but Spanish needs que: el libro que leo.

Quien and quienes for people

Quien refers to one person; quienes refers to more than one person.

Number	Form	Example
singular	quien	la persona con quien trabajo
plural	quienes	las personas con quienes trabajo

At beginner level, use these forms mainly after a preposition:

person + preposition + quien/quienes + relative clause

• el amigo con quien salgo — the friend I go out with
• la profesora a quien escribí — the teacher I wrote to
• los compañeros para quienes cociné — the colleagues I cooked for
• las personas de quienes hablamos — the people we talked about

The preposition belongs to the verb or meaning inside the relative clause. You say hablar con alguien, so the relative version is la persona con quien hablé. You say escribir a alguien, so it becomes la persona a quien escribí.

The same idea can often be expressed with an article plus que: la persona con la que hablé, el profesor al que escribí, las personas de las que hablamos. These forms are introduced more fully under advanced use below.

Two kinds of information: identifying and additional

A relative clause may identify which person or thing you mean, or it may merely add information.

1. An identifying (or restrictive) clause selects someone or something from a larger group. It has no commas:

   • Los estudiantes que estudiaron aprobaron.
   • “The students who studied passed.” This refers only to the students who studied.

2. A non-identifying (or non-restrictive) clause adds information about an already identified person or thing. It is enclosed by commas:

   • Los estudiantes, que estudiaron mucho, aprobaron.
   • “The students, who studied a lot, passed.” The sentence presents the whole group as having studied.

Both kinds commonly use que. Quien/quienes without a preposition is natural in non-identifying clauses about people:

• Marta, quien vive en Sevilla, viene mañana.
• Mis abuelos, quienes ya están jubilados, viajan mucho.

Do not use bare quien as a routine replacement for que in an identifying clause. Standard Spanish says la mujer que trabaja aquí, not la mujer quien trabaja aquí.

Verb agreement

The verb in the relative clause agrees with its own subject. When the relative pronoun is the subject, the antecedent tells you whether the verb is singular or plural:

• el estudiante que vino
• los estudiantes que vinieron
• Marta, quien vive aquí
• Marta y Ana, quienes viven aquí

When the relative pronoun is an object, another noun or pronoun may control the verb:

• los libros que yo leo
• la canción que ellos cantan

Examples in Context

Spanish	English	Note
El hombre que habla es mi padre.	The man who is speaking is my father.	Que refers to a person and is the subject of habla.
El libro que leo es bueno.	The book that I am reading is good.	Que refers to a thing and is the object of leo.
Los estudiantes que vinieron hicieron muchas preguntas.	The students who came asked many questions.	Plural antecedent, but que does not change.
Conozco un restaurante que abre los domingos.	I know a restaurant that opens on Sundays.	Que introduces identifying information.
Esta es la foto que quería enseñarte.	This is the photo I wanted to show you.	English omits “that”; Spanish keeps que.
La chica con quien hablé vive en Granada.	The girl I spoke with lives in Granada.	Quien follows con and refers to one person.
El médico a quien llamaste llegará pronto.	The doctor you called will arrive soon.	A quien retains the personal a used with a person.
Los amigos con quienes viajamos son argentinos.	The friends we travelled with are Argentinian.	Plural people require quienes.
Esa es la autora de quien te hablé.	That is the author I told you about.	The construction is hablar de alguien.
Laura, quien trabaja desde casa, viene poco a la oficina.	Laura, who works from home, rarely comes to the office.	Added information about an identified person.
Mi coche, que tiene veinte años, todavía funciona bien.	My car, which is twenty years old, still works well.	Non-identifying clause about a thing.
Los vecinos que tienen perro usan este parque.	The neighbours who have a dog use this park.	No commas: only those neighbours are meant.
Los vecinos, que tienen perro, usan este parque.	The neighbours, who have a dog, use this park.	Commas imply that all the relevant neighbours have a dog.
La compañera para quien compré el regalo cumple treinta años.	The colleague I bought the gift for is turning thirty.	Para quien marks the intended recipient.

Common Mistakes

Using quien whenever English uses “who”

• Wrong: La mujer quien trabaja aquí es médica.
• Right: La mujer que trabaja aquí es médica.
• Why: In an identifying clause with no preposition, Spanish normally uses que, even for a person. English “who” does not automatically become quien.

Dropping object que as English does

• Wrong: El libro leo es interesante.
• Right: El libro que leo es interesante.
• Why: English allows “the book I’m reading,” but standard Spanish must retain the relative pronoun.

Using quien for a thing

• Wrong: La empresa con quien trabajo.
• Right: La empresa con la que trabajo.
• Why: Quien/quienes refers to people, not organizations or objects treated as things. Use an article form of el que after the preposition here.

Forgetting plural quienes

• Wrong: Los amigos con quien viajé.
• Right: Los amigos con quienes viajé.
• Why: Unlike que, quien agrees in number with its antecedent.

Leaving out the required preposition

• Wrong: La persona quien hablé.
• Right: La persona con quien hablé.
• Why: The basic expression is hablar con alguien. Keep con when that person becomes the antecedent of a relative clause.

Treating commas as optional decoration

• Mis hermanos que viven en Chile... means “the siblings of mine who live in Chile,” possibly not all of them.
• Mis hermanos, que viven en Chile,... presents living in Chile as added information about all the siblings being discussed.
• Why: Commas can change which people the sentence includes, not merely its rhythm.

Usage Notes

In everyday Spanish, que is far more broadly useful than quien. If there is no preposition, que will usually be the right beginner choice for either a person or a thing. This differs from the familiar English preference for “who” with people and “which/that” with things.

After a preposition, Spanish places the preposition before the relative pronoun: la persona con quien hablé. English often moves it to the end (“the person I spoke with”), but copying that order into Spanish produces an incomplete or unnatural structure.

For people after a preposition, both quien and forms such as el que/la que are common: la amiga con quien fui and la amiga con la que fui. The choice can depend on rhythm, clarity, and style. Quien is especially neat when the antecedent is clearly human; the article form explicitly shows gender and number.

Beyond the Basics: Other Relative Structures

You do not need to master all of these at A2, but recognizing them will prevent the beginner rule from becoming too rigid.

El que, la que, los que, and las que

After a preposition, the definite article can combine with que and agree with the antecedent:

Antecedent	Form	Example
masculine singular	el que	el compañero con el que trabajo
feminine singular	la que	la compañera con la que trabajo
masculine plural	los que	los compañeros con los que trabajo
feminine plural	las que	las compañeras con las que trabajo

These forms refer to people or things. They are particularly useful where quien is impossible because the antecedent is not a person: la mesa sobre la que dejé las llaves.

With a and de, the masculine singular combinations contract: a + el que becomes al que, and de + el que becomes del que.

Relative pronouns with no stated noun

Quien/quienes can mean “the person/people who” when there is no expressed antecedent. This is called a free relative, a relative expression that includes its own general meaning:

• Quien quiera participar puede apuntarse. — Whoever wants to participate can sign up.
• Ayudaremos a quienes lo necesiten. — We will help those who need it.

Similarly, article forms can stand alone: Los que llegaron temprano encontraron sitio (“Those who arrived early found seats”). In such sentences, el que/la que/los que/las que identifies people through grammatical gender and number.

Lo que for an idea or situation

Lo que means “what,” “that which,” or “the thing that” when it refers not to a named noun but to an idea, fact, or situation:

• No entiendo lo que dices. — I don’t understand what you are saying.
• Lo que pasó fue inesperado. — What happened was unexpected.

Do not confuse this with ordinary noun + que: el mensaje que escribiste has the stated antecedent el mensaje; lo que escribiste means “what you wrote.”

Longer prepositions and formal alternatives

After longer prepositions, forms with an article are generally preferred: la razón por la que, el proyecto en el que, la ley según la cual. More advanced Spanish also uses el cual/la cual/los cuales/las cuales, especially in formal writing or where a longer clause needs clarity. Those forms belong with the later study of cual rather than the core A2 contrast here.

Practice Tips

1. Join pairs of sentences. Start with Conozco a una mujer. La mujer habla japonés and combine them as Conozco a una mujer que habla japonés. Then practise a preposition: Trabajo con una mujer → la mujer con quien trabajo.
2. Mark the hidden job. For every que, ask whether it performs the action (la mujer que llamó) or receives it (la mujer que llamé). This builds accuracy without requiring a different pronoun form.
3. Learn verbs together with their prepositions. Keep short pairs such as hablar con, hablar de, escribir a and trabajar para. Then build relative phrases: con quien, de quien, a quien, para quien.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Subject Pronouns — helps you identify who performs the action inside the relative clause.
• Next steps: Relative Pronouns: donde, cual — expands the system to places and more formal or complex relative structures.