Relative Pronouns: que, quien in Spanish

Overview

Relative pronouns are essential connectors that allow you to combine two shorter sentences into one more natural, flowing sentence. In Spanish, the two most fundamental relative pronouns are que and quien/quienes. These words work much like "who," "which," and "that" do in English, linking a noun to additional information about it.

At the A2 level, mastering these two pronouns will immediately make your Spanish sound more fluid and natural. Instead of saying two choppy sentences like "Tengo un amigo. Mi amigo habla francés," you can smoothly say "Tengo un amigo que habla francés" (I have a friend who speaks French).

The great news is that que is by far the most common relative pronoun in Spanish, and it is completely invariable -- it never changes form regardless of gender or number. Quien, on the other hand, has a plural form (quienes) and is used specifically for people, most often after prepositions.

How It Works

Que -- The Universal Relative Pronoun

Que can refer to both people and things. It is the default choice in most situations and never changes form.

Function	Example	Translation
Subject (person)	El hombre que habla	The man who speaks
Subject (thing)	El libro que está aquí	The book that is here
Direct object (person)	La chica que conocí	The girl (that) I met
Direct object (thing)	La película que vi	The movie (that) I saw

Quien / Quienes -- For People Only

Quien (singular) and quienes (plural) refer exclusively to people. They are most commonly used after prepositions.

Form	Usage	Example	Translation
quien	After preposition (singular)	La mujer con quien trabajo	The woman with whom I work
quienes	After preposition (plural)	Las personas a quienes llamé	The people whom I called
quien	As subject (formal/literary)	Quien quiera venir, puede	Whoever wants to come, may

Key Rules

1. Que is always the safest choice when no preposition is involved.
2. After a preposition referring to a person, use quien/quienes: con quien, a quien, de quien, para quien.
3. After a preposition referring to a thing, use el/la/los/las que: en el que, con la que.
4. Quien agrees in number with its antecedent: one person = quien, multiple people = quienes.

Examples in Context

Spanish	English	Note
El hombre que habla es mi padre.	The man who is speaking is my father.	que for person as subject
El libro que leo es bueno.	The book that I'm reading is good.	que for thing as object
La chica con quien hablé es simpática.	The girl with whom I spoke is nice.	quien after preposition
Los estudiantes que vinieron son de Madrid.	The students who came are from Madrid.	que for plural people
La casa que compramos es grande.	The house that we bought is big.	que for thing as object
El profesor a quien admiro enseña historia.	The teacher whom I admire teaches history.	quien with personal a
Las personas con quienes trabajo son amables.	The people with whom I work are kind.	quienes (plural) after preposition
La película que vimos anoche fue divertida.	The movie that we saw last night was fun.	que for entertainment
El amigo que me llamó vive en Barcelona.	The friend who called me lives in Barcelona.	que for person as subject
La tienda en la que compro está cerrada.	The store where I shop is closed.	preposition + article + que for things

Common Mistakes

Using quien without a preposition

• Wrong: La chica quien conocí es simpática.
• Right: La chica que conocí es simpática.
• Why: When there is no preposition, use que for both people and things. Quien without a preposition sounds unnatural in everyday Spanish.

Forgetting the plural quienes

• Wrong: Las personas con quien hablé.
• Right: Las personas con quienes hablé.
• Why: Unlike que, the pronoun quien must agree in number with the people it refers to. Multiple people require quienes.

Using quien for things

• Wrong: El libro de quien hablaste.
• Right: El libro del que hablaste.
• Why: Quien/quienes can only refer to people. For things after a preposition, use the construction preposition + el/la/los/las + que.

Omitting que entirely

• Wrong: La persona conocí ayer.
• Right: La persona que conocí ayer.
• Why: Unlike English, where "that" can often be dropped ("the person I met"), Spanish requires que to always be present.

Usage Notes

In everyday spoken Spanish, que dominates. You will hear it constantly in conversation, and it covers the vast majority of situations. Quien is somewhat more formal and is almost exclusively found after prepositions in casual speech.

Be aware that in very formal or literary Spanish, quien can appear as a subject without a preposition (e.g., Quien mucho abarca, poco aprieta -- "He who grasps at too much holds nothing"). However, this usage is rare in everyday conversation.

Regional differences are minimal for these two pronouns -- que and quien are used consistently across all Spanish-speaking countries.

Practice Tips

• Start by using que for everything. It is correct in the vast majority of cases, and building comfort with it will give you immediate fluency gains.
• Practice combining pairs of simple sentences using que: "Tengo un perro. Mi perro es grande." becomes "Tengo un perro que es grande."
• When you encounter a preposition before a person, consciously switch to quien: think "con + person = con quien."

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Subject Pronouns
• Next steps: Relative Pronouns: donde, cual