Relative Pronouns — Uses

Relative Pronouns — Uses

a) The relative pronoun may be omitted in English, but it must be expressed in Spanish.

La casa que compramos es bonita.
The house (that) we bought is pretty.

b) Que is the most important relative pronoun (who; whom; that; which), since it may refer to either persons or things, and may be used as either subject or object. The following sentences illustrate its uses:

Note: Que never changes form.

No encuentro el diccionario que compré ayer.
I can't find the dictionary (that) I bought yesterday.

Es el hombre que trabaja conmigo.
He is the man who works with me.

Vi al médico que usted me recomendó.
I saw the doctor whom you recommended to me.

Este es el libro que necesito.
This is the book (that) I need.

El hombre que hizo eso ya no vive aquí.
The man who did that no longer lives here.

Aquí tiene usted un abrigo que no cuesta mucho.
Here is a coat that does not cost much.

Es el mismo mesero que tuvimos ayer.
He's the same waiter (that) we had yesterday.

Note: Notice that in the following examples que is being used as a conjunction and not a relative pronoun. In English we frequently omit the word that when it is a conjunction. (I think that he will come, or I think he will come.) In Spanish the conjunction que must be expressed.

Creo que vendrá.
I think (that) he will come.

¿Sabe Ud. que no están casados?
Do you know (that) they are not married?

c) Quien, quienes always agrees in number with its antecedent. It refers only to persons and is used at times to indicate the antecedent more clearly than que, especially after a preposition.

Hablé con las muchachas, quienes estaban muy contentas.
I spoke with the girls, who were very happy.

Es el hombre a quien vimos en el restaurante.
He is the man whom we saw in the restaurant.

d) Quien, quienes may be used as a subject to mean he who, the one who, those who, etc. El que (la que, los que, las que) may be used in the same way.

Quien (El que) mucho habla, mucho erra.
He who speaks a great deal, makes many mistakes.

Quienes (Los que) lo hicieron, serán castigados.
Those who did it will be punished.

e) Quien, quienes is the translation for who in a non-restrictive clause (a clause added to a sentence whose meaning is already complete).

Jugué a las damas con Pablo, quien quería divertirse.
I played checkers with Paul, who wished to be amused.

f) Que, on the other hand, must be used to introduce a restrictive clause (a clause which is necessary to complete the logical meaning of a sentence).

Le presenté al abogado que había defendido a mi hermano.
I introduced him to the lawyer who had defended my brother.

g) El cual (la cual, los cuales, las cuales) is used only to avoid ambiguity, particularly in cases where there is more than one possible antecedent. It then replaces que or quien. Since el cual (la cual, etc.) agrees in gender and number with the antecedent, it indicates this antecedent more clearly than would que or quien. El cual (la cual, etc.) is also used frequently after the preposition por and the compound prepositions después de, además de, etc., in order to avoid confusion with comparable conjunctions formed with que.

Vi la película en el Teatro Nacional, la cual me gustó mucho.
I saw the movie at the National Theatre, which I liked very much.
(Thus, la cual here clearly refers to la película rather than to el teatro.)

Aquí están los paquetes por los cuales han venido.
Here are the packages for which they have come.

h) Lo que is used to translate the relative what (that which).

Sé lo que quieren.
I know what (that which) they want.

Le dimos lo que pidió.
We gave him what (that which) he asked for.

In an indirect question qué may replace lo que.

No sabemos qué (lo que) hizo.
We don't know what he did.

i) Cuyo (cuya, cuyos, cuyas) (whose) is used only to express possession. It always agrees in gender and number with the noun which follows it and which it modifies.

El es el muchacho cuyo padre yo conozco.
He is the boy whose father I know.

Es el profesor cuyas hijas estudian en Francia.
He is the professor whose daughters study in France.

Note: Cuyo is never an interrogative, and can never take the place of ¿de quién?

Compare:

¿De quién es esta casa?
Whose house is this?

El hombre cuya casa vimos.
The man whose house we saw.