Relative Pronouns: Que & Quien
Relative Pronouns: Que & Quien
English can often drop its relative pronoun entirely ('the book I read'). Spanish's que can never be dropped — it's a required word every single time.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
Que is never optional
el libro que leí (the book that I read) — que must stay
the book I read / the book that I read — 'that' is entirely optional here
English frequently drops 'that' or 'which' in casual speech without losing any clarity, but Spanish que can never be omitted the same way — leaving it out produces an ungrammatical sentence, not just an informal one. Get used to always including que when connecting two ideas about the same noun.
Quien is only for people, and only after a preposition or comma
la persona con quien hablé (the person with whom I spoke) — quien, not que, after 'con'
the person I spoke with / the person with whom I spoke — 'who'/'whom' either way
Quien (who) is reserved for people, and mainly shows up right after a preposition (con quien, para quien) or set off by commas — in most everyday sentences connecting a person to a description, que is still used instead. This is a narrower role than English 'who', which is used far more freely.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
- English
- that / which / who
- English
- who / whom
- English
- the book that I read
- English
- the woman I know
- English
- with whom I spoke
- English
- the man who lives here
- English
- what you said
- English
- the house where I live
- English
- the day (that) you arrived
- English
- the people I know