Relative pronouns refer to an antecedent in the main clause of the sentence and serve to introduce the subordinate clause. They do not have a written accent.
Que is used to refer to people or things. After the prepositions a, con, and de, it can only be used to refer to things:
- El viaje que he reservado es para relajarme.
- The trip that I have reserved is for me to relax.
- El niño que habla es mi sobrino.
- The boy that's speaking is my nephew.
- La oficina en la que trabajamos no tiene aire acondicionador.
- The office in which we work doesn't have an air conditioner.
Quien is used after the prepositions a, de, en, and con to refer only to people. As you can see in the first example below, this includes the personal a. Because it is not a question word, there is no accent:
- Llamé a mi viejo vecino a quien extraño mucho.
- I called my old neighbor whom I miss a lot.
- El hombre de quien hablas es mi tío.
- The man of whom you speak is my uncle.
Quien also can be used in place of que to refer to people if the clause is between commas:
- Ese bombero, quien acaba de entrar, es un héroe.
- That firefighter, who just entered, is a hero.
- Los cantantes, quienes ganaron premios, van a una fiesta privada.
- The singers, who won awards, are going to a private party.
The relative pronouns below refer to people or things and are especially used after some prepositions of more than one syllable:
- el cual, los cuales, la cual, las cuales
- el que, los que, la que, las que
Relative pronouns are also used to avoid confusion between two antecedents. They agree in number and gender with the antecedent:
- Los edificios, cerca de los cuales robaron esa tienda, necesitan más seguridad.
- Los edificios, cerca de los que robaron esa tienda, necesitan más seguridad.
- The buildings, near which they robbed that store, need more security.
- Mi cuñado, el cual vive en Barcelona, siempre visita el Parque Güell.
- Mi cuñado, el que vive en Barcelona, siempre visita el Parque Güell.
- My brother‐in‐law, who lives in Barcelona, always visits Güell Park.
El que, los que, la que, and las que can be used instead of quien ( quienes) as the subject of the sentence:
- El que no hace ejercicios no tiene buena salud.
- Quien no hace ejercicios no tiene buena salud.
- He that doesn't exercise doesn't have good health.
- Los que persisten tienen éxito.
- Quienes persisten tienen éxito.
- Those that persevere have success.
Lo que and lo cual are neutral expressions that refer to an already expressed idea or concept:
- El huracán no destruyó nuestro hotel, lo cual nos alegra.
- El huracán no destruyó nuestro hotel, lo que nos alegra.
- The hurricane didn't destroy our hotel, which makes us happy.
- El equipo no ha ganado ningún partido, lo cual nos entristece.
- El equipo no ha ganado ningún partido, lo que nos entristece.
- The team hasn't won a game, which makes us sad.
When an idea or concept is implicit, understood, or previously mentioned, only lo que is used. In this case, lo que usually serves as the subject at the beginning of the sentence.
- Lo que me gusta es su sonrisa.
- What I like is his smile.
- Lo que ellos quieren es mejorar el mundo.
- What they want is to improve the world.
Cuyo, cuya, cuyos, and cuyas are used as possessive adjectives and must agree in gender and number with the object being possessed, not with the possessor. These will be used either within commas or following a preposition:
- Las niñas, cuyos discos ya son famosos, tienen siete años.
- The girls, whose records are already famous, are seven years old.
- La policía, cuyas acciones salvaron a la víctima, recibió una medalla de honor.
- The policewoman, whose actions saved the victim, received a bravery medal.
Sometimes, the adverbs como, donde, cuanto, and cuando are used instead of the relative pronouns:
- ¿Te impresiona la manera en que ella juega al fútbol?
- ¿Te impresiona la manera como ella juega al fútbol?
- Are you impressed by the manner in which she plays soccer?
- Ese es el gimnasio en el que yo hago ejercicios.
- Ese es el gimnasio donde yo hago ejercicios.
- That is the gym where (in which) I exercise.
- Durante el tiempo en que ella trabajaba allí, ganaba mucho dinero.
- Durante el tiempo cuando ella trabajaba allí, ganaba mucho dinero.
- During the time she worked there, she earned a lot of money.
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