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Que and Other Relative Pronouns from About.com http://spanish.about.com/library/beginning/aa-beg-pronouns-relative.htm Relative pronouns can be used quite differently in Spanish than in English, and the fine points of their use goes well beyond what would be expected of beginners. So keep in mind that most of this lesson focuses on the most common usages; as you learn Spanish you will learn other sentence constructions as well. Relative pronouns are pronouns that are used to introduce a clause that provides more information about a noun. Thus in the sentence "The man who is singing is my father," the relative pronoun is "who"; the clause "who is singing" provides further information about the sentence's subject, "the man." In the Spanish equivalent, el hombre que canta es mi padre, the relative pronoun is que. Common relative pronouns in English include "that," "which," "who," "whom" and "whose" (although these words also have other uses). In Spanish, by far the most common relative pronoun is que. As can be seen in the following sentences, it usually means "that," "which" or "who." Espero que venga. (I hope that he comes.) Tiene los zapatos que necesita. (She has the shoes that she needs.) Conozco a los niños que estaban aquí. (I know the boys who were here.) Compré el coche en que íbamos. (I bought the car in which we rode.) Mi hermano es el hombre que salió. (My brother is the man who left.) Omission of "that" in English: Note that in the first two sentences above, the word "that" can be omitted in English. However, in Spanish the relative pronoun cannot be omitted. Notice how the following examples use a relative pronoun that isn't included in the first English translation: Es cierto que él va a ganar. (It is certain he is going to win. It is certain that he is going to win.) ¿Dónde está el periódico que compré esta mañana? (Where is the newspaper I bought this morning? Where is the newspaper that I bought this morning?) Ella me dijo que va al cine. (She told me she is going to the movies. She told me she that is going to the movies.) Other relative pronouns: As a beginner, you likely won't need to use the other relative pronouns of Spanish, but you certainly will come across them in writing and speech. At this point, you don't need to learn the rules of their usage, but you should recognize them when you see or hear them. Here they are with examples of their usage: Pronombre Common translations Examples Notes quien, quienes who, whom Es el médico de quien le dije. (He is the doctor whom I told you about.) Conozco a Sofía, quien tiene dos coches. (I know Sophia, who has two cars.) A common mistake by English speakers is to use quien when que should be used. Quien is most commonly used following a preposition, as in the first example. It can also be used in what grammarians call a nonrestrictive clause, one separated by commas from the noun it describes, as in the second example. In that second example, que also could be used instead of quien. el cual, la cual, lo cual, los cuales, las cuales which, who, whom Rebeca es la mujer con la cual vas a viajar. (Rebeca is the woman with whom you are going to travel.) This pronoun must match the noun it refers to in both number and gender. It is used in formal writing more often than in speech. el que, la que, lo que, los que, las que which, who, whom Rebeca es la mujer con la que vas a viajar. (Rebeca is the woman with whom you are going to travel.) This pronoun must match the noun it refers to in both number and gender. It is often interchangeable with el cual but is somewhat more informal in usage. cuyo, cuya, cuyos, cuyas whose Es la profesora cuyo hijo tiene el coche. (She is the teacher whose son has the car.) This pronoun functions something like an adjective and must match the noun it modifies in both number and gender. It is used more in writing than in speech. It normally isn't used in questions, where de quién is used instead, as in ¿De quién es esta computadora? for "Whose computer is this?" donde where Voy al mercado donde se venden manzanas. (I'm going to the market where they sell apples.)

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