Spanish Relative Pronouns: 24 Examples and Rules

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Spanish relative pronouns

What are relative pronouns in Spanish?

A relative clause adds information about an antecedent: El libro que compré is the book that I bought. Unlike English, Spanish normally keeps the relative word; it is not omitted in this pattern.

Que is the safest default for people or things when no preposition is required. Quien refers only to people and is especially common after a preposition or in a non-restrictive clause.

Article forms such as el que and la cual show gender and number. Cuyo agrees with the possessed noun, while lo que and lo cual refer to an idea rather than a named masculine noun.

Four decisions that choose the form

Identify the antecedent: a person, thing, place, time, manner or complete idea.

Check whether the verb or phrase requires a preposition. Keep that preposition before the relative form.

Use gender and number where the form contains an article or cuyo: la que, los cuales, cuyas.

Do not add an accent to relative que, quien, cual, como, cuando or donde; interrogative and exclamative forms are accented.

24 Spanish relative-pronoun examples

The rows move from everyday que to people after prepositions, article forms, neutral references, possession and place.

24 Spanish relative pronoun and relative-word examples with meanings and usage notes
Relative pattern	Meaning	Example in context	Why this form
que: el libro que compré	the book that I bought	El libro que compré es corto.	Que directly links the antecedent without a required preposition.
que: la profesora que explica	the teacher who explains	La profesora que explica esto es Ana.	Que directly links the antecedent without a required preposition.
que: la ciudad que visitamos	the city that we visited	La ciudad que visitamos está junto al mar.	Que directly links the antecedent without a required preposition.
que: los ejercicios que faltan	the exercises that remain	Termina los ejercicios que faltan.	Que directly links the antecedent without a required preposition.
que: el café que está abierto	the café that is open	Busco un café que esté abierto.	Que directly links the antecedent without a required preposition.
que: la canción que escuchas	the song that you are listening to	Me gusta la canción que escuchas.	Que directly links the antecedent without a required preposition.
quien: Marta, quien vive aquí	Marta, who lives here	Marta, quien vive aquí, conoce el barrio.	The antecedent is a person; notice the preposition or explanatory commas.
quienes: mis vecinos, quienes nos ayudaron	my neighbours, who helped us	Mis vecinos, quienes nos ayudaron, ya se fueron.	The antecedent is a person; notice the preposition or explanatory commas.
con quien	with whom; the person I spoke with	Esta es la médica con quien hablé.	The antecedent is a person; notice the preposition or explanatory commas.
a quien	to whom; the person I wrote to	El amigo a quien escribí vive en Lima.	The antecedent is a person; notice the preposition or explanatory commas.
de quienes	about or from whom, plural	Son los autores de quienes te hablé.	The antecedent is a person; notice the preposition or explanatory commas.
quien llegue primero	whoever arrives first	Quien llegue primero abre la puerta.	The antecedent is a person; notice the preposition or explanatory commas.
en la que	in which; feminine antecedent	La sala en la que estudiamos es tranquila.	The article marks gender and number and follows the preposition.
en los que	in which; masculine plural antecedent	Estos son los cursos en los que participé.	The article marks gender and number and follows the preposition.
por el cual	through which; formal masculine form	Cruzamos el puente por el cual pasa el tren.	The article marks gender and number and follows the preposition.
tras la cual	after which; feminine antecedent	Hubo una reunión, tras la cual salimos.	The article marks gender and number and follows the preposition.
lo que dijiste	what you said	Entendí lo que dijiste.	The form refers to an idea, fact or unspecified content.
lo cual me sorprendió	which surprised me; previous clause	Llegó temprano, lo cual me sorprendió.	The form refers to an idea, fact or unspecified content.
el que quiera participar	whoever wants to participate	El que quiera participar debe inscribirse.	The article form introduces a free relative referring to an unspecified person.
cuyo nombre	whose name; masculine possessed noun	Conocí a una autora cuyo nombre recordaba.	Cuyo agrees with the possessed noun that follows.
cuya hermana	whose sister; feminine possessed noun	Es el alumno cuya hermana vive aquí.	Cuyo agrees with the possessed noun that follows.
cuyos libros	whose books; masculine plural	Visitamos al escritor cuyos libros leíste.	Cuyo agrees with the possessed noun that follows.
donde nos conocimos	where we met	Volvimos al lugar donde nos conocimos.	The relative word points to place, time or manner.
cuando vivíamos allí	when we lived there	Recuerdo la época cuando vivíamos allí.	The relative word points to place, time or manner.

Four relative-word groups

Start with the default connector, then add human, prepositional, neutral, possessive and place patterns.

Que: the everyday default

Link a named person or thing directly to its description.

que: el libro que compré · que: la profesora que explica · que: la ciudad que visitamos · que: los ejercicios que faltan · que: el café que está abierto · que: la canción que escuchas

People and prepositions

Use quien(es) where a human antecedent and structure allow it.

quien: Marta, quien vive aquí · quienes: mis vecinos, quienes nos ayudaron · con quien · a quien · de quienes · quien llegue primero

Article forms and complete ideas

Keep the preposition, show agreement or refer to a whole clause.

en la que · en los que · por el cual · tras la cual · lo que dijiste · lo cual me sorprendió · el que quiera participar

Possession, place, time and manner

Use cuyo with agreement and relative adverbs for their natural domains.

cuyo nombre · cuya hermana · cuyos libros · donde nos conocimos · cuando vivíamos allí

How do you choose a Spanish relative pronoun?

Choose que first when it directly links a named person or thing and no preposition is needed.

For a person after a preposition, quien(es) is often concise; article forms are also possible in many contexts.

Use cuyo before the possessed noun and make it agree with that noun, not with the owner.

Hola Cards is a Spanish flashcard app from holacards.org for iOS and Android. It is free to download, requires no account, has no ads, and works offline. The interface is available in English, Russian, and Portuguese; cards support translations in 28 languages and 18 practice and game modes. You can import these 24 fixed sentence patterns into a custom group and practise them with Spanish audio, writing, pronunciation, and spaced review. Hola Cards does not parse relative clauses, choose a relative word, or correct a new sentence automatically.

Connect relative clauses with pronouns, word order, prepositions and sentence-building practice.

Spanish subject pronouns Spanish direct object pronouns Spanish word order rules Spanish prepositions of place Spanish flashcards with sentences

Relative-pronoun cards connected across sentence halves beside headphones and a Spanish flashcard screen — Hear the full clause and write the connector with its preposition and agreement.

A five-minute relative-pronoun drill

Choose six rows and cover the relative pattern.
Name the antecedent and decide whether it is a person, thing, place or idea.
Find any preposition required by the second clause.
Say the complete Spanish sentence and check agreement.
Write one new sentence, then verify it before adding it to your group.

Language references

The distinctions and examples were checked against RAE–ASALE grammar and Instituto Cervantes B1–B2 materials.

FAQ

What is the most common Spanish relative pronoun?

Que is the broad default and can refer to people or things when no preposition is needed.

Can Spanish relative que be omitted?

Not in the ordinary pattern used in this guide: el libro que compré keeps que.

When should I use quien?

It refers only to people and is common after a preposition or in a non-restrictive clause.

What does cuyo agree with?

Cuyo, cuya, cuyos and cuyas agree with the possessed noun that follows, not with the possessor.

What is the difference between lo que and lo cual?

Both can refer to a situation or idea; lo cual normally points back to an explicit preceding clause, while lo que can also introduce a free relative such as what you said.

Can Hola Cards choose the correct relative pronoun?

No. It helps you import and practise the 24 fixed, checked examples in this guide.

Copy 24 examples into Hola Cards

Open word groups in Hola Cards, choose paste/import, and paste the block. Each line keeps one complete relative pattern with its meaning.

**Spanish relative pronouns: 24 examples**

que: el libro que compré - the book that I bought
que: la profesora que explica - the teacher who explains
que: la ciudad que visitamos - the city that we visited
que: los ejercicios que faltan - the exercises that remain
que: el café que está abierto - the café that is open
que: la canción que escuchas - the song that you are listening to
quien: Marta, quien vive aquí - Marta, who lives here
quienes: mis vecinos, quienes nos ayudaron - my neighbours, who helped us
con quien - with whom; the person I spoke with
a quien - to whom; the person I wrote to
de quienes - about or from whom, plural
quien llegue primero - whoever arrives first
en la que - in which; feminine antecedent
en los que - in which; masculine plural antecedent
por el cual - through which; formal masculine form
tras la cual - after which; feminine antecedent
lo que dijiste - what you said
lo cual me sorprendió - which surprised me; previous clause
el que quiera participar - whoever wants to participate
cuyo nombre - whose name; masculine possessed noun
cuya hermana - whose sister; feminine possessed noun
cuyos libros - whose books; masculine plural
donde nos conocimos - where we met
cuando vivíamos allí - when we lived there

Importing 24 Spanish relative-pronoun examples into a custom Hola Cards group — Complete clauses preserve the antecedent, preposition and agreement that determine the form.

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