Relative pronouns are used to refer to another expression or concept that

preceded it. In English we have (that, which, or who). In Spanish we find (que,
quien, quienes, el que, el cual) Note that these pronouns are not accents like
the interrogative ones. So relative pronouns are pronouns that are used to
introduce a clause that provides more information about a noun. Thus in the
sentence "The lady who is talking is my teacher," the relative pronoun is
"who"; the clause "who is talking" provides more information about the
sentence's subject, "the lady." In the Spanish equivalent, la mujer que habla es
mi profesora, the relative pronoun is que.

Spanish Relative Pronouns

Pronouns
Examples
Que (who)
Me gusta la cancin que estas cantando. (I like the song that
you're singing) Que must be used when the relative pronoun
comes immediately after the antecedent, when there is
nothing between the two.
Quien, quienes
Conoces a Juan, quien habla ocho idiomas. (Do you know
(who, whom)
John, who speaks 8 languages.) Es la profesora de quien te
dije. (She is the teacher I told you about.) Dont confuse
between Quien and Que. Quien is used after a preposition.
Or separated by commas from the noun it describes,
el que, la que,
Mario es el muchacho con el que vas a estudiar. (Mario is
lo que, los que,
the student with whom you will study) This pronoun must
las que (which,
match the noun it refers to in both number and gender. It is
who, whom)
often interchangeable with el cual but is somewhat more
informal in usage.
el cual, la cual,
Ese era el tema sobre el cual yo estaba hablando (this was
lo cual, los cuales, the subject Which I was talking about) This pronoun must
las cuales (which, match the noun it refers to in both number and gender. It is
who, whom)
used in formal writing more often than in speech
cuyo, cuya,cuyos, Conozco personalmente a ese autor cuyos libros me brindan
cuyas (whose)
tanto placer (I know this author personally, whose books are
a lot of fun) This pronoun must match the noun it modifies
in both number and gender. It is used more in writing than in
speech. Not used in questions, where de quin is used
instead, as in De quin es esta camseta? (Whose shirt is
this?)
Donde (where)
Voy a Espaa donde se habla espaol. (I'm going to Spain
where Spanish is spoken.)

Not also that we can omit relative pronouns in English, but not in Spanish: I
like the song (that) youre singing, (that) is not necessary in this sentence, but
in Spanish it cannot be omitted: me gusta la cancin que estas cantando.
Que = that, which, who.
Quien = who, or whom after a preposition.
El que = that, which, who, whom.
El cual = that, which, who, whom.
It seems that they all mean the same thing!! So how do we know which one in
specific cases? A general rule is the longer the distance between the antecedent
and the relative pronoun, the longer is the relative pronoun to be used, knowing
that the shortest one is (que) with three characters and longest is el cual (6
characters).
Que: must be used when the relative pronoun comes immediately after the
antecedent, when there is nothing between the two.
Me gusta la casa que tienes. (I like the house that you have).
Quien: is used when the antecedent is a person and there is some distance
between the antecedent and the relative pronoun (a comma or a short (one- or
two-syllable) preposition):
Roberto es el hombre con quien salgo. (Robert is the person who Im going out
with).

El que and the other forms (la que, los que, las que): are typically used when
there is some distance between the relative pronoun and the antecedent, for
example after a comma or a one-word preposition. This includes one-syllable
prepositions often used with que (like en) and especially those which que
might cause confusion if used with que, for example:
El pueblo en el que nac (the village where I was born).
El cual and the accompanying forms la cual, los cuales, and las cuales, are
used when there is greater distance between the antecedent and the relative
pronoun. The most typical examples is after compound prepositions such as
acerca de (about, concerning), al lado de (beside), antes de (before), cerca de
(near), debajo de (underneath), delante de (in front of), dentro de (inside),
despus de (after), detrs de (behind), and por encima de (on top of). As with

el que, the numerous forms for el cual make it useful to distinguish between
more than one possible antecedent.
La violencia domstica es un mal sobre el cual es difcil hablar.

Spanish Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are quin, qu, cul, and cunto . A pronoun is a

word that replaces a noun, and interrogative means questioning, so
interrogative pronouns are pronouns used to ask the questions like who, what,
which, and how much/many. Note that all of these words have accents.

Spanish Interrogative Pronouns

Quin (who, whom) plural Quin est aqu? Who is here? Quin viene
Quines.
conmigo? Who's coming with me? Quines han
ganado? Who won?
Quin can also follow a
preposition.

A quin hablis? To whom are you speaking? De

quin es este libro? Whose book is this?

Qu (what)

Qu quiere? What does he want? Qu piensas del

libro? What do you think of the book? Qu es eso?
What is this?

Cul (what, which) plural Cul quieres - la pluma o el lpiz? Which do you
cules
want - the pen or the pencil? Hay muchas ideas.
Cules prefieres? There are a lot of ideas. Which
ones do you prefer?
Cunto (how much)
plural cuntos (how
many).

Tienes dinero? Cunto? Do you have any money?

How much? Cuntos estn en el coche? How
many are in the car?

Spanish Demonstrative Pronouns

Spanish has three demonstrative pronouns where English only has two. In
English, we say "this" or "that" depending upon whether the object is close to

us or not. In Spanish, we also say "this" and "that," but there is another extra
word used to mean "that one over there." This form is used when the object is
more than just a short distance away, for example, on the other side of the
room. Here are the three forms for "this" "that" and "that one over there".
este (this) - ese (that) -aquel (that one over there).
Remember, the demonstrative pronouns are the same as the demonstrative
adjectives, except that the pronouns have a written accent.

Spanish Demonstrative Pronouns

this (este: adjective) (ste: pronoun) se (that one - masculine)
that (ese: adjective) (se: pronoun)
sos (those ones - masculine)
that one over there (aquel: adjective) sa (that one - feminine)
(aqul: pronoun)
sas (those ones - feminine)
ste (this one - masculine)
aqul (that one over there - masc.)
stos (these ones - masculine)
aqullos (those ones over there - masc.)
sta (this one - feminine)
aqulla (that one over there - fem.)
stas (these ones - feminine)
aqullas (those ones over there - fem.)

Each demonstrative pronoun also has a neuter form. They do not change for
number or gender, they do not have a written accent, and they are used to refer
to abstract ideas, or to an unknown object.
esto (this matter, this thing)
eso (that matter, that thing)
aquello (that matter/thing over there)