Relative Pronouns / Los pronombres relativos

Relative pronouns link a dependent clause to a main clause, providing a smooth transition from one idea to another. As pronouns, they refer back to a noun in the main clause, called the antecedent. In contrast to English, the relative pronoun can never be omitted in Spanish:

main clause	rel.	dependent clause
Celebramos la belleza We celebrate the beauty	que (that)	vemos en el mundo. we see in the world.
"beauty" is the antecedent in this example

 A. QUE (that, which, who)

The most frequently used relative pronoun is que, which can refer to people, places, things, and abstract ideas. If you always used que, you would be right most of the time:

Conozco al niño que estudia aquí. Eres la persona que necesito. Me gustan las novelas que escribes. La gente que habla bien, tiene éxito.

I know the boy who studies here. You are the person (whom) I need. I like the novels (that) you write. People who speak well, succeed.

B. RELATIVE PRONOUNS USED AFTER PREPOSITIONS

When a preposition is involved (to whom, by which, etc.), the following forms are used:

for people only, after prepositions	for people or things, after prepositions
quien, quienes	el que forms		el cual forms
	el que la que	los que las que	el cual la cual	los cuales las cuales

• QUIEN/QUIENES can be used after a preposition only if the antecedent is a person:

Ese es el médico de quien hablo. Los niños con quienes juego.

That's the doctor I'm talking about. The children I play with (with whom I play).

• EL QUE /EL CUAL forms are used after a preposition to refer to any antecent (whether a person or not):

Los temas sobre los que hablan son tontos. La dama para la cual trabajas es famosa.

The topics they talk about are silly. The lady you work for is famous.

• EL CUAL forms tend to be more formal, but are basically interchangeable with EL QUE forms. Both sets of forms can be used for people or things after a preposition.

• QUE can be used after the simple prepositions de, con, en if the antecedent 
is not a person:
La educación es el arma con que creamos la paz. Education is the weapon we create peace with.

• All forms can be used in nonrestrictive clauses set off by a comma (minding their gender and number agreement with the noun; quien(es) for people only):
Esta autora, que/quien/la que/la cual vive en Brasil, va a visitar nuestra ciudad.
This author, who lives in Brasil, is going to visit our city.

C. CUYO, LO CUAL, LO QUE

• CUYO (A, OS, AS) is the equivalent of 'whose' used as a relative in English (not for questions):

Es un autor cuyos libros conozco bien. BUT: ¿De quién es esta pluma?

It's an author whose books I know well. Whose pen is this?

• Both neuter forms LO CUAL and LO QUE are used in clauses, set off by a comma, referring back to a previously stated idea. In this usage they correspond to the English which:

Dicen que soy brillante, lo cual es cierto. Hay nubes, lo que indica lluvia.

They say I'm brilliant, which is true. There are some clouds, which indicates rain.

• LO QUE means what in noun clauses:

Esto es lo que quiero. Lo que pensamos no es importante.

This is what I want. What we think is not important.

• TODO LO QUE means all that or everything that:

Todo lo que escribe es bueno. Todo lo que pido es tranquilidad.

Everything (that) she writes is good. All (that) I ask for is tranquility.

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