11.8.11

Relative Pronouns: 'Que' & 'Quien'

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'Que' and 'Quien'

'Que' is the shortest and most simple way of saying that or who. It is used when you need a simple link to talk about either people or things. 'Quien' is only used to talk about people.

Illustrative background for 'Que'Illustrative background for 'Que' ?? "content

'Que'

  • 'Que' can mean that, who or whom, it depends on the sentence.
    • El hombre que pronunció el discurso.
      • The man that gave the speech.
    • Mi hermana que vive en Nueva York.
      • My sister who lives in New York.
Illustrative background for 'Quien'Illustrative background for 'Quien' ?? "content

'Quien'

  • 'Quien' is only used to talk about people.
  • It is also used after a preposition rather than 'que'.
  • If 'quien' matches with a plural word it changes to 'quienes'.
    • Mi madre, quien es profesora, va a España hoy
      • My mum, who is a teacher, is going to Spain today.
    • El hombre con quien hablo.
      • The man, with whom I speak.
    • Las personas quienes me conocen bien.
      • The people who know me well.

Jump to other topics

1The Basics

2Everyday Activities

3Personal & Social Life

4The World Around Us

5The World of Work

6The International World

7Listening

7.1Time Expressions - Listening

7.2The Human Body & Health - Listening

7.3Food & Drink - Listening

7.4Travel & Transport - Listening

7.5Self, Family & Friends - Listening

7.6In the Home - Listening

7.7Colours - Listening

7.8Clothes & Accesories - Listening

7.9Leisure Time - Listening

7.10People & Places - Listening

7.11The Environment - Listening

7.12Communications & Technology - Listening

7.13The Built Environment - Listening

7.14Measurements - Listening

7.15Materials - Listening

7.16The World of Work - Listening

7.17Culture, Customs, Faith & Celebrations

8Common Tenses

8.1Present Tense

8.2Preterite Tense

8.3Imperfect Tense

8.4Preterite vs Imperfect Tenses

8.5Future Tense

9Important Verbs

10Advanced Tenses

10.1Future

10.2Conditional

10.3Continuous Tenses

10.4Perfect Tense

10.5Passive

10.6Present Subjunctive

10.7Imperfect Subjunctive

10.8Imperative

11Extra Grammar

11.1Articles

11.2Negatives

11.3Nouns

11.4Asking Questions

11.5Adjectives

11.6Adverbs

11.7Conjunctions

11.8Pronouns

11.9Prepositions

11.10Verbs

11.11Comparisons & Superlative

11.12Numbers, Expressions of Quantity, Dates & Times

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