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Que & Quien

Spanish: AQA A Level, topic 15.9.1

'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.

'Que'

'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.
'Quien'

'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.

'El Que' and 'El Cual'

'El Que' and 'El Cual' are used with people, animals and things. They need to match with the word they refer to. They have the same meaning and can be used in the same way.

El que, la que, los que, las que

El que, la que, los que, las que

  • These forms of 'que' need a preposition (a, con, para) to be used.
  • El programa con el que trabajan.
    • The program with which they work.
  • Llevan auyda a los que la necesitan.
    • They bring help to those who need it.
El cual, la cual, los cuales, las cuales

El cual, la cual, los cuales, las cuales

  • These have the same meaning as 'el que, la que' etc.
  • They also need a preposition to be used in a sentence.
  • La gente con la cual trabajamos.
    • The people with whom we work.
  • Las cosas para las cuales no tienes tiempo.
    • The things for which you don't have time.

'Lo Que' and 'Lo Cual'

'Lo que' and 'lo cual' are used to talk about situations, concepts and sentences as a whole.

'Lo que'

'Lo que'

  • 'Lo que' can be used either at the start of a sentence or after a phrase.
  • Lo que quiero decir es que me gusta el queso.
    • What I want to say it that I like the cheese.
  • Pase lo que pase.
    • Whatever happens, happens.
'Lo cual'

'Lo cual'

  • The main difference between these two is that 'lo cual' is not often used at the start of a sentence.
  • It is normally used in reference to something else.
  • Entienden nuestro propósito, lo cual es importante.
    • They understand our aim, which is important.

Test yourself on Que & Quien

  • Which of these is NOT correct?

  • How do you say 'the women with whom I speak' in Spanish?

  • How do you say 'the people with which I work' in Spanish?

  • How do you say 'out of those that stand out' in Spanish?

  • How do you say 'what I want to say' in Spanish?

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