When is que used in spanish

The word appears everywhere. But just what does que mean in Spanish? Is it a pronoun or a conjunction? When should you say it? How do you use it correctly? This blog post will come in handy so you can know when and how to use it. Are you ready to step up your Spanish game? Before I start explaining and giving examples, ask yourself this question. What does que mean in Spanish? Do you have an exact answer? In Spanish grammar, the word que is a relative pronoun.

Relative pronouns are used as an introduction to a clause that provides information about a noun. Punctuation signs like question marks also play a big part in the meaning. Which place is nicer, the restaurant or the movies? The English translation is defined by the sentence and which adjective it has. For example:. So, how do you identify which one is correct?

Different scenarios exist for identifying the proper translation and use. The book which I like the most is Harry Potter. As can be seen in the following sentences, que usually means "that," "which," "who," or , less often,"whom.

In many cases, sentences using que as a relative pronoun can be translated with an optional relative pronoun in English. An example is the final sentence above, which could have been translated as "The first person I saw was my sister. If you're a beginning Spanish student, you likely won't need to use the other relative pronouns of Spanish, but you certainly will come across them in writing and speech.

Here they are with examples of their usage:. Quien is most commonly used following a preposition , as in the first example below. It can also be used in what grammarians call a nonrestrictive clause, one separated by commas from the noun it describes, as in the second example. In that second example, que also could be used instead of quien.

It is used in formal writing more often than in speech. It is often interchangeable with el cual but is more informal in usage. It is used more in writing than in speech.

Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Look at the following examples. Que can also be used together with the prepositions a, con, de, or en to form phrases like at which, in which, to which, et cetera.

To use these expressions properly, you need to have a basic understanding of English grammatical rules governing prepositions. Spanish has a much more rigid grammatical structure than English in many cases. Compare the sentences below. It is impossible to form sentences in Spanish using the informal structure in the first column.

Look again at the first pair of sentences above. Compare these two direct translations into Spanish. If it seems a bit confusing, remember that a similar grammatical rule governs the construction of questions in Spanish. Quien is used to refer to people. It can mean who, whom, or that and is often used with the prepositions a, con, and de.

In the previous examples, que and quien have both referred to specific nouns e. As mentioned before, the word cual can be used in statements as well as in questions, as long as it has a definite article el, la, los, or las in front.

When used in statements rather than questions, it can meanthat, who, and whom. Note that el que and its forms la que, los que, and las que can also be used to talk about the one s orthat one s when you are clarifying which person or thing you are referring to. Castle, who is a music teacher, knows how to play the piano.

Using Relative Pronouns Relative pronouns add more information about a noun in a sentence. Juan tiene dos perros Juan has two dogs. Juan tiene dos perros QUE son negros Juan has two dogs that are black. QUE with Prepositions Que can also be used together with the prepositions a, con, de, or en to form phrases like at which, in which, to which, et cetera. The person with whom I went was late. The restaurant we went to was busy. The restaurant to which we went was busy.

The topic we talked about was boring. The topic about which we talked was boring. La persona con quien fui estaba atrasada. The first sentence makes no sense in Spanish. The second sentence is correct. To whom am I speaking? Who are you going with? With whom are you going? Where are you going to? To where are you going?