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The Spanish relative pronouns el que, la que, los que and las que are used to refer to both people and things. They can be translated as the one/ones that/who in English.
Learn how to use Spanish relative pronouns el que, la que, los que, las que
These relative pronouns can be placed either at the beginning of a sentence with no antecedent or in the middle of a sentence with an antecedent.
With no antecedent
In these cases it is "understood" who or what the antecedent is.
In both sentences above, although there is no antecedent, it is understood that:
- in the first sentence "el que" refers to un hombre, a man.
- in the second sentence "el que" refers to un libro, a book.
These must have been mentioned previously in the conversation so that the other person knows what they are referring to.
Now, have a look at some examples that refer to a feminine noun:
In the first example, it is understood by the context that it refers to a woman.
In the second example, we know by the context that it refers to some objects. These would have been mentioned in the conversation previously.
Apart from the articles el/la/los/las which give us a clue as to the gender and number, there are other elements in the sentence that help. These other elements agree in gender and number with the relative pronoun.
For example, on this example:
La que me insultó era una chica morena.
The one who insulted me was a dark-haired girl.
The verbs insultó and era are singular, in agreement with la. There is also agreement in number and gender with una chica morena.
More examples:
La que enseñaba francés, se jubiló el año pasado.The one who used to teach French, retired last year. [one = feminine]
Las que comimos en ese restaurante, estaban deliciosas.The ones that we ate in that restaurant, were delicious. [ones = feminine plural]
Las que me atraen más son rubias y altas.The ones that I am attracted to the most are blond and tall. [ones = feminine plural]
Los que se fabrican en Rusia, son de buena calidad.The ones that are made in Russia, are of good quality.
Los que hayan reservado con antelación pueden ir a esa ventanilla.The ones who booked in advance can go to that desk.
With antecedent
In these cases we generally find it preceded by the verb ser.
With antecedent (between commas)
When we have an antecedent followed by a relative (el que, la que, los que, las que) but we are adding information to clarify which specific group within that subject we are referring to, we add commas and the meaning of the sentence changes:
For example:
Here we are being very specific about who we are talking about, clarifiying which lady we are referring to.
The speaker is being specific here about which bananas his friend should take. You can imagine a bowl full of bananas, some of them ripe and some not ripe.
Quien / quienes
Bear in mind that el que, la que, los que, las que can be replaced by quien/quienes without changing the meaning, only in the cases where they refer to people, not things.
Quien dirija ese departamento debe ser muy listo.The one who/Whoever leads that department must be very smart.
El que dirija ese departamento debe ser muy listo.The one who/Whoever leads that department must be very smart.
See also Pronombre relativo
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