Que is a connective word used in Spanish in subordinate clauses.
Que in indirect speech
When que is used in indirect speech, i.e reporting what someone says, we need to use "que": we cannot omit it, even though in English "that" is optional.
Here are some examples:
You can see in the examples above that you could omit "that" in English, but in Spanish you cannot omit "que"; the sentence would not make sense.
Que as a relative pronoun
When we use "que" as a relative pronoun, i.e referring to a noun, the same rule applies. Note that in this case, in English, you cannot always omit which/that either.
La vecina que vive en el tercer piso hace mucho ruido.The neighbour who lives on the third floor makes a lot of noise.
These sentences would be incorrect in Spanish, they don't make sense without que:
El chocolate te comiste era mío.
Nuestro perro, tiene solo 3 meses, tuvo un accidente ayer.
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Learn more about these related Spanish grammar topics
Examples and resources
Ella me dijo que su novio quería casarse con ella.She told me (that) her boyfriend wanted to marry her.
La vecina que vive en el tercer piso hace mucho ruido.The neighbour who lives on the third floor makes a lot of noise.
