Relative clauses: connect a noun to more information

What you’ll learn

• Join two statements with a relative que clause.
• Recognize the role of a preposition before a relative.
• Use commas to signal an extra comment rather than essential identification.

Avoid repeating the same noun

A relative clause adds information about a noun. Instead of Tengo un libro. El libro explica la historia, say Tengo un libro que explica la historia. Que can refer to people or things and does not take the accent used in the question word qué. Keep a clear noun for the reader to connect it to.

A clause can identify which member of a group you mean: Los estudiantes que terminaron pueden salir. This does not say every student finished. An extra comment, separated by commas, presents additional information about an already identified group. Punctuation therefore changes the interpretation, not just the rhythm of reading.

Keep the relationship's preposition

If the verb or phrase requires a preposition, keep it: la persona con quien trabajo, la casa en la que vivo. Quien/quienes refers to people in these examples. The forms el que, la que, los que and las que can follow a preposition and agree with the antecedent. Do not copy English's option of leaving a preposition at the end of a clause.

Lo que refers to a thing, idea or content without an ordinary masculine/feminine noun antecedent: No entiendo lo que dices. Make the reference easy to follow, especially in a long sentence. When a relative clause becomes hard to read, split the sentence and preserve the intended relationship.

Useful vocabulary

lo que

what / that which

con quien

with whom

al lado

next door / beside

Common mistakes

• Relative que has no interrogative accent.
• Keep a required preposition before the relative expression.
• Commas can change whether a clause identifies a subset or adds a comment.

Keep these ideas

• A relative clause connects information to a noun or idea.
• Que works with people and things in many basic clauses.
• Preserve prepositions and make the antecedent clear.

Use it in your life

Combine three pairs of short story sentences using relative clauses. Check that each que has an obvious reference.

Read it in context

Look for this lesson’s ideas in a complete Spanish story. Read the passage first, then use its translations to check your understanding.