Catalan does not choose among que, què, qui, and el qual by translating English “who,” “that,” or “which.” It first asks what job the relative expression performs inside its clause. Unstressed que is the ordinary subject or direct object; after the prepositions that admit it, stressed què normally refers to a thing, while qui after a preposition refers to a person; el qual and its agreeing forms can replace those prepositional relatives and can also clarify a parenthetical relative in more formal prose.
Accent, preposition, antecedent, and punctuation all matter. The difference between que and què is not decorative: que is unstressed and never follows a preposition in this use, whereas relative què is stressed and normally has an expressed nonhuman antecedent.
For complete inventories rather than this decision path, see basic relative que and prepositional relatives.
The decision workflow
- Find the antecedent: the noun or idea that the relative clause describes.
- Reconstruct the missing element inside the relative clause.
- If it is the subject or an ordinary direct object, choose que.
- With a human direct object, que is still the general choice, but a qui and forms of el qual are also possible in specified contexts, especially to prevent ambiguity or with psychological verbs.
- If another preposition governs the relative, keep it. Choose qui for a person, què with a nonhuman antecedent after a preposition that admits it, or an agreeing form of el qual.
- Check punctuation. Commas make the clause parenthetical; they can make el qual available where a restrictive clause prefers que.
- Use register and ambiguity—not an English word—as the final tie-breaker.
| Structure inside the relative | Usual choice | Example frame |
|---|---|---|
| subject or ordinary direct object | que | la veïna que truca; el llibre que llegeixo |
| human direct object, especially with ambiguity or a psychological verb | que generally; a qui / el qual also possible according to context | la persona a qui van premiar |
| a, de, en, amb, sobre (and some uses of per) + nonhuman antecedent | preposition + què | l'eina amb què treballo |
| preposition + human antecedent | preposition + qui | la persona amb qui treballo |
| preposition + explicit agreement or formal clarity | el qual, la qual, els quals, les quals | la norma segons la qual actuem |
| whole preceding proposition | la qual cosa | Va dimitir, la qual cosa ens va sorprendre |
Que: no preposition, no accent
Use invariant que when the missing element is the relative clause's subject or direct object. It can refer to people or things, singular or plural, and it works in both restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses. English may omit an object relative; Catalan may not.
La tècnica que vindrà demà ja coneix l'avaria.
The technician who will come tomorrow already knows about the fault. (Que is the relative-clause subject.)
No trobo la factura que em vas enviar dilluns al matí.
I can't find the invoice you sent me on Monday morning. (Que is the direct object and cannot be omitted.)
El director, que avui treballa des de casa, signarà el document al vespre.
The director, who is working from home today, will sign the document this evening. (Parenthetical que; the commas add extra information.)
Compare the first minimal contrast. The antecedent stays nonhuman, but the syntactic role changes:
La clau que obre aquesta porta és dins el calaix.
The key that opens this door is in the drawer. (Subject of obre → que.)
La clau amb què obro aquesta porta és dins el calaix.
The key with which I open this door is in the drawer. (Instrument introduced by amb → què.)
Do not use bare qui merely because the antecedent is human. In a headed restrictive subject relative, the natural standard form is que: la metgessa que m'ha atès, not la metgessa qui m'ha atès. With a human direct object, que is also the most general choice, while a qui and a form of el qual are alternatives in specified contexts, especially in nonrestrictive clauses, to prevent a subject-object ambiguity, or with psychological verbs. In a headed relative, direct-object qui always appears as a qui; it is not a bare subject relative.
La persona a qui van premiar va agrair el suport de tot l'equip.
The person whom they honored thanked the whole team for its support. (A qui marks an animate direct object and keeps the roles explicit.)
Què or qui after a preposition
When the relative has the same relation as de la proposta, amb l'eina, en el criteri, or per la causa, move the preposition before the relative. With a nonhuman antecedent, què occurs after a, de, en, amb, and sobre, and after per in certain contexts. Other prepositions and locutions generally favor el qual. With a person, qui is available after many prepositions and locutions. Both què and qui are invariable.
Aquest és el projecte de què parlàvem durant el viatge.
This is the project we were talking about during the journey. (De + nonhuman antecedent → de què.)
Aquesta és l'arquitecta de qui parlàvem durant el viatge.
This is the architect we were talking about during the journey. (De + person → de qui.)
That is the second minimal contrast: only the antecedent's animacy changes. A third one holds amb and the event constant:
Han localitzat el sensor amb què mesuraven la humitat.
They have found the sensor with which they measured the humidity.
Han localitzat l'enginyera amb qui mesuraven la humitat.
They have found the engineer with whom they measured the humidity.
The accent in relative què remains even though there is no question. Conversely, interrogative què? and qui? can appear without antecedents: Què vols? Qui ha trucat? Their question function is different from the headed relatives on this page.
El qual: agreement, heavier prepositions, and clarity
The compound relative agrees with its antecedent: el qual, la qual, els quals, les quals. After a and de, the masculine singular contracts: al qual, del qual. It is especially natural after compound or semantically strong prepositions such as davant de, al costat de, gràcies a, segons, and contra. It is correct with simple prepositions too, but normally sounds more (formal) than què or qui.
Han restaurat la masia al costat de la qual passa el rec.
They have restored the farmhouse beside which the irrigation channel runs. (The complex preposition favors la qual.)
Aquest és el protocol segons el qual s'han d'etiquetar les mostres.
This is the protocol according to which the samples must be labeled. (formal/technical)
With simple prepositions, two choices are often possible. The shorter form is neutral; el qual is more explicit or formal:
La proposta amb què treballarem ja té pressupost.
The proposal we will work with already has a budget. (Neutral.)
La proposta amb la qual treballarem ja té pressupost.
The proposal with which we will work already has a budget. (More explicit/formal.)
This fourth minimal pair changes register, not truth conditions. The same is possible with people: el professor amb qui col·laboro is neutral; el professor amb el qual col·laboro is more formal and overtly marks gender and number.
Without a preposition, el qual is generally reserved for a nonrestrictive clause, where it can disambiguate the antecedent. It is not the ordinary replacement for restrictive que.
La gerent va consultar la secretària, la qual ja havia llegit l'informe.
The manager consulted the secretary, who had already read the report. (La qual identifies the secretary unambiguously; formal.)
Busquem la secretària que ja ha llegit l'informe.
We are looking for the secretary who has already read the report. (Restrictive: que identifies which secretary.)
That fifth minimal contrast also shows why punctuation matters: the first clause presupposes a particular secretary and comments on her; the second selects one from a possible set.
When the antecedent is a whole clause
To comment on an entire preceding proposition, use la qual cosa in careful prose. A bare agreeing el qual cannot agree with a whole event, and relative què requires a nominal antecedent after a preposition.
Van ajornar la votació, la qual cosa ens va permetre revisar l'esmena.
They postponed the vote, which allowed us to review the amendment. (La qual cosa refers to the whole postponement.)
Compare a noun antecedent:
Van ajornar la votació, la qual havia generat moltes protestes.
They postponed the vote, which had prompted many protests. (La qual refers specifically to la votació.)
This sixth pair differs only in what the relative points back to: the event of postponing versus the noun votació.
Ambiguous English prompts need Catalan context
“The colleague I spoke to” does not reveal whether the colleague was an interlocutor or merely the topic. Catalan makes that relation explicit:
La companya amb qui vaig parlar vindrà a la reunió.
The colleague I spoke with will come to the meeting. (She was my interlocutor.)
La companya de qui vaig parlar vindrà a la reunió.
The colleague I spoke about will come to the meeting. (She was the topic.)
Likewise, English “the paper which changed everything” needs punctuation and discourse context. L'article que ho va canviar tot identifies the article; L'article, el qual ho va canviar tot, comments parenthetically on an already identified article and is markedly formal.
A dialogue where the form changes the meaning
—És la consultora amb qui treballes? —No, és la consultora de qui et parlava ahir.
—Is she the consultant you work with? —No, she's the consultant I was telling you about yesterday.
—I aquest document? —És l'informe amb què treballo, no l'informe que ja he acabat.
—And this document? —It's the report I'm working with, not the report I've already finished.
Amb qui identifies a collaborator, de qui identifies the topic of speech, amb què marks an instrument or working material, and bare que marks the object of he acabat. Translating all four as English “that/who/which” would erase the relations that Catalan encodes.
Regional and register guidance
The core system is shared by contemporary IEC and AVL standards. (Regional: Valencian) pronunciation and some accent conventions elsewhere in the language differ, but the relative contrast remains que / què / qui / el qual. (Formal) el qual is more frequent in administrative, legal, and academic prose; in conversation, preposition + què/qui is usually lighter. (Informal) resumptive constructions such as la noia que hi treballo are heard in several regions, but careful cross-regional writing uses la noia amb qui treballo. Do not treat a real colloquial pattern as the formal baseline.
Common Mistakes
❌ El programa que treballem cada dia és molt antic.
Incorrect: treballar amb governs the missing complement, so the preposition cannot disappear.
✅ El programa amb què treballem cada dia és molt antic.
The program we work with every day is very old.
❌ La periodista qui ha signat l'article viu a Alacant.
Incorrect in a headed subject relative: a human antecedent does not by itself license bare qui.
✅ La periodista que ha signat l'article viu a Alacant.
The journalist who signed the article lives in Alicante.
❌ L'empresa per que treballo obrirà una oficina nova.
Incorrect: this complement requires per a plus a suitable prepositional relative.
✅ L'empresa per a la qual treballo obrirà una oficina nova.
The company I work for will open a new office.
❌ La norma, que segons actuem, es va aprovar al juny.
Incorrect: segons precedes an agreeing compound relative.
✅ La norma segons la qual actuem es va aprovar al juny.
The rule according to which we act was approved in June.
Correction task
Correct La investigadora qui t'he parlat ha creat el mètode que analitzem les dades. Reconstruct t'he parlat de la investigadora and analitzem les dades amb el mètode:
La investigadora de qui t'he parlat ha creat el mètode amb què analitzem les dades.
The researcher I told you about created the method with which we analyze the data.
The reliable sequence is syntactic: subject/direct object gives que; a retained preposition leads to què, qui, or an agreeing el qual form; commas and register then refine the choice.
Key Takeaways
- Use unstressed que for a relative-clause subject or direct object, whatever the antecedent's gender or animacy.
- After a, de, en, or amb—and in licensed uses after sobre or per—neutral usage often chooses què for a thing and qui for a person; other prepositions may require or favor el qual.
- Use agreeing el qual forms for stronger prepositions, explicit agreement, formal register, or clarity in a parenthetical clause.
- Reconstruct the Catalan complement and read the punctuation before translating English “who,” “that,” or “which.”
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Start learning Catalan →Related Topics
- Relative QueB1 — Use invariant unstressed que to build Catalan subject and direct-object relative clauses without omission, agreement, or stranded prepositions.
- Prepositional Relatives with Què, Qui, and El QualB1 — Choose què, qui, or the agreeing forms of el qual after Catalan prepositions and avoid stranded or resumptive alternatives.
- Relative OnB1 — Use locative on for literal places and directions, add spatial prepositions when needed, and choose en què or el qual for nonlocative relations.
- Possessive Relatives with Del QualB1 — How formal Catalan expresses whose with a possessed noun followed by del qual and its agreeing forms.
- Free RelativesB1 — How qui, el que, allò que, com, quan, and on form relative clauses without an overt antecedent.
- Restrictive versus Nonrestrictive RelativesB2 — Use reference, prosody, punctuation, and relative forms to distinguish identifying Catalan relatives from parenthetical ones.