Plain que is the workhorse Spanish relative pronoun — it covers the vast majority of everyday relative clauses (el libro que leo, la chica que vive arriba). But Spanish has two longer relative series that step in when que alone is not enough: the compound relative el que / la que / los que / las que and the more formal el cual / la cual / los cuales / las cuales. They become obligatory after most prepositions, and they earn their keep in long sentences where you need to point unambiguously back to the right antecedent. This page explains when each form is required, when it is preferred, and how the register split between el que (everyday) and el cual (formal/written) works in peninsular Spanish.
The two paradigms
Both series agree in gender and number with their antecedent — the noun they refer back to.
| Masculine singular | Feminine singular | Masculine plural | Feminine plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compound (everyday) | el que | la que | los que | las que |
| Formal (written/elevated) | el cual | la cual | los cuales | las cuales |
There is also a neuter form, lo que and lo cual, used when the antecedent is not a noun but a whole idea or clause. That use is covered in detail on the dedicated lo que page; this page focuses on the gendered forms.
When you need more than plain que
Plain que works as subject or direct object inside a relative clause:
El libro que está sobre la mesa es mío.
The book that's on the table is mine.
La película que vimos anoche era horrible.
The film we saw last night was awful.
But que runs into trouble in three situations: after most prepositions, when the antecedent is ambiguous, and in non-restrictive (explanatory) clauses where the speaker wants extra weight or clarity. In all three, el que or el cual takes over.
After a preposition (the main use)
This is the core rule. After most prepositions — sobre, bajo, contra, entre, durante, desde, hacia, hasta, según, mediante, tras, and any two-word preposition like delante de, al lado de, junto a, cerca de — Spanish does not allow bare que. You need el que or el cual (or quien if the antecedent is a person).
La mesa sobre la que escribo es de mi abuela.
The desk I write on belonged to my grandmother.
El puente bajo el cual nos refugiamos de la lluvia ya no existe.
The bridge we sheltered under from the rain no longer exists.
Esos son los principios según los cuales fue redactada la constitución.
Those are the principles according to which the constitution was drafted.
La playa hacia la que caminábamos estaba a tres kilómetros.
The beach we were walking toward was three kilometers away.
With the short, frequent prepositions a, con, de, en, por, para, you have a choice. Plain que (with a definite article preceding it) is widely accepted and very common in speech:
La empresa en la que trabajo abrió otra oficina en Bilbao.
The company I work at opened another office in Bilbao.
El amigo con el que viajé a Japón se mudó allí.
The friend I traveled to Japan with moved there.
No es el motivo por el que vine.
That's not the reason I came.
A common error among English speakers is leaving the preposition stranded at the end of the relative clause, English-style ("the company I work at"). Spanish never strands prepositions — they always sit immediately before the relative pronoun.
For clarity when the antecedent is ambiguous
In a long sentence with multiple possible antecedents, el que / el cual lets you specify which one you mean, because the article shows gender and number.
Vi a la hija de tu vecino, la que vive en Granada.
I saw your neighbor's daughter — the one who lives in Granada.
Here plain que would be ambiguous: who lives in Granada, the daughter or the neighbor? La que (feminine singular) locks the reference onto hija.
Hablé con el director del colegio, el cual estaba de muy buen humor.
I spoke with the school principal, who was in a great mood.
El cual makes it clear we are talking about the principal (masculine), not the school (also grammatically masculine but contextually less likely).
El primo de mi mujer, el que vive en Sevilla, viene a comer el domingo.
My wife's cousin — the one who lives in Seville — is coming to lunch on Sunday.
Non-restrictive clauses (after a comma)
In non-restrictive relative clauses — the kind set off by commas, adding extra information rather than narrowing down the antecedent — el cual is especially at home in formal writing. El que and plain que (with quien for people) are also possible, but el cual lends a measured, written feel.
La nueva ley, la cual entrará en vigor el mes que viene, ha sido criticada por varios sectores.
The new law, which will come into force next month, has been criticized by several sectors.
Su última novela, la que ganó el Cervantes, fue traducida a quince idiomas.
Her latest novel, the one that won the Cervantes Prize, was translated into fifteen languages.
You will see el cual used this way in newspapers, essays, and academic writing — much less often in casual conversation, where speakers usually opt for que or quien or simply break the sentence in two.
The register difference: el que vs el cual
Both can do the same grammatical work, but they sit at different points on the formality scale.
- El que / la que / los que / las que — neutral to informal. Comfortable in speech, common in everyday writing (emails, news, fiction dialogue). The default choice when you need a compound relative in conversation.
- El cual / la cual / los cuales / las cuales — formal and written-leaning. Sounds elevated or even stiff in everyday speech. Standard in academic writing, legal documents, journalism, and literary prose.
La razón por la que te llamo es para invitarte a la boda.
The reason I'm calling you is to invite you to the wedding.
Los motivos por los cuales se canceló el proyecto siguen sin aclararse.
The reasons the project was cancelled have yet to be clarified.
The first sentence is something you would actually say on the phone. The second belongs in a press release or formal report.
El que as a standalone (no antecedent stated)
El que / la que / los que / las que can also work without an explicit antecedent, meaning "the one who" or "those who." Here it is not a relative pronoun in the strict sense — it is a nominalized relative, behaving like a noun phrase on its own.
El que llegue primero se lleva el premio.
Whoever gets there first takes the prize.
Los que no hayan terminado el examen pueden quedarse diez minutos más.
Those who haven't finished the exam can stay ten more minutes.
La que viene mañana es mi hermana, no mi prima.
The one coming tomorrow is my sister, not my cousin.
Notice that el que in this use often triggers the subjunctive when the referent is not yet identified (el que llegue, los que hayan terminado) — the same logic as indefinite antecedents in any relative clause.
How this differs from English
English uses "which" and "who/whom" for the equivalents of el cual. The key difference is that English freely strands prepositions ("the table I wrote on") while Spanish never does. If you find yourself wanting to push the preposition to the end of a clause, that is your signal to use el que or el cual with the preposition firmly in front:
- "the table I wrote on" → la mesa *sobre la que escribí (NOT *la mesa que escribí sobre)
- "the friend I traveled with" → el amigo *con el que viajé*
- "the reason I came" → la razón *por la que vine*
English also lets you omit the relative pronoun entirely in object clauses ("the book I read"). Spanish never does — que (or el que) is obligatory: el libro que leí, never el libro leí.
El cual in fixed expressions
A handful of fixed connectors built on el cual show up in formal writing and speeches. They are worth recognizing even if you do not use them yourself:
- lo cual — and this, which (referring back to a whole clause): Llegó tarde, lo cual me molestó.
- en cuyo caso — in which case (formal)
- con lo cual — so, as a result (common in spoken Spain, slightly informal): Llegamos a las dos, con lo cual no nos dio tiempo a comer.
- a partir de lo cual — from which point (formal/academic)
The connector con lo cual is interesting because it is the one cual-based phrase that has crossed into everyday peninsular speech — Spaniards use it constantly as a connector meaning "and so" or "which means that."
El tren se retrasó una hora, con lo cual perdimos el enlace.
The train was delayed an hour, which meant we missed the connection.
Common Mistakes
❌ La mesa que escribo sobre es de mi abuela.
Incorrect — Spanish does not strand prepositions; the preposition must come before the relative.
✅ La mesa sobre la que escribo es de mi abuela.
The desk I write on belonged to my grandmother.
❌ Esos son los principios según que fue redactada la constitución.
Incorrect — multi-syllable prepositions like según, mediante, durante, hacia never allow bare que. You must use el que / el cual.
✅ Esos son los principios según los cuales fue redactada la constitución.
Those are the principles according to which the constitution was drafted.
❌ La empresa en cual trabajo es pequeña.
Incorrect — el cual / la cual always takes the definite article; you cannot drop it.
✅ La empresa en la cual trabajo es pequeña.
The company I work at is small.
❌ Las razones por la cual lo hice son personales.
Incorrect — el cual must agree in gender and number with the antecedent (razones is feminine plural).
✅ Las razones por las cuales lo hice son personales.
The reasons I did it are personal.
❌ El libro yo leí ayer era de mi padre.
Incorrect — Spanish never drops the relative pronoun, unlike English.
✅ El libro que leí ayer era de mi padre.
The book I read yesterday was my father's.
Key Takeaways
- After most prepositions (and obligatorily after multi-syllable or compound ones), use el que or el cual — never bare que.
- El que is the everyday compound relative; el cual is its formal/written counterpart.
- Both agree in gender and number with the antecedent, and both always carry the definite article (el, la, los, las).
- For non-restrictive clauses in formal writing, el cual signals careful, elevated prose.
- Spanish never strands prepositions and never drops the relative pronoun — two reflexes English speakers must consciously suppress.
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- Pronombre relativo 'que'A2 — Que is the single most common relative pronoun in Spanish — covering English 'that', 'which', 'who' all at once. It is mandatory where English makes it optional, and the structural backbone of half of Spanish complex sentences.
- Pronombre relativo 'quien/quienes'B1 — Quien is the human-only relative pronoun. It is restricted to people, mostly appears after prepositions or in non-restrictive clauses, and gives the sentence a slightly more elevated register than the all-purpose que.
- Pronombre relativo 'lo que'B1 — The neuter relative lo que — how to use it to mean 'what' or 'that which' when the antecedent is a whole idea, action, or situation rather than a specific noun, and how it differs from interrogative qué.
- Pronombre relativo 'cuyo'B2 — The relative possessive cuyo / cuya / cuyos / cuyas — Spanish 'whose' — which agrees in gender and number with the thing possessed, why educated speech requires it, and the colloquial workarounds learners hear in everyday conversation.
- Pronombre relativo 'donde'A2 — The relative donde for places — el sitio donde vivo — when it replaces en el que / en la que, when motion-prepositions a, de, hasta, por, hacia attach in front of it, and its non-place metaphorical uses.