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Hay un testigo que conoce al ladrón.

Hay un testigo que conoce al ladrón.
There is a witness who knows the thief.
From Lesson 96:Linking clauses (que)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Hay un testigo que conoce al ladrón.

Why do we use que for "who" in this sentence instead of quien?
In Spanish, que is the most common relative pronoun and can mean "who", "that", or "which". It is used for both people and things. While quien also means "who", it is mostly used after prepositions (like in con quien, meaning "with whom"). When linking a person directly to an action, as in un testigo que conoce (a witness who knows), que is the standard choice.
Why is the word conoce used here for "knows" instead of sabe?
Spanish has two verbs for "to know". We use saber for knowing facts, information, or how to do something. We use conocer (used here as conoce) for being familiar with or personally knowing a person, place, or thing. Since the witness knows a person (el ladrón), we must use conocer.
Where does al come from before ladrón?
The word al is a mandatory combination of the preposition a and the masculine article el. The a here is the "personal a", which Spanish requires when the direct receiver of an action is a specific person (like the thief). So, a plus el ladrón shrinks into the single word al ladrón.
If the witness were a woman, would the word change to testiga?
No, the noun testigo always ends in -o, regardless of whether the witness is male or female. To show that a witness is a woman, you only change the article before it, making it una testigo instead of un testigo.

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