When navigating the strict rules of a secret society, you often need to talk about hypothetical situations and unknown people: "whoever comes," "wherever you go," or "anyone who betrays us."
In Spanish, you can express these ideas using generalizing indefinite relative clauses. Because they refer to unknown or hypothetical people and places, the verb that follows them must always be in the subjunctive.
Quienquiera que
Use quienquiera que to mean "whoever." Notice how it triggers the subjunctive for the action that follows it.
| My sister says that whoever comes, we are not going to open the door. | Mi hermana dice que quienquiera que venga, no vamos a abrir la puerta. |
| Whoever you are, you must respect the pact. | Quienquiera que seas, debes respetar el pacto. |
Dondequiera que
Use dondequiera que to mean "wherever." Since the exact destination or location is not established, you must use the subjunctive.
| Wherever you go, the cult is going to find you. | Dondequiera que vayas, la secta te va a encontrar. |
| Wherever the boss is, we are going to go. | Dondequiera que esté la jefa, vamos a ir. |
Cualquiera que
Use cualquiera que to mean "anyone who" or "any person that." It functions very similarly to quienquiera que but puts more emphasis on the idea of "any person at all."
| Anyone who betrays the cult is an enemy. | Cualquiera que traicione a la secta es un enemigo. |
| Anyone who reads the sacred book is going to go crazy. | Cualquiera que lea el libro sagrado se va a volver loco. |