Quien = whoever
Quien can stand with no noun before it and mean whoever or the person who; the plural is quienes. When you don't know who it will be, the verb after it goes into the subjunctive. El que / la que / los que work the same way, and aquellos que is the more formal choice.
| Whoever wants to come, let them come. | Quien quiera venir, que venga. |
The second half, que venga, is the let them… order you already know.
| Those who arrive late will not be able to come in. | Quienes lleguen tarde no podrán entrar. |
A quien, para quien…
A preposition can go right before quien, with the same meaning.
| You can invite whoever you want. | Puedes invitar a quien quieras. |
| I will give it to whoever needs it. | Se lo daré a quien lo necesite. |
Notice the se: a quien is the person who gets it, so se lo comes first.
Subjunctive or indicative?
| subjunctive: whoever it may be | indicative: particular people |
|---|---|
| Quien termine primero puede irse. | Quien tiene razón es tu madre. |
| Los que quieran venir… | Los que vinieron ayer… |
| The one who is right is your mother. | Quien tiene razón es tu madre. |
| The ones who came yesterday were my parents. | Los que vinieron ayer eran mis padres. |
Something to do: nada que hacer
After nada, algo, alguien, nadie or a noun, a relative + infinitive says something to do, someone to talk to, a flat to live in: que hacer, con quien hablar, donde vivir. This works only without commas.
| This weekend I have nothing to do. | Este fin de semana no tengo nada que hacer. |
| I need someone to talk to. | Necesito a alguien con quien hablar. |
| We are looking for a flat to live in. | Buscamos un piso donde vivir. |
Common mistakes
- Quien quiere venir mañana, que venga → Quien quiera venir: nobody knows yet who it will be.
- Necesito alguien con quien hablar → Necesito a alguien: alguien is a person, so it takes a.
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