Relative pronouns

Use que for people and things

• El hombre que vive aquí es mi tío.The man who lives here is my uncle.
• El libro que leí es muy bueno.The book that I read is very good.

It can't be left out, even when English drops that

• La película que vi ayer.The movie I saw yesterday.
• Creo que tienes razón.I think you're right.

Use them for people after a preposition

• La mujer con quien hablé es médica.The woman I spoke with is a doctor.
• Los amigos a quienes invité no vinieron.The friends I invited didn't come.

Quien isn't used as a plain who in the middle of a sentence: el hombre que vive aquí, not el hombre quien vive aquí.

It can mean whoever or the one who

• Quien llegue primero gana.Whoever arrives first wins.

They agree with the noun, and work after prepositions

• La casa en la que vivo es pequeña.The house I live in is small.
• El carro con el que viajamos es viejo.The car we traveled in is old.

The preposition goes before the pronoun, never at the end of the sentence as in English.

They can also mean the one that or those who

• Mi camisa es la que está ahí.My shirt is the one over there.
• Los que quieran pueden venir.Those who want to can come.

Use lo que for what, in the sense of the thing that

• No entiendo lo que dices.I don't understand what you're saying.
• Lo que quiero es descansar.What I want is to rest.

Use qué only in questions: ¿Qué dices?

It can refer to a whole idea, like which in English

• Llegó tarde, lo que me molestó.He arrived late, which bothered me.

Donde for places

• Este es el barrio donde crecí.This is the neighborhood where I grew up.

Cuando for times

• Fue en mayo cuando nos conocimos.It was in May when we met.

Cuyo means whose, and agrees with what's owned

• La mujer cuya casa compramos.The woman whose house we bought.
• El hombre cuyos hijos viven aquí.The man whose children live here.

This is mainly written Spanish. In speech, people usually rephrase.

Question words take an accent, relatives don't

• ¿Dónde vives?Where do you live?
• La casa donde vivo.The house where I live.
• ¿Qué quieres?What do you want?
• No sé qué quieres.I don't know what you want.

Indirect questions keep the accent, as in the last example.