Relative pronouns with prepositions (el cual, el que, cuyo)

La empresa para la que trabajo abrirá una oficina cuyo director es chileno.The company I work for will open an office whose director is Chilean.

You already know que for most relative clauses and quien for people after a preposition. At B2 the same idea grows into longer, more written sentences: a preposition + el que / el cual to say "in which, with whom, about which", and cuyo to say "whose".

Quick shortcut: put the preposition before the relative pronoun and use el que or el cual, which agree with the thing or person mentioned (la reunión de la que hablo). For "whose", use cuyo, which agrees with the thing possessed, not with the owner (el autor cuya novela leí).

Preposition + article + que

Spanish never leaves the preposition at the end of the clause. It goes in front of the relative pronoun, and the pronoun is el que, la que, los que, las que, agreeing in gender and number with the word it refers to:

• La reunión de la que te hablé es mañana. (The meeting I told you about is tomorrow.)
• Los amigos con los que viajé viven en Perú. (The friends I travelled with live in Peru.)
• El tema sobre el que escribe es muy actual. (The subject she writes about is very topical.)
• Las razones por las que dimitió no están claras. (The reasons why he resigned are not clear.)

This works for both people and things, which makes it more flexible than quien, which only refers to people. After some short prepositions such as a, con, de, en, a thing can also be introduced by plain que, without the article (la casa en que vivo, el lápiz con que escribo). With other prepositions (sobre, entre, según, hacia) the article is needed.

El cual: the more formal alternative

El cual, la cual, los cuales, las cuales can replace el que after a preposition, with the same meaning:

• Los motivos por los cuales dimitió no están claros.
• El edificio frente al cual nos encontramos es del siglo XVIII. (The building in front of which we are standing dates from the 18th century.)

El cual tends to belong to written and formal Spanish, and it is the usual choice in some situations:

• After longer prepositions and phrases (a través de, debido a, durante, mediante, frente a, detrás de): los años durante los cuales trabajó aquí.
• When the clause is explanatory, set off by commas: Mi hermano, el cual vive en Lima, viene en verano.
• When it must be clear which noun you mean. El cual makes the gender and number unmistakable when several nouns come before it: Hablé con el director de la escuela, el cual me dio la razón. (the director, not the school.)

In everyday speech, el que is more common than el cual.

Lo cual and por lo que: referring to a whole clause

When the relative pronoun refers to a whole idea rather than to a single noun, Spanish uses the neuter forms lo cual or lo que, and they can follow a preposition too:

• Llegó tarde, lo cual no me sorprendió. (He arrived late, which didn't surprise me.)
• Llovía mucho, por lo que cancelamos el viaje. (It was raining a lot, so we cancelled the trip.)
• Aprobó el examen, tras lo cual se fue de vacaciones. (He passed the exam, after which he went on holiday.)

The neuter lo que is covered in its own article, Lo que.

Cuyo: "whose"

Cuyo shows possession inside a relative clause. It has four forms, cuyo, cuya, cuyos, cuyas, and it agrees in gender and number with the thing possessed, never with the owner:

• El autor cuya novela leí ganó un premio. (The author whose novel I read won a prize. Cuya agrees with novela.)
• Es una empresa cuyos empleados trabajan desde casa. (It's a company whose employees work from home.)
• La mujer cuyo hijo estudia conmigo es médica. (The woman whose son studies with me is a doctor.)

Cuyo works as a possessive and as a relative at the same time, so it already does the job of an article and a possessive. Nothing like el, su or de goes between cuyo and its noun. It can follow a preposition: la casa en cuyo jardín jugábamos (the house in whose garden we used to play).

Cuyo belongs mostly to written and formal Spanish. In conversation, people often split the idea into two sentences instead. The form que su (el hombre que su coche…) is heard in speech, but standard and written Spanish use cuyo.

Common mistakes

• ❌ El proyecto que trabajo es difícil. → ✅ El proyecto en el que trabajo es difícil. (trabajar en needs its preposition in front of the pronoun.)
• ❌ El autor cuyo novela leí… → ✅ El autor cuya novela leí… (cuyo agrees with novela, not with autor.)
• ❌ Una empresa cuyos los empleados… → ✅ Una empresa cuyos empleados… (no article after cuyo.)
• ❌ La persona que hablé con… → ✅ La persona con la que hablé… (the preposition never stays at the end.)

Quick check

1. Complete: La ciudad ___ (en + el que) nací es pequeña.
2. Complete: Conozco a una chica ___ (cuyo/cuya) padre es piloto.
3. Why is La persona que hablé con wrong?
4. Combine the sentences with cuyo: Tengo un amigo. Su hermana es actriz.
5. Which neuter form fits? Aprobó con nota, ___ nos alegró a todos.

Key takeaways

• The preposition goes before the relative pronoun: el proyecto en el que trabajo. Spanish doesn't leave it at the end.
• After a preposition, el que / la que / los que / las que agree with the word they refer to, for people and things. El cual and its forms are a more formal alternative, usual after longer prepositions, in explanatory clauses and when the reference needs to be clear.
• Lo cual and lo que refer to a whole clause, alone or after a preposition (por lo que, tras lo cual).
• Cuyo, cuya, cuyos, cuyas mean "whose" and agree with the thing possessed, never with the owner.
• No article or possessive goes between cuyo and its noun.