The Relative Pronoun Quien

When we use the relative pronoun que, we can replace it with the relative pronoun a quien when the noun to which we're referring is a person. It is important to know that quien is NOT the interrogative word quién.

When the pronoun is a plural one, we replace a quien with a quienes. Notice that we use the prepositional "a", which is a mainstay grammatical part when a direct object is a person.

El hombre a quien conozco ya no existe.
The man (who, that) I know doesn't exist anymore.


Necesito encontrar a los profesores a quienes hablan francés.
I need to find the professors (who, that) speak French.


We can also use quien and quienes to serve straight up as the subject of the sentence. In this case it usually takes on the meaning of "The ones that" or "Whoever...".

Quienes hablan francés, por favor levántense.
Whoever speaks French, please stand up.