Spanish Adjective Clauses: How You Can Use Them

Compraron una casa. La casa es hermosa. La casa tiene un gran jardín. El jardín está lleno de flores.

(They bought a house. The house is beautiful. The house has a big garden. The garden is full of flowers.)

Are you speaking like this in Spanish? Then it’s time for you to learn adjective clauses! By mastering them, you can make your Spanish sound smoother and less repetitive. You can learn more about the Spanish important words here.

What is a Spanish Adjective Clause, and Why To Use It?

Adjective clauses are a great way to connect two sentences and avoid unnecessary repetition. They use a relative pronoun (usually que or quien) to introduce a dependent clause that provides more information about a noun.

Here is the formula to make Spanish Adjective Clause:

Person/Thing + Relative Pronoun + Clause.

Let’s see how this works in practice.

Before (With Repetition)	After (Using Adjective Clauses)
Compraron una casa. La casa es hermosa. La casa tiene un gran jardín. El jardín está lleno de flores. (They bought a house. The house is beautiful. The house has a big garden. The garden is full of flowers.)	La casa que compraron es hermosa y tiene un gran jardín que está lleno de flores. (The house that they bought is beautiful and has a big garden that is full of flowers.)

Here, the relative pronoun que eliminates the need to repeat la casa and el jardín.

Method To Use Spanish Adjective Clause 

Here are some more examples of adjective clauses:

#	Example in Spanish	English Translation
1	La persona que llamó no dejó su nombre.	The person who called didn’t leave their name.
2	La casa que compraron es hermosa.	The house that they bought is beautiful.
3	El hombre, quien es doctor, vive al lado.	The man, who is a doctor, lives next door.
4	Mi hermana, la cual vive en París, es profesora.	My sister, who lives in Paris, is a teacher.
5	El amigo con quien fui al concierto es de México.	The friend with whom I went to the concert is from Mexico.
6	Busco a alguien que sepa reparar computadoras.	I’m looking for someone who knows how to repair computers.
7	No hay nadie que pueda ayudarme con esto.	There’s nobody who can help me with this.
8	El coche cuyo motor está dañado no funciona.	The car whose engine is broken doesn’t work.

As you can see, there are several relative pronouns in Spanish, and depending on the context, you’ll also need to decide whether to use the indicative or the subjunctive mood in the clause.

Step-by-step guide to forming adjective clauses in Spanish

When forming an adjective clause, you need first need to decide:

1. Which pronoun to use (for example: que, quien, la cual, cuyo)
2. Which mood to use (indicative vs subjunctive)

Step 1: How to Choose the Right Relative Pronoun

In most cases, que is correct, but there are some cases in which other pronouns are more appropriate:

Condition	Relative Pronoun	Example in Spanish	English Translation
After prepositions	Things: El/La Cual El/La Que	La ciudad en la que nací es hermosa.	The city in which I was born is beautiful.
		La casa en la cual viví está en venta.	The house in which I lived is for sale.
	People:Quien/Quienes	El amigo con quien hablé es amable.	The friend with whom I spoke is kind.
		Las personas a quienes conocí son muy amables.	The people whom I met are very kind.
Possession	Cuyo/a/os/as	El coche cuyo motor está roto no funciona.	The car whose engine is broken doesn’t work.
		El profesor cuyas clases son muy interesantes es famoso.	The professor whose classes are very interesting is famous.
Formal writing,Non-restrictive (extra information set off by commas)	El/La CualLos/Las Cuales	Mi hermana, la cual recibió un premio, vive en Londres.	My sister, who received an award, lives in Paris.
		El libro, el cual fue escrito en 1900, es valioso.	The book, which was written in 1900, is valuable.

Step 2: How to Choose the Correct Mood (Indicative vs Subjunctive)

When forming adjective clauses in Spanish, the choice between the indicative and subjunctive depends on the existence or certainty of the noun (antecedent) being described. 

Indicative	Subjunctive
Use the indicative when the antecedent is specific, known, or exists.	Use the subjunctive when the antecedent is unknown, hypothetical, or nonexistent.
Conozco a alguien que habla inglés.(I know someone who speaks English.)	Busco a alguien que hable inglés.(I’m looking for someone who speaks English.)
El libro que leí es interesante.(The book that I read is interesting.)	Quiero un libro que sea interesante.(I want a book that is interesting.)
Hay algo que me interesa mucho.(There’s something that interests me a lot.)	No hay nada que sea interesante.(There’s nothing that is interesting.)
Tenemos un profesor que enseña muy bien.(We have a teacher who teaches very well.)	Queremos un profesor que enseñe muy bien.(We want a teacher who teaches very well.)
Conocemos un lugar donde sirven buena comida.(We know a place where they serve good food.)	¿Conoces un lugar donde sirvan buena comida?(Do you know a place where they serve good food?)

Conclusion

We use adjective clauses in Spanish to increase our spoken fluency. If you want to increase the fluidity of your Spanish and sound like a confident speaker with little ifs and buts, it is the right time to understand the adjective clauses in Spanish.

You have learned if you need to use the indicative or the subjunctive mood of the adjective clauses.

You can practically learn Spanish adjective clauses by using the Jolii language learning app. This provides users with the opportunity to learn from real-life-like videos. Import the videos you like and start learning Spanish adjective clauses.