que

Que is a word found in several Romance languages, most notably Spanish, French, and Portuguese. It functions primarily as a conjunction meaning that or which, and as a relative pronoun in many clause structures. The form derives from Latin quod or qui and has diversified in each language.

In Spanish, que introduces subordinate clauses after verbs, adjectives, or nouns, as in dije que vendría (he said that he would come) or un libro que me gustó (a book that I liked). The accentuated form qué marks interrogative and exclamatory uses: ¿qué? or ¡qué bien!

In French, que serves as a central subordinating conjunction meaning that, and also as a relative pronoun in constructions like la femme que j’ai vue (the woman that I saw). It connects clauses after verbs, adjectives, or nouns and participates in many set phrases.

In Portuguese, que functions similarly to Spanish and French, appearing in sentences such as acho que (I think that) and o livro que comprei (the book that I bought). Other Romance languages, including Catalan, Galician, and Occitan, show closely related uses of a form built on the same root.

Etymology traces que back to Latin quod or qui, with cognates appearing across Romance languages. In modern orthography, diacritics distinguish interrogative qué from the conjunction que in languages that retain the accent. See also articles on relative pronouns and conjunctions in Romance languages.