Relative pronouns 'que' and 'quien'

Question

I took the "relative pronouns: que and quien" quiz and I don't understand the following sentence:

El hombre________ salió es mi hermano.

Why "quien" and not "que" is the correct answer since the relative pronoun comes immediately after the antecedent and nothing separates the relative pronoun from the antecedent?

Thank you.

Thank you for your answers! Lazarus also confirmed that que is the right answer. - ianta, Jun 7, 2011

Answer 1

Sorry, I have no gramatical explanation why, but this is how it works:

El hombre que salió es mi hermano.

Quien salió es mi hermano.

Answer 2

Dudas article on quien confirms ianta's reply

...por tanto, no es correcto su empleo sin preposición en oraciones especificativas:

Marca de incorrección. (red x saying that this example is incorrect)

Aquellos viajeros quienes tengan billete pasarán en primer lugar.

Answer 3

"Note: Quien is not used when the relative pronoun immediate follows the antecedent, even if it refers to a person. Que is used instead".

This is from this Spanishdict link

So, are both correct or not?

I fixed your link. - pesta, Jun 7, 2011

Certainly not according to that article. See my reply for confirmation. - 0074b507, Jun 7, 2011

Thank you pesta - ianta, Jun 7, 2011

That is also what this says: http://users.ipfw.edu/jehle/COURSES/relpron1.htm - lorenzo9, Jun 7, 2011

Answer 4

que is correct and quien is not: dpdd

So vote up ianta's reply so it will be above the ones that are incorrect. - 0074b507, Jun 7, 2011

Answer 5

Hola, Ianta,

Your link does not seem to be working for me, but to my ear, "que" just sounds better and easier to say in that particular sentence.

I fixed that link. It works now. - pesta, Jun 7, 2011

Thank you, Pesta. You're great. - NancyGrace, Jun 7, 2011

Answer 6

Both are correct, honestly.

Quien - The man WHO left is my brother. Que - The man THAT left is my brother.

As Jeremias said, "quien" is a better choice when there's a person involved. - SonrisaDelSol, Jun 7, 2011

Answer 7

When the relative pronoun refers to a person one can usequien, not que. But either is correct.

When the relative pronoun refers to a person and is in the direct object position, either "que" or "a quien" may be used. Each is correct.

The latter from an on-line grammar