Relative pronouns
Que, qui, què, on, el qual, restrictive clauses, possession, and prepositions.
A relative pronoun connects a noun to a clause that describes it
Use unstressed que as the default subject or direct object. After a preposition, choose qui for people and què for things, or use an agreeing form of el qual in formal/clarifying contexts. Relative pronouns do not take a written accent except stressed què after a preposition.
The core inventory
| Form | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| que | subject or direct object, person or thing | La dona que parla. · El llibre que llegeixo. |
| qui | person after preposition; free relative | La persona amb qui treballo. · Qui vulgui pot venir. |
| què | thing after preposition | El tema de què parlem. |
| on | place, literal or sometimes abstract | La casa on viu. · El punt on som. |
| el qual / la qual / els quals / les quals | formal, after prepositions, or to remove ambiguity | La proposta, la qual ja coneixeu... |
| cosa que / fet que | sentence-level antecedent | Va arribar tard, cosa que em va sorprendre. |
Restrictive versus non-restrictive
A restrictive clause identifies which referent and has no commas: Els alumnes que han aprovat poden marxar (only those who passed). A non-restrictive clause adds information and is set off by commas: Els alumnes, que ja han aprovat, poden marxar (all of them passed).
Possession: the “whose/dont” problem
Modern Catalan normally expresses a possessive relative through del qual/de la qual/dels quals/de les quals: una autora les obres de la qual coneixem. A more natural rewrite is often una autora de qui coneixem les obres. Do not calque Spanish cuyo; forms sometimes cited as *cuj* are not the ordinary modern solution.
Preposition choice stays visible
The governing verb decides the preposition: la persona de qui em recordo; el projecte en què participo; l’eina amb què treballo. In careful writing, do not drop the preposition or leave a redundant clitic inside the relative clause.
Examples in context
La noia que ens ha atès parla quatre llengües.
The woman who served us speaks four languages.
Aquest és el document que buscaves.
This is the document you were looking for.
La persona amb qui comparteixo despatx és de Manresa.
The person I share an office with is from Manresa.
No entenc el motiu pel qual ho han cancel·lat.
I don’t understand the reason why they cancelled it.
Tornarem al poble on ens vam conèixer.
We’ll return to the town where we met.
És un problema de què ningú no vol parlar.
It is a problem nobody wants to talk about.
La directora, que acaba d’arribar, farà una roda de premsa.
The director, who has just arrived, will hold a press conference.
Va perdre el tren, cosa que el va obligar a quedar-se.
He missed the train, which forced him to stay.
Hem entrevistat una investigadora els treballs de la qual són referents.
We interviewed a researcher whose work is a benchmark.
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