Italian relative pronouns

RELATIVE PRONOUNS

A. Relative pronouns link two clauses.

L'uomo che canta è mio cugino.

The man who is singing is my cousin.

B. The most common relative pronouns:

1. Che (who, whom, that, which) is always expressed in Italian.

It is invariable.

2. Cui (whom, which) is only used as the object of a preposition:

La persona a cui scrivo è mio amico.

The person I'm writing to (to whom I am writing) is my friend.

3. Il quale, la quale, i quali, le quali often replace cui or che to

avoid ambiguity or repetition.

4. Quello che, quel che or ciò che, all meaning that, which, or what,

are invariable and can function as subject or object.

5. Chi, functioning alone as a relative pronoun, is followed by the

third person singular of the verb:

Chi cerca, trova.

He who seeks, finds.