SYNTAX: RELATIVE CLAUSES

1. Relative clauses are divided into defining and non-defining, being que the most used relator.

2. A defining relative clause provides essential information about the noun to which it refers. It cannot be left out of the sentence without affecting the meaning.

la senyora que vas conèixer ahir es diu Maria	the lady you met yesterday is called Maria
la casa on vivim és a un bon barri	the house where we live is in a good neighbourhood

3. A non-defining relative clause provides information that can be left out without affecting the meaning or structure of the sentence. The added item is embedded among commas and just gives extra information.

el meu sobrí, que no té encara cinc anys, toca el piano molt bé	my nephew, who is not five year old yet, can play the piano very well
tinc un client nou, el qual no vol visitar-me a l’oficina	I’ve got a new customer, who doesn’t want to visit me at the office

4. Examples of both types of relative clauses. Observe how que takes an accent (què) whenever it is preceded by a preposition:

lo que dius és mentida	what you are saying is false
no sé què vol dir	I don’t know what he means
qui tingui diners, ha de pagar	whoever has money should pay
no sabia allò que m’has contat	I didn’t know what you’ve just told me
tinc un veí que fa molt de soroll	I’ve got a neighbour who makes a lot of noise
he vist com furtaven un cotxe al carrer	I’ve seen how a car was stolen on the street
la casa en què / on vivim és molt maca	the house in which/where we live is really nice
la pel·lícula de què em parles és japonesa, no?	the film you’re talking about is Japanese, isn’t it?
les eines amb què treballeu són modernes	the tools you work with are very modern
el meu cap, qui és poc intel·ligent, ens tracta malament	my boss, who is little intelligent, treats us very badly
aquest manual, del qual ens queden dues còpies, és una joia	this handbook, from which there are two copies left, is a marvel

el meu cosí, que encara no té cinc anys, toca el piano molt bé	my nephew, who is not five year old yet, can play the piano very well
tinc un client nou, el qual no vol visitar-me a l’oficina	I’ve got a new customer, who doesn’t want to visit me at the office

4. Examples of both types of relative clauses. Observe how que takes an accent (què) whenever it is preceded by a preposition:

el que dius és mentida	what you are saying is false
no sé què vol dir	I don’t know what he means
qui tingui diners, ha de pagar	whoever has money should pay
no sabia això que m’has contat	I didn’t know what you’ve just told me
tinc un veí que fa molt de soroll	I’ve got a neighbour who makes a lot of noise
he vist com furtaven un cotxe al carrer	I’ve seen how a car was stolen on the street
la casa en què / on vivim és molt maca	the house in which/where we live is really nice
la pel·lícula de què em parles és japonesa, no?	the film you’re talking about is Japanese, isn’t it?
les eines amb què treballeu són modernes	the tools you work with are very modern
el meu cap, que és poc intel·ligent, ens tracta malament	my boss, who is little intelligent, treats us very badly
aquest manual, del qual ens queden dues còpies, és una joia	this handbook, from which there are two copies left, is a marvel

5. As for the forms of relative pronouns, see interrogative and relative pronouns.

WORD CLASS: RELATIVE AND INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS

1. Both relative pronouns (also known as relators) and interrogative pronouns (also known as interrogators) are theoretically two different word classes, though it is possible to deem them as just one performing two different roles, since all these pronouns work out either as relators or as interrogators.

2. Some interrogators show some kind of inflection, as well as differences regarding their predicative and attributive uses (as interrogators):

SG		PL		UNINF.	ATT.	PRED	ENGLISH
MASC.	FEM.	MASC.	FEM.
quin	quina	quins	quines		+	+	what, which
				qui	–	+	who
				què	–	+	what
				on	–	+	where
				quan	–	+	when
quant	quanta	quants	quantes		+	+	how much/many
				com	–	+	how

3. A few examples thereof, including compound forms with prepositions:

qui ets tu?	who are you?
de qui parleu?	who are you talking about?
quin llibre t’agrada més?	what book do you like most?
de quin país sou vosaltres?	what country are you from?
amb quines amigues heu vingut?	what friends have you come with?
vol volar amb una companyia, però no sé amb quina	(s)he wants to fly with an airline, but I don’t know with which one
què dius?	what are you saying?
per què no véns?	why don’t you come?
per a què ho vols?	what do you want it for?
amb què ho han fet?	what they have done it with?
on viuen els teus pares?	where do your parents live?
cap a on voleu anar?	where do you want to go?
d’on van venir?	where did they come from?
quanta gent hi ha?	how many people are there?
quants diners li deus?	how much money do you owe him/her?
com viatjareu?	how will you travel?

All the previous examples work out as indirect speech samples. It is enough to add a previous main clause such as no sé [si] (= I don’t know [if]), vull saber (= I’d like to know) or em preguntava [si] (=I wonder [if])

4. As for relators, there is a specific one, which does not work as an interrogator any longer in Catalan (though it originally was): qual.. This relator is to be mandatorily preceded by a definite article. On the other hand, quin is not used as a relator. Their forms are as follows:

SG		PL			UNINF.	ENGLISH
MASC.	FEM.	MASC.	FEM.
el qual	la qual	els quals	les quals			that, which
qui						who
					que	that
					què	what
					allò que	what
					on	where
					quan	when
quant	quanta	quants		quantes		how much/many
					com	how

As for examples, see relative clauses.