Advanced Relative Clauses in Catalan

In Brief

When a Catalan relative clause needs a preposition, put the preposition before the relative form: la casa en què visc, la persona de qui parlo, el motiu pel qual vaig marxar. Use qui mainly for people, què mainly for things, and el qual / la qual / els quals / les quals when agreement, formality, or clarity makes the fuller form useful.

Overview

A relative clause adds information about a person, thing, place, or time already mentioned: la casa que vam comprar means “the house that we bought.” The noun being described—la casa here—is called the antecedent (the earlier word that the relative expression refers back to). At A2, the most useful relative word is invariable que, which can act as the subject or direct object of the clause.

At B2, the key question is what happens when the verb or expression inside the relative clause requires a preposition. Catalan does not normally leave that preposition at the end as conversational English often does. “The colleague I work with” therefore becomes la companya amb qui treballo, with amb placed before the relative form.

This pattern is common in careful conversation and essential in edited writing. It also opens the door to more precise structures: forms of el qual that agree with the antecedent, possessive equivalents of English “whose,” and la qual cosa, which comments on a whole previous statement.

How It Works

Start with the role inside the relative clause

Do not choose the relative form by translating English “who,” “that,” or “which” in isolation. First reconstruct the ordinary Catalan sentence that lies behind the relative clause:

• Visc en aquesta casa → la casa en què visc
• Parlo d'aquesta persona → la persona de qui parlo
• Treballo amb aquesta investigadora → la investigadora amb qui treballo
• Van marxar per aquest motiu → el motiu pel qual van marxar

The verb or expression determines the preposition: viure en, parlar de, treballar amb, confiar en, interessar-se per, and so on. Keep that preposition when the complement becomes relative.

The main choices

Catalan form	What it refers to	Main use	Example
que	people or things	Subject or direct object; no preposition immediately before it	el llibre que busco
preposition + qui	mainly people	A person governed by a preposition	l'amic amb qui viatjo
preposition + què	mainly things or ideas	A non-person governed by a preposition	el tema de què parlem
preposition + el qual / la qual / els quals / les quals	people or things	A fuller, agreeing alternative, especially in formal or complex phrasing	la norma segons la qual actuem
on	places, literal or sometimes figurative	“where,” often replacing en què or en el qual	el barri on visc
la qual cosa / cosa que	a whole preceding clause	“which,” referring to the previous fact or event	Va arribar tard, la qual cosa em va sorprendre.

Que cannot simply follow a preposition

Unstressed que is appropriate when it is the subject or direct object of the relative clause:

• La dona que parla és la directora. — The woman who is speaking is the director.
• El document que necessito no és aquí. — The document that I need is not here.

If a preposition is required, change the relative form rather than placing the preposition directly before this unstressed que:

• el document de què parlem
• la directora amb qui m'he reunit
• les condicions en les quals treballen

Notice the accent in què. After a preposition, què is stressed and written with a grave accent. This distinguishes de què, en què, amb què from unstressed que.

Qui for people after a preposition

Use qui when the antecedent is a person and the relative clause requires a preposition. Qui does not change for gender or number:

• la professora a qui vaig escriure
• els clients amb qui treballem
• la persona de qui et parlo
• les companyes en qui confio

With an explicit noun antecedent, do not normally use qui as a simple replacement for subject que. Say la professora que ensenya català, not la professora qui ensenya català. Without an explicit antecedent, however, qui can mean “whoever” or “anyone who”: Qui vulgui participar s'hi pot inscriure.

Què for things and ideas after a preposition

Use stressed què after a preposition when referring to a thing, topic, situation, or abstract idea:

• l'eina amb què ho vam arreglar
• el projecte en què participa
• la qüestió de què discutien
• els principis en què es basa la proposta

English often uses “which” here, but may also omit it or strand the preposition: “the project she participates in.” Catalan keeps both the relative form and the preposition: el projecte en què participa.

The agreeing forms of el qual

The compound relative pronoun agrees in gender and number with its antecedent:

Gender and number	Form	Catalan example	English meaning
Masculine singular	el qual	el criteri segons el qual decidim	the criterion according to which we decide
Feminine singular	la qual	la llei segons la qual actuem	the law according to which we act
Masculine plural	els quals	els acords sobre els quals debatrem	the agreements we will debate
Feminine plural	les quals	les dades amb les quals treballem	the data we work with

These forms are especially useful after longer or more formal prepositions, such as segons, contra, sobre, davant de and a través de. They can also remove ambiguity because their agreement identifies the antecedent.

The masculine article contracts with a, de, and per, just as it does elsewhere:

Combination	Result	Catalan example	English meaning
a + el qual	al qual	el centre al qual ens dirigim	the centre we are heading to
de + el qual	del qual	el llibre del qual parlem	the book we are talking about
per + el qual	pel qual	el motiu pel qual va dimitir	the reason why he resigned
a + els quals	als quals	els canvis als quals s'oposen	the changes they oppose
de + els quals	dels quals	els autors dels quals he llegit l'obra	the authors whose work I have read
per + els quals	pels quals	els carrers pels quals vam passar	the streets through which we passed

There is no contraction with feminine articles: a la qual, de la qual, per la qual. Nor is there one after en: en el qual, en la qual.

Choosing between què and el qual

After a simple preposition, both patterns may be possible for things:

• la cadira en què seia / la cadira en la qual seia
• el problema de què parlàvem / el problema del qual parlàvem

The què version is compact and often natural in ordinary speech and writing. The agreeing el qual series sounds fuller and is especially useful in formal prose, after a complex preposition, or when the sentence might otherwise be hard to follow. For people, compare compact amb qui with fuller amb el qual / amb la qual.

Do not add an article before què when it has an explicit antecedent. In careful standard Catalan, prefer la situació en què ens trobem or la situació en la qual ens trobem, not la situació en la que ens trobem.

Place and time: on, que, and en què

For a place, on is often the most natural option and generally does not need en before it:

• el poble on vaig créixer
• el poble en què vaig créixer
• el poble en el qual vaig créixer

All three can express “the village where I grew up,” with the latter two sounding progressively more explicit or formal. Other prepositions can combine with on when the meaning requires them: la ciutat d'on vinc (“the city I come from”) and el camí per on vam passar (“the path we went along”). Avoid the unnecessary combination en on in this use.

With time nouns, everyday Catalan often uses simple que: el dia que vam arribar. En què gives an explicit “on/in which” structure: el dia en què ens vam conèixer. Both can be correct; the second is particularly useful when practising the full prepositional pattern.

Examples in Context

Catalan	English	Note
La casa en què vaig néixer és prop del riu.	The house in which I was born is near the river.	Thing after en
El dia en què ens vam conèixer plovia molt.	It was raining heavily on the day we met.	Time expression
La persona de qui et parlo arribarà demà.	The person I am telling you about will arrive tomorrow.	Person after de
Aquesta és la metgessa en qui confio.	This is the doctor I trust.	confiar en keeps en
Els companys amb qui comparteixo despatx són molt amables.	The colleagues I share an office with are very kind.	Person after amb
No trobo l'eina amb què vaig obrir la caixa.	I cannot find the tool I opened the box with.	Instrument, not a person
El motiu pel qual vaig marxar era personal.	The reason I left was personal.	per + el qual contracts
Han modificat la norma segons la qual es concedeixen les beques.	They have changed the rule according to which grants are awarded.	Formal compound relative
Aquest és el projecte en què hem treballat tot l'any.	This is the project we have worked on all year.	English strands “on”
La decisió contra la qual van presentar un recurs continua vigent.	The decision they appealed against remains in force.	Fuller form after contra
Vam tornar al barri on havíem viscut de petits.	We returned to the neighbourhood where we had lived as children.	Natural place relative
Va perdre l'últim tren, la qual cosa el va obligar a buscar un hotel.	He missed the last train, which forced him to find a hotel.	Refers to the whole previous event
Conec una escriptora l'obra de la qual ha estat traduïda al japonès.	I know a writer whose work has been translated into Japanese.	Possessive relative
Els assistents, molts dels quals venien de fora, es van quedar fins al final.	The attendees, many of whom came from elsewhere, stayed until the end.	Quantifier + dels quals

Common Mistakes

Dropping a required preposition

• Wrong: La persona que et parlo viu aquí.
• Right: La persona de qui et parlo viu aquí.
• Why: The underlying expression is parlar de algú. English can say “the person I am telling you about,” but Catalan moves de in front of the relative form.

Using que directly after a preposition

• Wrong: El tema de que parlàvem era delicat.
• Right: El tema de què parlàvem era delicat.
• Why: After the preposition, use stressed què for a thing and write the accent. Unstressed que cannot fill this role.

Copying the article + que pattern

• Wrong in careful standard usage: La sala en la que ens reunim és petita.
• Right: La sala en què ens reunim és petita.
• Also right: La sala en la qual ens reunim és petita.
• Why: With an explicit antecedent such as la sala, choose either preposition + què or preposition + an agreeing form of el qual. The mixed pattern en la que is widespread under colloquial and cross-linguistic influence, but it is best avoided in formal Catalan.

Forgetting agreement with el qual

• Wrong: Les condicions sota el qual treballen són difícils.
• Right: Les condicions sota les quals treballen són difícils.
• Why: El qual agrees with the antecedent. Les condicions is feminine plural, so the relative form must be les quals.

Using qui as an ordinary subject relative after a noun

• Wrong: La veïna qui viu al tercer pis és arquitecta.
• Right: La veïna que viu al tercer pis és arquitecta.
• Why: With an explicit antecedent and no preposition, use que for a subject. Reserve qui mainly for people after a preposition or for antecedent-free expressions such as Qui arribi primer....

Leaving a resumptive pronoun in the clause

• Nonstandard in careful writing: *És un problema del qual ja **n'*hem parlat.
• Right: És un problema del qual ja hem parlat.
• Why: Del qual already performs the role of del problema, so the pronoun en duplicates it. Similar doubled patterns occur in spontaneous speech, but neutral edited Catalan normally uses one marker, not both.

Usage Notes

Speech and writing do not always make the same choices

In relaxed speech, speakers often favour short constructions with que, and some use a repeated pronoun or adverb: la casa que hi vivíem (“the house we lived in”). Such patterns are easy to process in conversation, but formal standard Catalan prefers la casa on vivíem or la casa en què vivíem. For an exam, professional email, or edited text, use the explicit standard pattern.

El qual is not automatically “better” than què or qui. Repeating it in every sentence can make prose heavy. With a simple preposition and an obvious antecedent, de què and amb qui are often concise and elegant. Use the fuller agreeing form when it improves clarity, follows a complex preposition, or suits the register.

Restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses

A restrictive clause identifies which person or thing is meant; it is essential to the meaning and normally has no commas: Els alumnes que han acabat poden sortir means only the students who have finished may leave.

A nonrestrictive clause adds extra information about an already identified antecedent and is enclosed by commas: La directora, amb qui ja havia parlat, va aprovar el canvi. In formal writing, an agreeing form of el qual can be useful in these added comments, especially where it prevents confusion. Punctuation changes meaning, so commas are not merely a matter of breathing.

Natural English translations may hide the structure

A word-for-word English rendering can sound stiff: el motiu pel qual is literally “the reason for which,” but ordinary English usually says “the reason why” or simply “the reason.” Likewise, la persona amb qui treballo naturally becomes “the person I work with.” When studying Catalan, use the fluent English translation for meaning, but reconstruct the Catalan verb and its preposition to choose the grammar.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

Possession: the Catalan equivalent of “whose”

Catalan has no single everyday relative word that maps neatly onto English whose in every context. In formal or precise language, possession can be expressed with a noun phrase followed by de + el qual, where el qual agrees with the antecedent—the possessor—not with the possessed noun:

• una autora l'obra de la qual ha guanyat el premi — an author whose work has won the prize
• un edifici les finestres del qual donen al mar — a building whose windows face the sea

In the first example, la qual is feminine singular because it refers to una autora. In the second, del qual is masculine singular because it refers to un edifici; the plural article les belongs to finestres. This structure is valuable in writing but can sound dense in conversation, where speakers often recast the sentence as two clauses.

Referring to an entire statement

Use la qual cosa when the antecedent is not one noun but the whole preceding event or fact:

• Han ajornat la reunió, la qual cosa ens dona més temps.
• “They have postponed the meeting, which gives us more time.”

The more compact cosa que is also common: Han ajornat la reunió, cosa que ens dona més temps. Do not use bare el qual to refer vaguely to a whole sentence; la qual cosa makes the scope clear.

Quantifiers with el qual

A preposition plus a quantifier can describe part of a previously mentioned group:

• els participants, tres dels quals eren estudiants
• les propostes, dues de les quals van ser acceptades
• els informes, la majoria dels quals ja s'han publicat

These patterns are particularly common in reports, journalism, and academic prose. The form still agrees with the plural antecedent: dels quals for masculine plural and de les quals for feminine plural.

Free relative clauses

A free relative has no separate noun antecedent; the relative expression itself means “the one(s) that” or “what.” This is where article + que is fully at home:

• No entenc el que dius. — I do not understand what you are saying.
• Tria la que t'agradi més. — Choose the one you like best.
• Qui vulgui venir serà benvingut. — Whoever wants to come will be welcome.
• Això és allò que necessitàvem. — That is what we needed.

Compare la que t'agradi més, where the omitted noun can be understood, with la proposta que t'agradi més, where la proposta is explicit and simple que introduces the clause.

Practice Tips

1. Rebuild the full sentence first. Turn la persona ___ parlo back into Parlo de la persona. The missing de immediately points to de qui or de la qual.
2. Practise in three columns. Write an antecedent, the verb with its required preposition, and the completed relative phrase: projecte + participar en → el projecte en què participo.
3. Rewrite English preposition stranding. Collect phrases such as “the tool I fixed it with” or “the issue we talked about,” then produce l'eina amb què ho vaig arreglar and la qüestió de què vam parlar. Check that no extra Catalan pronoun duplicates the relative form.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Basic Relative Clauses — reviews subject and direct-object que, plus basic relatives for place and time.