Relative Clauses with که in Persian

In Brief

Persian places a relative clause after the noun it describes and introduces it with the unchanging word که (ke): مردی که آمد means “the man who came.” Unlike English, Persian uses the same که for people and things. When the noun has a prepositional role inside the relative clause, Persian often states that role again with a pronoun: شهری که در آن زندگی می‌کنم (“the city in which I live”).

Overview

A relative clause is a part of a sentence that identifies or describes a noun. In “the book that I read,” that I read tells us which book is meant. Persian builds this kind of description with که, a very common linking word that can correspond to English who, whom, that, or which.

The basic order is friendly to an English-speaking learner: first comes the noun, then که, then the clause describing it. However, Persian usually marks the noun before a restrictive relative clause with a linking ـی (-i): کتابی که خواندم. This ending is easy to miss because English has no direct equivalent. It is attached to the noun in writing, but که remains a separate word.

Relative clauses are introduced as a core B1 structure because they let you combine short statements and identify people, objects, places, and times precisely. They also reveal an important difference between English and Persian: English can move a relative word together with a preposition (“the person to whom I spoke”), while Persian commonly leaves a pronoun in the normal position after the preposition (“the person that I spoke to him/her”).

How It Works

The core pattern

The most useful template is:

noun + ـی + که + relative clause

• مردی که آمد — the man who came
• کتابی که خریدم — the book that I bought
• کسی که فارسی بلد است — someone who knows Persian

The described noun is called the antecedent (the noun that the relative clause points back to). که does not change for number, gender, person, or grammatical role.

Persian pattern	English meaning	Role of the antecedent inside the clause
مردی که آمد	the man who came	subject: the man came
کتابی که خواندم	the book that I read	direct object: I read the book
دوستی که به او زنگ زدم	the friend whom I called	object of a preposition: I called the friend
شهری که در آن زندگی می‌کنم	the city in which I live	place after در

The linking ـی after the noun

In a typical restrictive relative clause (one needed to identify which person or thing you mean), Persian adds ـی to the noun before که. This is often called the relative -i. It sounds like the vowel in English see.

• مرد + ی → مردی که...
• کتاب + ی → کتابی که...
• خانه + ای → خانه‌ای که...

After a word ending in ه, the ending is normally written ‌ای, with a half-space: خانه‌ای که دیدیم (“the house that we saw”). In speech, the boundary may feel less obvious, but the linking sound remains important.

This ـی can overlap in form with the indefinite ending meaning “a/some.” Context determines whether کتابی که خریدم is best translated as “a book that I bought” or “the book that I bought.” English articles do not map neatly onto Persian here, so avoid treating ـی as automatically equivalent to English a.

With a demonstrative such as این (“this”) or آن (“that”), the relative marker still normally appears on the noun:

• آن مردی که آنجا ایستاده است — that man who is standing there
• این کتابی که روی میز است — this book that is on the table

In natural colloquial Persian, اون ... که and این ... که are extremely common. The exact use of the linking ـی can vary with definiteness, style, and construction, but noun + ـی + که is the safest productive pattern for learners.

When the noun is the subject

If the described noun performs the action in the relative clause, put که before the verb phrase. Do not add an ordinary subject pronoun merely to repeat the noun.

• زنی که اینجا کار می‌کند — the woman who works here
• ماشینی که خراب شد — the car that broke down

Persian allows subjects to be omitted when the verb already makes them clear. In a relative clause, the missing subject position is understood to refer to the noun before که.

When the noun is a direct object

If the described noun receives the action directly, Persian commonly leaves a gap where that object would normally occur:

• Full sentence: من کتاب را خواندم. — I read the book.
• Relative clause: کتابی که خواندم — the book that I read

Notice that را is not left stranded inside the relative clause. When the whole noun phrase is marked as a definite direct object in the larger sentence, را follows that noun phrase before که:

• کتابی را که پیشنهاد کردی خریدم. — I bought the book that you recommended.

In colloquial speech, an object clitic (a short pronoun attached to another word) may resume the object: کتابی که خوندمش (“the book that I read it”). This is natural in many spoken contexts, but the version without ـش is generally the better neutral model for a direct object.

After a preposition: resumptive pronouns

A preposition is a word such as “in,” “with,” “to,” or “about.” When the antecedent belongs after a Persian preposition, that preposition normally stays inside the relative clause and takes a pronoun. This pronoun is called resumptive because it resumes, or repeats, the reference to the earlier noun.

• کسی که با او صحبت کردم — someone I spoke with
• شهری که در آن زندگی می‌کنم — the city in which I live
• موضوعی که دربارهٔ آن حرف زدیم — the subject that we talked about

Formal Persian often uses independent pronouns such as او for a person and آن for a thing or place. Everyday speech strongly favors attached or colloquial forms:

• دوستی که بهش زنگ زدم — the friend I called
• شهری که توش زندگی می‌کنم — the city I live in
• کسی که باهاش کار می‌کنم — the person I work with

This differs sharply from formal English. Persian does not normally move the preposition before که in imitation of “with whom” or “in which.”

Possession inside a relative clause

When the antecedent is the possessor of something inside the clause, Persian normally uses a possessive pronoun or clitic in that clause:

• مردی که پسرش پزشک است — the man whose son is a doctor
• شرکتی که دفترش در تهران است — the company whose office is in Tehran

Persian has no separate relative word matching English whose. The possessive ـش points back to the antecedent.

Time and place expressions

A noun referring to time or place may be followed by a clause that explains what happened there or then:

• روزی که همدیگر را دیدیم — the day when we met
• جایی که کار می‌کنم — the place where I work

With جا and similar place nouns, a separate resumptive expression is often unnecessary because the location is already understood. With a concrete city, building, or country, در آن in formal style or توش in conversation makes the relationship explicit.

Examples in Context

Persian	English	Note
کتابی که خواندم خوب بود.	The book that I read was good.	Direct-object gap
کسی که فارسی بلد است می‌تواند کمک کند.	Someone who knows Persian can help.	The antecedent is the subject
مردی که جلوی در ایستاده برادر من است.	The man standing by the door is my brother.	Identifies a person
غذایی که دیشب درست کردی خیلی خوشمزه بود.	The food you made last night was delicious.	The object is understood
فیلمی را که پیشنهاد کردی دیدم.	I watched the film that you recommended.	The larger object phrase takes را
شهری که در آن زندگی می‌کنم خیلی شلوغ است.	The city in which I live is very crowded.	Formal resumptive آن
دوستی که بهش زنگ زدم خانه نبود.	The friend I called was not home.	Colloquial بهش
همکارم که با او سفر کردم اهل شیراز است.	My colleague, whom I traveled with, is from Shiraz.	Formal با او
زنی که کیفش گم شده بود به پلیس خبر داد.	The woman whose bag had been lost informed the police.	Possessive resumptive ـش
روزی که نتیجه را شنیدم هیچ‌وقت فراموش نمی‌کنم.	I will never forget the day when I heard the result.	Time expression
این همان کافه‌ای است که اولین بار همدیگر را دیدیم.	This is the same café where we first met.	Place understood from context
موضوعی که دربارهٔ آن صحبت می‌کنیم مهم است.	The subject we are discussing is important.	Formal prepositional pattern

Common Mistakes

Choosing different words for “who” and “which”

• Wrong: trying to replace که with separate Persian equivalents according to whether the noun is a person or a thing
• Right: مردی که آمد / کتابی که خریدم
• Why: Persian که is invariant. It covers the distinctions that English makes with who, whom, that, and which.

Leaving out the relative ـی

• Wrong: مرد که آمد برادر من بود. (when you mean “the man who came” as one identifying phrase)
• Right: مردی که آمد برادر من بود.
• Why: A restrictive Persian relative clause normally links to its noun with ـی. Without it, the sentence may sound incomplete or acquire a different discourse reading.

Repeating a subject pronoun unnecessarily

• Wrong: مردی که او آمد...
• Right: مردی که آمد...
• Why: The understood subject of آمد is already مردی. Ordinary subject relatives do not need a resumptive او.

Dropping the pronoun after a preposition

• Wrong: شهری که در زندگی می‌کنم...
• Right: شهری که در آن زندگی می‌کنم...
• Also natural in speech: شهری که توش زندگی می‌کنم...
• Why: در needs a complement here. Persian normally keeps the preposition and supplies آن or a colloquial resumptive form.

Copying formal English preposition placement

• Wrong: کسی با که صحبت کردم
• Right: کسی که با او صحبت کردم
• Why: Do not build the Persian clause word for word from “the person with whom I spoke.” Put که after the noun and keep با او in its normal position inside the clause.

Using colloquial pronouns in formal writing

• Too informal for a formal text: موضوعی که راجع بهش بحث کردیم
• Formal: موضوعی که دربارهٔ آن بحث کردیم
• Why: Forms such as بهش, باهاش, and توش are normal in conversation, but edited prose usually prefers به او, با او, در آن, and دربارهٔ آن.

Usage Notes

Written and spoken Persian

The basic noun + که + clause order is stable across registers. The largest difference is how Persian resumes a prepositional relationship. Formal writing prefers full forms: با او, به او, در آن, دربارهٔ آن. Conversation uses باهاش, بهش, توش, and راجع بهش very freely.

Spoken pronunciation also reduces verbs and pronouns: خواندم may be pronounced خوندم, می‌کنم as می‌کنم with conversational phonetics, and آن as اون. These are register choices, not a different relative-clause system. In careful writing, keep the standard spellings unless you are deliberately representing dialogue.

Restrictive and extra information

A restrictive clause identifies the noun: دانشجویی که سؤال پرسید (“the student who asked a question”). An extra-information or nonrestrictive clause merely adds a comment about a noun already identified: علی، که در شیراز زندگی می‌کند، معلم است (“Ali, who lives in Shiraz, is a teacher”).

In writing, commas help mark the second type. Persian does not switch to a special equivalent of English nonrestrictive who/which: it still uses که. Intonation does much of the same work in speech.

که has other jobs

Not every که introduces a relative clause. It also links complement clauses after verbs of saying, knowing, or thinking: می‌دانم که می‌آید (“I know that he/she is coming”). A quick test is to ask whether که follows a noun and the following clause describes that noun. If so, it is functioning as a relative marker.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

Persian relative clauses can form a long noun phrase, and that whole phrase may then take a role in a larger sentence. In کتابی را که دیروز از کتابخانه گرفتم تمام کردم, the entire sequence کتابی ... که ... is the direct object of تمام کردم. This is why را appears after کتابی and before که, rather than beside the understood object position inside the relative clause.

Resumption is not all-or-nothing. A subject is normally represented by a gap; a direct object often is too; an object of a preposition normally needs an overt pronoun; and possession is shown with a possessive clitic. Spoken Persian may extend resumptive clitics into direct-object relatives, as in کتابی که خریدمش. Such sentences are common and intelligible, but learners should first master the neutral written pattern کتابی که خریدم.

Persian can also use relative clauses after broader expressions such as همان (“the same/the very”) and هر (“every/any”):

• همان چیزی که لازم داشتم — exactly what I needed
• هر کسی که زودتر برسد — whoever arrives first
• هر چیزی که می‌خواهی — whatever you want

Here English may use what, whoever, or whatever, but Persian still builds the idea around a noun-like expression plus که. At higher levels, you will also meet clauses whose interpretation depends on mood, tense, or whether the person or thing is specific. Those choices belong to the verb system; they do not change the relative marker itself.

Practice Tips

1. Combine two short sentences. Start with من کتاب را خریدم. کتاب گران بود. Then combine them as کتابی که خریدم گران بود. Practice once with a subject, once with a direct object, and once with a preposition.
2. Build formal–informal pairs. Say کسی که با او کار می‌کنم and then the conversational کسی که باهاش کار می‌کنم. This trains the structure without mixing registers accidentally.
3. Mark the missing role while reading. Underline the noun before که, then ask: “Who did the action? What received it? Which preposition belongs to it?” This predicts whether Persian uses a gap, او/آن, or a clitic such as ـش.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Basic Conjunctions — provides the foundation for linking ideas with words such as که.
• Related: Conjunctive and Complement Clauses — distinguishes relative که from clauses meaning “that” after verbs such as “know” and “say.”
• Next step: Reported Speech — develops another major use of clause linking.
• Next step: Complex Subordinating Conjunctions — expands sentence building beyond relative clauses.
• Advanced connection: Cleft and Emphatic Constructions — uses clause structure to focus or emphasize one part of a message.