Relative Clauses in Arabic

Overview

Relative clauses in Arabic use relative pronouns (الأسماء الموصولة) to connect a descriptive clause to a noun. The most common relative pronouns are الذي (who/which, masculine singular), التي (who/which, feminine singular), الذين (who, masculine plural), and اللواتي/اللاتي (who, feminine plural).

At the A2 level, relative clauses enable you to create more complex and descriptive sentences. A distinctive feature of Arabic relative clauses is that they often require a resumptive pronoun -- a pronoun inside the relative clause that refers back to the noun being described. Additionally, indefinite nouns do not use a relative pronoun at all; instead, the describing clause follows directly.

Understanding the difference between definite and indefinite relative clauses is key to using them correctly.

Formation

Relative Pronouns

Gender/Number	Arabic	Usage
Masc. singular	الذي	الرجل الذي... (the man who...)
Fem. singular	التي	المرأة التي... (the woman who...)
Masc. plural (human)	الذين	الرجال الذين... (the men who...)
Fem. plural (human)	اللواتي / اللاتي	النساء اللواتي... (the women who...)
Dual masc.	اللذان / اللذين	the two (m) who...
Dual fem.	اللتان / اللتين	the two (f) who...

Definite vs. Indefinite Relative Clauses

Noun Type	Structure	Example
Definite	noun + relative pronoun + clause	الكتاب الذي قرأته (the book that I read)
Indefinite	noun + clause (no pronoun)	كتاب قرأته (a book I read)

Resumptive Pronouns

When the relative clause refers to the noun as an object, a resumptive pronoun is needed:

Without resumptive	With resumptive	Translation
الكتاب الذي قرأت	الكتاب الذي قرأتُهُ	the book that I read (it)

Examples in Context

Arabic	English	Note
الكتاب الذي قرأته	the book that I read	With resumptive pronoun
الطالبة التي نجحت	the student (f) who succeeded	Subject relative clause
الأصدقاء الذين زاروني	the friends who visited me	Plural relative clause
رأيت رجلاً يحمل حقيبة.	I saw a man carrying a bag.	Indefinite: no pronoun
البيت الذي أسكن فيه	the house that I live in	Resumptive with preposition
المدينة التي زرتها	the city that I visited	Feminine relative
الناس الذين يعرفونه	the people who know him	Plural verb agreement
كتبت رسالة أرسلتها أمس.	I wrote a letter I sent yesterday.	Indefinite relative

Common Mistakes

Wrong	Right	Why
Using الذي with indefinite nouns	Dropping the relative pronoun for indefinite nouns	رجل رأيته (a man I saw), not رجل الذي رأيته
Forgetting the resumptive pronoun	Including it when the relative clause has an object gap: قرأتُهُ	Arabic requires a pronoun trace inside the relative clause
Wrong gender of relative pronoun	Matching الذي/التي to the noun's gender	Use التي for feminine nouns, الذي for masculine
Using الذين for non-human plurals	Using التي for non-human plurals	Non-human plurals are treated as feminine singular

Practice Tips

• Practice building relative clauses step by step: first the main clause, then add the relative pronoun, then the subordinate clause with its resumptive pronoun.
• Master the definite/indefinite distinction early: الرجل الذي... vs. رجل... (no pronoun). This is one of the most common sources of errors.
• Read Arabic sentences with relative clauses and identify the resumptive pronoun. This trains you to produce them naturally.

Related Concepts

• Nominal Sentences