Basic Relative Clauses in Catalan

In Brief

Catalan usually builds a basic relative clause with que: la veïna que treballa aquí (“the neighbour who works here”) and el missatge que has enviat (“the message you sent”). Use on when the missing idea is a place (“where”), and use que after common time expressions such as el dia que; quan introduces a clause meaning “when.” Unlike English, Catalan does not leave out que in object relatives.

Overview

A relative clause is a group of words that describes or identifies a noun (a word for a person, thing, place, or idea). In “the train that leaves at six,” the clause “that leaves at six” tells us which train is meant. Catalan uses the same strategy: el tren que surt a les sis. The noun being described—el tren in this example—is called the antecedent, simply the word that the relative expression points back to.

Basic relative clauses are introduced at A2 because they let you combine facts instead of producing a string of short sentences. Conec una noia. La noia viu a Reus becomes the more natural Conec una noia que viu a Reus (“I know a girl who lives in Reus”). You can use this structure to identify people, describe purchases, specify meeting places, and talk about memorable dates.

English-speaking learners have one useful simplification and one important trap. The simplification is that Catalan que covers the basic jobs of English “who,” “that,” and “which” and never changes for gender or number. The trap is that English can say “the jacket I bought,” with no visible relative word, whereas Catalan requires la jaqueta que vaig comprar. Master that beginner rule first; prepositions and more formal relative pronouns belong to a later stage and are previewed separately below.

How It Works

The basic sentence frame

Put the relative clause immediately after the noun it describes:

antecedent + relative word + rest of the clause

Catalan pattern	English meaning	What the clause adds
una persona que escolta	a person who listens	an action performed by the person
la foto que mires	the photo you are looking at	an action affecting the thing
el despatx on treballo	the office where I work	a location
la nit que va nevar	the night when it snowed	a time
quan tinguis temps	when you have time	the time of another action

The verb inside the relative clause agrees with its own subject. Compare l'alumna que estudia (“the student who studies”) with les alumnes que estudien (“the students who study”). Que itself remains unchanged; the verb ending carries the singular–plural distinction.

Que for people and things

Use unaccented que after an antecedent when that antecedent performs the action or directly receives it. In grammatical terms, it can be the subject (the person or thing doing the action) or the direct object (the person or thing directly affected by the action).

Catalan	English	Role of the antecedent
El nen que corre és el meu nebot.	The boy who is running is my nephew.	The boy performs corre: subject
La màquina que fa aquest soroll és nova.	The machine that makes this noise is new.	The machine performs fa: subject
El nen que veus és el meu nebot.	The boy you see is my nephew.	You see the boy: direct object
La màquina que vam comprar és nova.	The machine we bought is new.	We bought the machine: direct object

English marks the first pair with “who” or “that” but can omit the relative word in the second pair. Catalan uses que in all four. Do not translate the English omission:

• “the guests we invited” → els convidats que vam convidar
• “the series she watches” → la sèrie que mira

The form is always que, not qui, in this simple pattern—even when the antecedent is a person. You will use qui after a preposition in structures such as la persona amb qui parlo (“the person I am speaking with”).

On for a place

Use on when the relative clause locates an action in the antecedent. It corresponds to “where” or, more formally, “in which”:

• l'hotel on ens allotgem — the hotel where we are staying
• la plaça on juguen els nens — the square where the children play
• el país on va néixer — the country where he or she was born

A place noun does not automatically require on. Ask what job the place has inside the smaller clause. If something happens there, use on. If someone visits, knows, chooses, or describes the place as a direct object, use que.

Catalan	English	Choice
El museu on treballa l'Anna tanca aviat.	The museum where Anna works closes early.	Anna works there: on
El museu que visita l'Anna tanca aviat.	The museum Anna is visiting closes early.	Anna visits the museum: que
La ciutat on passem l'estiu és tranquil·la.	The city where we spend the summer is quiet.	The activity takes place there: on
La ciutat que preferim és tranquil·la.	The city we prefer is quiet.	We prefer the city: que

Talking about time: que and quan

After an explicit time noun, everyday Catalan commonly uses que. Learn these as reliable chunks:

• el dia que... — the day (when) ...
• l'any que... — the year (when) ...
• la vegada que... — the time (when) ...
• el moment que... — the moment (when) ...

Thus “the year we moved” is l'any que ens vam mudar, not a word-for-word copy of English “when.” In more formal writing, you may also meet l'any en què... and el moment en què....

Quan means “when” and normally introduces a complete time clause without directly following a noun: Quan vam sortir, ja era fosc (“When we left, it was already dark”). It also appears after broad time pointers such as llavors: Va ser llavors quan ho vaig entendre (“That was when I understood it”). The practical beginner distinction is:

Catalan	English	Beginner pattern
el dia que va començar el curs	the day the course began	time noun + que
la primera vegada que vaig cuinar arròs	the first time I cooked rice	time noun + que
Quan va començar el curs, no coneixia ningú.	When the course began, I did not know anyone.	quan + complete clause
T'avisaré quan arribi.	I will let you know when I arrive.	quan gives the time of the main action

The last example uses arribi, a subjunctive form. You do not need to analyse that mood to build basic relatives; simply notice that verb tense and mood depend on the meaning of the clause, not on the relative word alone.

Essential information and extra information

Some relative clauses identify exactly which person or thing you mean. These are restrictive clauses—clauses that narrow the reference—and they have no commas:

Els clients que tenen reserva poden entrar.

“The customers who have a reservation may enter.”

Only the customers with reservations are included. Other relative clauses merely add a comment about an already identified person or thing. These non-restrictive clauses are set off with commas:

La Júlia, que té reserva, ja ha entrat.

“Júlia, who has a reservation, has already gone in.”

The commas matter because they can change the meaning. At A2, concentrate on the no-comma identifying pattern, but keep the distinction in mind when writing about named people or unique things.

What the basic pattern does not cover

Simple que works when no preposition is required before the missing element. If the English idea is “with whom,” “about which,” “from where,” or “for which,” Catalan needs another structure. For example, the idiomatic form of “the colleague I spoke with” is la companya amb qui vaig parlar, not a clause with amb stranded at the end. These preposition patterns are covered under the later relative-pronoun concept.

Examples in Context

Catalan	English	Note
L'home que veus és el meu germà.	The man you see is my brother.	Person as direct object; que stays present
La infermera que ens ha ajudat es diu Clara.	The nurse who helped us is called Clara.	Person as subject
Busquem un tren que arribi abans de les nou.	We are looking for a train that arrives before nine.	Identifies the train needed
Els tomàquets que has comprat són molt bons.	The tomatoes you bought are very good.	Thing as direct object
No trobo el correu que em vas enviar.	I cannot find the email you sent me.	que connects correu to vas enviar
La casa on visc és vella.	The house where I live is old.	Location + on
Aquest és el parc on passegem els diumenges.	This is the park where we walk on Sundays.	Activity takes place in the park
El parc que prefereixen els nens té un llac.	The park the children prefer has a lake.	Direct object, so que, not on
El dia que vaig arribar plovia.	The day I arrived, it was raining.	Time noun + que
Recordes la nit que vam sopar a la platja?	Do you remember the night we had dinner on the beach?	A particular night
Quan tinc una estona lliure, llegeixo.	When I have some free time, I read.	Repeated time condition
Et trucaré quan surti de la reunió.	I will call you when I leave the meeting.	Time of a future action
La meva cosina, que viu a Manresa, vindrà dissabte.	My cousin, who lives in Manresa, will come on Saturday.	Extra information between commas
Necessito la clau que obre aquesta porta.	I need the key that opens this door.	The key performs the action
El curs que faig acaba al juny.	The course I am taking ends in June.	curs is the object of faig

Common Mistakes

Leaving out que in an object relative

• Wrong: La pel·lícula vam veure era divertida.
• Right: La pel·lícula que vam veure era divertida.
• Why: English allows “the film we saw,” but Catalan must show the connection with que.

Choosing qui simply because the antecedent is human

• Wrong: El professor qui explica això és nou.
• Right: El professor que explica això és nou.
• Why: Basic subject and direct-object relatives use que for people as well as things. Qui is used in other constructions, especially after prepositions: amb qui, de qui.

Repeating the direct object

• Wrong: La carta que la vaig escriure ahir és aquí.
• Right: La carta que vaig escriure ahir és aquí.
• Why: In the standard basic pattern, do not add la as though saying “the letter that I wrote it.” The antecedent already fills that object role through que.

Using on whenever the antecedent names a place

• Wrong: El poble on visitem cada estiu és petit.
• Right: El poble que visitem cada estiu és petit.
• Why: We visit the village; the village is the direct object. Use on only when the clause means that something happens there: el poble on passem l'estiu.

Adding an accent to basic que

• Wrong: La feina què faig és interessant.
• Right: La feina que faig és interessant.
• Why: Basic relative que has no written accent. Accented què appears in questions (Què fas?, “What are you doing?”) and after prepositions in more advanced relatives (el tema de què parlem).

Copying an English final preposition

• Wrong: La persona que treballo amb.
• Right: La persona amb qui treballo.
• Why: Standard Catalan places the preposition before an appropriate relative form. If that feels too advanced, split the thought into two A2 sentences rather than translating English word order literally.

Usage Notes

Que is neutral and extremely common in both speech and writing. Its wide range is not informal shorthand: it is the ordinary choice for people and things when the antecedent is the subject or direct object of the relative clause. Because it is unstressed, it is written without an accent.

In casual speech, you may hear sentences that repeat a pronoun or use a general que where edited Catalan prefers a preposition plus a relative form. Such constructions can be natural in conversation, but learners are safest using the standard patterns in writing: el llibre que vaig comprar and la persona amb qui parlava.

The choice between commas and no commas is also a choice of meaning, not just style. Compare Els germans que viuen a Girona venen demà (“The siblings who live in Girona are coming tomorrow,” perhaps not all the siblings) with Els meus germans, que viuen a Girona, venen demà (“My siblings, who live in Girona, are coming tomorrow,” with their location added as a comment).

For place clauses, on is normal across registers. More precise forms can include a preposition: d'on (“from where”), per on (“through where”), and sometimes a on (“to where”). In formal prose, en què or a form of el qual may replace simple on when the relationship needs to be explicit.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to produce all of these forms at A2. They are included so that the simple rule does not become misleading when you encounter richer Catalan later.

Relatives after prepositions

When a verb or expression requires a preposition, Catalan normally keeps that preposition before the relative form. Qui commonly refers to people; què can refer to things; forms of el qual are available for both and agree in gender and number.

Catalan	English	Structure
l'amiga amb qui viatjo	the friend I travel with	amb + qui, person
el tema de què parlem	the subject we are talking about	de + què, thing
la decisió contra la qual van protestar	the decision they protested against	preposition + agreeing la qual
l'edifici en què treballa	the building in which he or she works	formal alternative to on

El que and related forms

When there is no stated noun before the relative, el que can mean “what” or “the thing that”: No entenc el que dius (“I do not understand what you are saying”). With a clear noun understood from context, el que, la que, els que, and les que can mean “the one(s) that”: Prefereixo les que són blaves (“I prefer the blue ones”). Do not confuse this with plain que directly after a noun: les sabates que són blaves.

Unknown or non-specific antecedents

A relative clause can use the subjunctive (a verb form that often presents something as wanted, uncertain, or not yet identified). Compare:

• Conec algú que parla japonès. — I know someone who speaks Japanese. The person is real and identified.
• Busco algú que parli japonès. — I am looking for someone who speaks Japanese. Such a person has not yet been identified.

This difference belongs to later study. At A2, you can build strong, correct sentences around known people and things using the indicative forms you already know.

Referring to a whole preceding idea

Advanced writing can use la qual cosa (“which,” referring to a whole preceding statement): Van cancel·lar el tren, la qual cosa ens va sorprendre (“They cancelled the train, which surprised us”). Here the antecedent is not merely el tren but the entire fact that the train was cancelled.

Practice Tips

1. Merge sentence pairs. Write Tinc una veïna. La veïna toca el violí, circle the repeated noun, and merge the ideas: Tinc una veïna que toca el violí. Practise once with the noun as subject and once as object.
2. Use the “there” test for on. If the smaller clause can be understood with “there”—“we work there,” “they met there”—try on. If the clause means “we chose it” or “I know it,” choose que instead.
3. Watch for invisible English relatives. Collect phrases such as “the book I need” and “the colleague we met.” Before translating, insert the hidden “that,” which reminds you to say el llibre que necessito and la companya que vam conèixer.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Ser and Estar — provides essential verbs for identifying and describing the people, things, and places in these sentences.
• Next step: Relative Pronouns with Prepositions — develops forms such as amb qui, de què, and pel qual.
• Later refinement: Advanced Relative Clauses — covers more complex meanings, sentence-level reference, and stylistic choices.