Basic Relative Clauses in Catalan

Overview

Relative clauses allow you to add information about a noun by connecting two ideas into one sentence. Instead of saying "I see a man. The man is talking," you can say "I see the man who is talking." In Catalan, the main relative pronoun is que, which covers "who," "that," and "which."

At the A2 level, you need to form basic relative clauses using que for subjects and objects, on for places, and quan for time references. These structures let you create more complex and natural-sounding sentences.

Catalan relative clauses work similarly to English ones but with one important difference: the relative pronoun que is never omitted. In English you can say "the book I read" (dropping "that"), but in Catalan you must always include que: el llibre que he llegit.

How It Works

Basic Relative Pronouns

Pronoun	Use	English equivalent
que	subject or object	who, that, which
on	place	where
quan	time	when

Structure

Noun + que/on/quan + clause

Type	Example
Subject relative	L'home que parla és el meu pare. (The man who is speaking is my father.)
Object relative	El llibre que he llegit és bo. (The book that I read is good.)
Place relative	La casa on visc és vella. (The house where I live is old.)
Time relative	El dia que vaig arribar plovia. (The day I arrived it was raining.)

Examples in Context

Catalan	English	Note
L'home que veus és el meu germà.	The man you see is my brother.	Object relative
La casa on visc és vella.	The house where I live is old.	Place with on
El dia que vaig arribar plovia.	The day I arrived it was raining.	Time with que
La dona que treballa aquí és simpàtica.	The woman who works here is nice.	Subject relative
El cafè que m'agrada és aquest.	The coffee I like is this one.	Object relative
La ciutat on vaig néixer és petita.	The city where I was born is small.	Place
La pel·lícula que vam veure era bona.	The film we saw was good.	Object relative
El restaurant on dinem és barat.	The restaurant where we eat is cheap.	Place
Les persones que conec aquí són amables.	The people I know here are kind.	Plural antecedent
L'any que va nevar molt va ser el 2010.	The year it snowed a lot was 2010.	Time

Common Mistakes

Omitting "que" (as in English)

• Wrong: El llibre he llegit és bo.
• Right: El llibre que he llegit és bo.
• Why: Unlike English, Catalan never drops the relative pronoun.

Using "qui" instead of "que" for people

• Wrong (in basic clauses): L'home qui parla...
• Right: L'home que parla...
• Why: In basic relative clauses without a preposition, "que" is used for both people and things. "Qui" appears after prepositions (amb qui, a qui).

Confusing "on" and "que" for places

• Both can work: La ciutat on visc and La ciutat que conec
• Why: "On" is for physical location (where I live), while "que" is for other relations (that I know). Don't use "on" when the verb does not express location.

Practice Tips

1. Take simple sentence pairs and combine them with "que": "Tinc un gat. El gat és negre." → "Tinc un gat que és negre."
2. Describe places with "on": your home, your workplace, your favorite restaurant. "La casa on visc..." "L'oficina on treballo..."
3. Practice object relatives by describing things you like: "La música que escolto," "el menjar que prefereixo," "els llibres que llegeixo."

Related Concepts

• Ser and Estar — common verbs in relative clauses
• Relative Pronouns with Prepositions — more complex relative clauses at B1
• Advanced Relative Clauses — B2 relative clause patterns