Relative Clauses in Romanian

Overview

Relative clauses allow speakers to add information about a noun by embedding a secondary clause within the main sentence. In English, words like "who," "which," "that," and "whom" introduce relative clauses. Romanian uses a similar system centered on the relative pronoun care (who/which/that), supplemented by ce (what/which) and compound forms for different cases.

At the B1 level, relative clauses are essential for constructing complex sentences and expressing precise descriptions. Without them, learners are limited to short, choppy sentences. Mastering relative clauses opens the door to natural, flowing Romanian.

A distinctive feature of Romanian relative clauses is that the pronoun care declines for case and combines with prepositions, while the direct object relative clause requires the resumptive clitic pronoun -- a pattern that connects directly to Romanian's clitic doubling system.

How It Works

The Relative Pronoun "care"

Care is the primary relative pronoun and works for both animate and inanimate referents. It declines for case:

Case	Form	Example	Translation
Nominative	care	Omul care vine.	The man who is coming.
Accusative	pe care	Omul pe care il vad.	The man whom I see.
Genitive	caruia (m), careia (f), carora (pl)	Omul caruia i-am dat cartea.	The man to whom I gave the book.
Dative	caruia (m), careia (f), carora (pl)	Femeia careia i-am vorbit.	The woman to whom I spoke.
With prepositions	prep + care	Casa in care stau.	The house in which I live.

Accusative Relative Clauses with Resumptive Clitics

When pe care introduces a direct object relative clause, a resumptive clitic pronoun is required within the clause:

Example	Breakdown
Cartea pe care o citesc.	The book that I'm reading. (o = feminine clitic)
Barbatul pe care il caut.	The man whom I'm looking for. (il = masculine clitic)
Copiii pe care ii invit.	The children whom I'm inviting. (ii = masculine plural clitic)
Fetele pe care le vad.	The girls whom I see. (le = feminine plural clitic)

The Relative Pronoun "ce"

Ce is used in free relative clauses (without a specific antecedent) and sometimes as an informal alternative to care for inanimate nouns:

Example	Translation	Note
Ce spui e adevarat.	What you say is true.	Free relative
Tot ce stiu.	Everything I know.	After "tot"
Asta e tot ce am.	This is all I have.	After "tot"

Preposition + care

Prepositions are placed before care, unlike English where they can be stranded:

Romanian	English
Casa in care locuiesc.	The house (in which) I live in.
Orasul din care vin.	The city I come from.
Persoana cu care vorbesc.	The person I'm talking to.
Motivul pentru care am venit.	The reason I came for.

Examples in Context

Romanian	English	Note
Omul care vine e prietenul meu.	The man who is coming is my friend.	Nominative subject
Cartea pe care o citesc e buna.	The book I'm reading is good.	Accusative + resumptive clitic
Casa in care stau e veche.	The house I live in is old.	Preposition + care
Prietenul caruia i-am dat cartea.	The friend to whom I gave the book.	Genitive/dative form
Tot ce vreau e liniste.	All I want is peace.	Free relative with "ce"
Femeia pe care o caut nu e aici.	The woman I'm looking for isn't here.	Accusative + feminine clitic
Motivul pentru care am plecat e clar.	The reason I left is clear.	Preposition + care
Orasul din care vin e mic.	The city I come from is small.	Preposition "din" + care
Copilul caruia i-am dat dulciuri.	The child to whom I gave sweets.	Dative form with clitic
Oamenii pe care ii cunosc sunt amabili.	The people I know are kind.	Plural accusative + clitic
Ceea ce spui e interesant.	What you're saying is interesting.	Emphatic free relative
Locul unde ne-am intalnit.	The place where we met.	"Unde" for location

Common Mistakes

Wrong: Cartea care o citesc. Right: Cartea pe care o citesc. Why: When the relative pronoun functions as a direct object, you must use pe care, not bare care. The accusative marker pe is required.

Wrong: Omul pe care vad. Right: Omul pe care il vad. Why: Accusative relative clauses with pe care require a resumptive clitic pronoun (il, o, ii, le) that agrees with the antecedent in gender and number.

Wrong: Casa care stau in. Right: Casa in care stau. Why: Unlike English, Romanian does not allow preposition stranding. The preposition must precede care: in care, din care, cu care, etc.

Wrong: Omul care cartea lui e aici. Right: Omul a carui carte e aici. Why: For possessive relative clauses, use the genitive forms: al carui (masculine), a carei (feminine), ai caror / ale caror (plural).

Wrong: Persoana carui i-am vorbit. Right: Persoana careia i-am vorbit. Why: The genitive/dative form must agree with the antecedent. For a feminine antecedent, use careia, not caruia (which is masculine).

Usage Notes

Romanian relative clauses are standard across all registers and dialects. In informal speech, the relative pronoun ce sometimes replaces care for inanimate subjects, but this is considered substandard in writing.

The resumptive clitic in accusative relative clauses is not optional -- it is a grammatical requirement. This is one of the areas where Romanian differs most noticeably from Western Romance languages, where resumptive pronouns are either optional or absent.

Learners at B1 should focus on mastering the nominative and accusative patterns first, as these cover the vast majority of relative clauses in everyday communication. The genitive/dative forms (caruia, careia, carora) are less frequent but essential for B2-level proficiency.

Practice Tips

• Start by combining simple sentence pairs into relative clause sentences. For example: "I see a man. The man is tall." becomes "Omul pe care il vad e inalt." This builds the pattern step by step.
• Drill the resumptive clitic pattern until it becomes automatic: every time you use pe care, immediately think of which clitic pronoun (il/o/ii/le) matches the antecedent.
• Read Romanian newspaper articles and identify relative clauses. Note whether they use nominative care, accusative pe care, or prepositional prep + care patterns.

Related Concepts

• Parent: Nominative and Accusative Cases -- relative clauses build on case knowledge, as the pronoun care declines for case based on its function in the relative clause.
• Child: Complex Sentence Structure -- relative clauses are a key component of building longer, more sophisticated Romanian sentences.