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Argument

Italian relative pronouns

Italian relative pronouns | How to use them

    Italian relative pronouns

    Italian relative pronouns | Are you ready for a new topic of Italian grammar?

    Treasure every grammar topic because it will be a way to broaden your Italian vocabulary and why not … even good Italian pronunciation wouldn’t be bad! So, let’s broaden your Italian skills with another topic, that is: Italian relative pronouns.

    Italian relative pronouns

    First of all, they are used to link two sentences and like all types of pronoun, they replace an element of the main sentence. 

    In the family of Italian pronouns, there are three types of relative pronoun: che, cui e il quale.

    Have you already read the other articles about italian pronouns?

    Here are the links:

    Direct pronouns https://italianlesson.it/how-to/italian-pronouns/the-italian-direct-pronouns/

    Indirect pronouns https://italianlesson.it/how-to/italian-pronouns/indirect-italian-pronouns/

    Possessive pronouns https://italianlesson.it/how-to/italian-pronouns/italian-possessive-pronouns/

    CHEIl professore che sta parlando insegna all’università di Milano / The professor who is speaking teaches at the University of Milan
    L’auto di Marco, che ha acquistato il mese scorso, è davvero comoda / Marco’s car, which he bought last month, is really comfortable
    CUIL’insegnante a cui mi sono rivolta ha insegnato in America / The teacher I went to taught in America (in the English version the relative pronoun has been omitted but it might help to think of the sentence in a more formal way. The teacher to whomI went, taught in America)
    Il ragazzo cui ti riferisci è davvero molto bello / The guy you’re referring to is really handsome (in the English version the relative pronoun has been omitted)
    IL QUALETi verrà a trovare la mia vicina con la quale ho parlato ieri sera / My neighbor whom I spoke to last night will visit you 
    Ho parlato con i suoi figli, i quali mi hanno confermato che il mese scorso sono stati a Roma / I talked to his children, who confirmed that they were in Rome last month

    In Italian the use of IL QUALE is often replaced by CHE or CUI (as we have seen in the examples, in English these forms are often omitted). 

    In addition, there are some cases where relat. pron. can be replaced by other elements.

    For example, DOVE (where) instead of CHI (who), CUI or IL QUALE (which):

    • La città nella quale / in cui vivo è molto caotica – La città dove vivo è molto caotica / The city I live in is very chaotic (relative pronoun omitted) – The city where I live is very chaotic

    Another topic has come to an end!

    How are you approaching the study of the Italian language?

    The best advice is to practice a lot and read texts in Italian which contain all the elements that you have learned and will learn.

    In short, today’s lesson is very important because relative pronouns allow us to join two or more sentences and therefore appear as a link to create all the texts we want!

    In conclusion, never forget to study every day, to read many texts in Italian, for example read the major Italian newspapers such as Repubblica, where you have the opportunity to read contents that are both interesting from an informative and also an educational point of view.

    Here’s another insight

    https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pronome_relativo

    That’s all folks!