Lesson 122: The Relative Pronoun

Step 1 of 5: Learn

A relative clause describes a noun by means of a whole sentence: *the merchant who arrived yesterday*, *the goods that we weighed*. Arabic introduces the clause with اَلِاسْمُ الْمَوْصُولُ, the relative pronoun, whose basic form is اَلَّذِي. Two things make Arabic different from English. First, the relative pronoun is used only after a definite noun; after an indefinite noun the clause follows directly. Second, the clause must contain a pronoun that refers back to the noun whenever that noun is not the subject of the clause: *the goods that we weighed them*.

The relative pronoun اَلَّذِي

Singular and plural do not change for case; the dual has a nominative in ـانِ and an oblique (genitive-accusative) in ـيْنِ.
Number and case	Masculine	Feminine
singular, all cases	اَلَّذِيalladhīwho, which, that	اَلَّتِيallatīwho, which, that
dual, nominative	اَللَّذَانِalladhāni	اَللَّتَانِallatāni
dual, genitive and accusative	اَللَّذَيْنِalladhayni	اَللَّتَيْنِallatayni
plural, all cases	اَلَّذِينَalladhīna	اَللَّاتِي / اَللَّوَاتِيallātī / allawātīalso اَللَّائِي

Rule 1: 1. Agreement with the noun

The relative pronoun agrees with the noun before it in gender and number, like an adjective, and like an adjective it can only follow a definite noun. The masculine plural اَلَّذِينَ and the feminine plurals are used for persons; a plural of things, being treated as feminine singular, takes اَلَّتِي. Only the dual shows case: اَللَّذَانِ / اَللَّتَانِ after a nominative noun, اَللَّذَيْنِ / اَللَّتَيْنِ after a genitive or accusative.

وَصَلَ التَّاجِرُ الَّذِي يَسْتَوْرِدُ الشَّايَ مِنَ الْهِنْدِ.
waṣala t-tājiru lladhī yastawridu sh-shāya mina l-hindi
The merchant who imports tea from India has arrived.
هٰذِهِ هِيَ الشَّرِكَةُ الَّتِي تُصَدِّرُ التَّمْرَ.
hādhihi hiya sh-sharikatu llatī tuṣaddiru t-tamra
This is the company that exports dates.
اَلتَّاجِرَانِ اللَّذَانِ وَصَلَا أَمْسِ مِنْ أَعْضَاءِ الْوَفْدِ.
at-tājirāni lladhāni waṣalā amsi min aʿḍāʾi l-wafdi
The two merchants who arrived yesterday are members of the delegation.
Nominative dual after a nominative noun.
اِجْتَمَعَ الْوَزِيرُ بِالتَّاجِرَيْنِ اللَّذَيْنِ وَصَلَا أَمْسِ.
ijtamaʿa l-wazīru bi-t-tājirayni lladhayni waṣalā amsi
The minister met the two merchants who arrived yesterday.
Oblique dual after a genitive noun.
زُرْنَا الشَّرِكَتَيْنِ اللَّتَيْنِ تَسْتَوْرِدَانِ الْقَمْحَ.
zurna sh-sharikatayni llatayni tastawridāni l-qamḥa
We visited the two companies that import wheat.
Feminine oblique dual after an accusative noun.
اَلنِّسَاءُ اللَّوَاتِي يَعْمَلْنَ فِي الْمَصْنَعِ يَصْنَعْنَ السَّجَاجِيدَ.
an-nisāʾu llawātī yaʿmalna fi l-maṣnaʿi yaṣnaʿna s-sajājīda
The women who work in the factory make the carpets.
اَلْبَضَائِعُ الَّتِي وَصَلَتْ أَمْسِ فِي الْمَخْزَنِ.
al-baḍāʾiʿu llatī waṣalat amsi fi l-makhzani
The goods that arrived yesterday are in the storeroom.
Plural of things: feminine singular اَلَّتِي and verb.

Rule 2: 2. The returning pronoun (اَلضَّمِيرُ الْعَائِدُ)

When the noun described is the object of the verb in the relative clause, or depends on a preposition in it, Arabic must put a pronoun suffix in that place to refer back to the noun. English drops it: the book I bought; Arabic says *the book which I bought it*: اَلْكِتَابُ الَّذِي اشْتَرَيْتُهُ. The suffix agrees with the noun in gender and number. This pronoun is called اَلضَّمِيرُ الْعَائِدُ or اَلرَّاجِعُ, the returning pronoun. When the noun is the subject of the clause no separate pronoun is needed, because the verb already contains it.

أَيْنَ الْبِضَاعَةُ الَّتِي اسْتَوْرَدْتُمُوهَا مِنْ مِصْرَ؟
ayna l-biḍāʿatu llati stawradtumūhā min miṣra
Where are the goods that you imported from Egypt?
ـهَا returns to الْبِضَاعَةُ, the object of the clause.
هٰذَا هُوَ الْمِيزَانُ الَّذِي وَزَنَّا بِهِ الْأَكْيَاسَ.
hādhā huwa l-mīzānu lladhī wazannā bihi l-akyāsa
This is the pair of scales with which we weighed the sacks.
بِهِ returns to الْمِيزَانُ after a preposition.
اَلسُّوقُ الَّتِي ذَهَبْنَا إِلَيْهَا بَعِيدَةٌ عَنِ الْمِينَاءِ.
as-sūqu llatī dhahabnā ilayhā baʿīdatun ʿani l-mīnāʾi
The market we went to is far from the port.
سُوقٌ is feminine; the pronoun in إِلَيْهَا is feminine too.
اَلتُّجَّارُ الَّذِينَ قَابَلْنَاهُمْ أَمْسِ مِنَ الْبَصْرَةِ.
at-tujjāru lladhīna qābalnāhum amsi mina l-baṣrati
The merchants whom we met yesterday are from Basra.
اَلشَّرِكَتَانِ اللَّتَانِ اتَّصَلْتُ بِهِمَا تَسْتَوْرِدَانِ الْقُطْنَ.
ash-sharikatāni llatāni ttaṣaltu bihimā tastawridāni l-quṭna
The two companies I contacted import cotton.
Dual returning pronoun ـهِمَا.
اَلْمُسْتَوْرِدُ الَّذِي وَصَلَ وَفْدُهُ أَمْسِ صَدِيقُ أَبِي.
al-mustawridu lladhī waṣala wafduhu amsi ṣadīqu abī
The importer whose delegation arrived yesterday is my father's friend.
English 'whose' is rendered by اَلَّذِي plus a possessive suffix on the noun inside the clause.

Rule 3: 3. No relative pronoun after an indefinite noun

If the noun described is indefinite, اَلَّذِي is omitted and the clause follows the noun directly, as you saw already in lesson 28. The returning pronoun, however, is still required: اِشْتَرَيْتُ كِتَابًا قَرَأْتُهُ فِي يَوْمٍ I bought a book (that) I read in a day. The verb of such a clause is often best rendered in English by a participle: رَأَيْتُ بَاخِرَةً تَدْخُلُ الْمِينَاءَ I saw a steamer entering the port.

وَصَلَتْ بَاخِرَةٌ تَحْمِلُ مِئَةَ طُنٍّ مِنَ الْأَرُزِّ.
waṣalat bākhiratun taḥmilu miʾata ṭunnin mina l-aruzzi
A steamer arrived carrying a hundred tons of rice.
قَابَلْتُ تَاجِرًا يُصَدِّرُ الصُّوفَ إِلَى أُورُوبَّا.
qābaltu tājiran yuṣaddiru ṣ-ṣūfa ilā ūrubbā
I met a merchant who exports wool to Europe.
اِشْتَرَيْنَا قُمَاشًا صَنَعَهُ مَصْنَعٌ مَحَلِّيٌّ.
ishtaraynā qumāshan ṣanaʿahu maṣnaʿun maḥalliyyun
We bought cloth (that) a local factory had made.
Indefinite قُمَاشًا: no اَلَّذِي, but the returning pronoun ـهُ remains.
فِي الْمَدِينَةِ مَعْرِضٌ تُعْرَضُ فِيهِ صِنَاعَاتُ الْبِلَادِ.
fi l-madīnati maʿriḍun tuʿraḍu fīhi ṣināʿātu l-bilādi
In the city there is an exhibition in which the country's manufactures are displayed.

Definite and indefinite antecedent

هٰذَا هُوَ التَّاجِرُ الَّذِي قَابَلْتُهُ فِي السُّوقِ.

hādhā huwa t-tājiru lladhī qābaltuhu fi s-sūqi

This is the merchant whom I met in the market.

هٰذَا تَاجِرٌ قَابَلْتُهُ فِي السُّوقِ.

hādhā tājirun qābaltuhu fi s-sūqi

This is a merchant (whom) I met in the market.

The article on التَّاجِرُ calls for اَلَّذِي; the tanwīn of تَاجِرٌ forbids it. In both sentences the returning pronoun ـهُ is obligatory.

Vocabulary

Why do words end with “-un”?

The -un ending is called tanween (nunation). It marks indefinite nouns — similar to “a/an” in English.

كِتَابٌ (kitaabun) = a bookvsكِتَاب (kitaab) = book (base word)

To find the base word, simply remove the final “-un” sound (the double-stacked damma بٌ on the last letter).

عُضْوٌ

ʿuḍwun

member

مَعْرِضٌ

maʿriḍun

exhibition, fair

قِيمَةٌ

qīmatun

value, worth

صَادِرَاتٌ

ṣādirātun

exports

وَارِدَاتٌ

wāridātun

imports

إِنْتَاجٌ

intājun

production, output

مَصْنَعٌ

maṣnaʿun

factory, workshop

قُمَاشٌ

qumāshun

cloth, fabric

تَمْرٌ

tamrun

dates (fruit)

صُوفٌ

ṣūfun

wool

شَايٌ

shāyun

tea

مَصْرِفٌ

maṣrifun

bank

عَلَاقَةٌ

ʿalāqatun

relation, connection

غُرْفَةُ التِّجَارَةِ

ghurfatu t-tijārati

chamber of commerce

بَلَغَ يَبْلُغُ

balagha, yablughu

to reach, to amount to

اِفْتَتَحَ يَفْتَتِحُ

iftataḥa, yaftatiḥu

to open (officially), to inaugurate

نَظَّمَ يُنَظِّمُ

naẓẓama, yunaẓẓimu

to organise, to arrange

مُؤَخَّرًا

muʾakhkharan

lately, recently

Step 2 of 5: Read

Trade news

أَخْبَارُ التِّجَارَةِ

Tap any word to look it up.

Notes

Comprehension

1.What was the value of the goods imported in the last six months?
2.Who are the two members of the delegation who have already arrived?
3.Who organised the exhibition of local industries?
4.How long will the exhibition remain open?

In the Quran

صِرَٰطَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ
Surah Al-Fatihah · 1:7
صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ: masculine plural relative after a definite noun, with the returning pronoun in عَلَيْهِمْ.
- صِرَٰطَṣirāṭa(The) path
- ٱلَّذِينَalladhīna(of) those
- أَنْعَمْتَanʿamtaYou have bestowed (Your) Favors
- عَلَيْهِمْʿalayhimon them
Read in context
وَٱلَّذَانِ
Surah An-Nisa · 4:16
وَاللَّذَانِ: the nominative masculine dual of the relative pronoun, written with two lāms.
- وَٱلَّذَانِwa-alladhāniAnd the two who
Read in context
أَرِنَا ٱلَّذَيْنِ أَضَلَّانَا
Surah Fussilat · 41:29
أَرِنَا اللَّذَيْنِ أَضَلَّانَا: the oblique masculine dual اللَّذَيْنِ as object of the verb, with the dual verb أَضَلَّا inside the clause.
- أَرِنَاarināShow us
- ٱلَّذَيْنِalladhaynithose who
- أَضَلَّانَاaḍallānāmisled us
Read in context
يَوْمًۭا لَّا تَجْزِى نَفْسٌ
Surah Al-Baqarah · 2:48
يَوْمًا لَّا تَجْزِي نَفْسٌ: an indefinite noun followed directly by its descriptive clause, 'a day on which no soul shall avail', with no relative pronoun.
- يَوْمًۭاyawmana day
- لَّاlā(will) not
- تَجْزِىtajzīavail
- نَفْسٌnafsunany soul
Read in context

Step 3 of 5: Practice

Exercises

Strict harakat

Exercise 1 of 70/0 correct

Fill in the blank

Supply the relative pronoun:

Step 4 of 5: Quiz

Translate from Arabic to English

Type your translation, then check it. Spelling and vowel marks are graded leniently.

1.

اَلتَّاجِرُ الَّذِي اتَّصَلْتُ بِهِ أَمْسِ يُصَدِّرُ التَّمْرَ إِلَى الْهِنْدِ.

2.

أَيْنَ الْأَكْيَاسُ الَّتِي وَزَنَّاهَا صَبَاحَ الْيَوْمِ؟

3.

وَصَلَ الْعُضْوَانِ اللَّذَانِ أَوْفَدَتْهُمَا غُرْفَةُ التِّجَارَةِ.

4.

زَارَ الْوَزِيرُ الْمَصْنَعَيْنِ اللَّذَيْنِ يُنْتِجَانِ الْأَقْمِشَةَ.

5.

قَابَلْنَا فِي الْمَعْرِضِ تَاجِرًا يَسْتَوْرِدُ الشَّايَ وَالصُّوفَ.

6.

بَلَغَتْ قِيمَةُ مَا صُدِّرَ فِي الشَّهْرِ الْمَاضِي مِلْيُونَ دِينَارٍ.

Translate from English to Arabic

Type your translation, then check it. Spelling and vowel marks are graded leniently.

1.

The steamer that arrived yesterday is loaded with wheat.

2.

The merchants whom we met are members of the delegation.

3.

I visited the two companies that import rice from India.

4.

This is the market in which we bought the cloth.

5.

We bought dates (that) a merchant from Basra had exported.

6.

The women who work in this factory produce the carpets.

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