Relative Clause Word Order | Afrikaans Grammar

There is good news buried in this topic: relative clauses need no new word-order rule. A relative clause is simply a subordinate clause that happens to be introduced by wat ("that/which/who") instead of dat or omdat — and like every subordinate clause, it sends its finite verb to the very end. If you have already mastered verb-final order, you have already mastered relative-clause order; this page just shows you that the rule you know carries straight over. The relative pronouns themselves — when to use wat, wie se, and the waar-compounds — are catalogued on the relative pronoun page; here we focus on where the words go.

wat is the all-purpose relativiser — and it sends the verb to the end

Unlike English, which splits its relativisers between who (people) and which/that (things), Afrikaans uses wat for everything — people, animals, objects, ideas. Whatever the antecedent, wat introduces the clause, and the finite verb travels to the end of that clause.

Die man wat daar staan, is my oom.

The man who is standing there is my uncle.

Die boek wat op die tafel lê, is myne.

The book that's lying on the table is mine.

Ek ken die vrou wat langs jou woon.

I know the woman who lives next to you.

In each, look at where the verb lands: wat daar staan, wat op die tafel lê, wat langs jou woon. The verb is the last word of the relative clause every time. This is the same verb-final order as ...dat hy kom — there is genuinely nothing extra to learn. The fact that the antecedent is a person (die man) or a thing (die boek) makes no difference at all; wat covers both.

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A relative clause is a verb-final subordinate clause wearing a different hat. The moment you write wat, your brain should already be steering the finite verb to the end of that clause — exactly as it would after dat or omdat.

The relativiser sits immediately after its antecedent

The relative clause hugs the noun it describes: wat comes directly after the antecedent, with no gap. In English you can sometimes strand material between them ("the book, lying there, that I bought"), but in Afrikaans the wat clause normally clamps onto the noun right away, and the whole clause is then bracketed off by commas if it interrupts the main sentence.

Die fliek wat ons gisteraand gesien het, was uitstekend.

The film that we saw last night was excellent.

Die kinders wat in die park speel, is van die buurskool.

The children who are playing in the park are from the neighbouring school.

Notice the perfect tense in wat ons gisteraand gesien het: just as in any subordinate clause, the auxiliary het comes last, after the participle gesien (see the clause-final verb for why). The relative clause closes on ...gesien het, then a comma, then the main clause resumes with its own verb was. The main sentence and the relative clause each follow their own word-order rule independently.

Possessive relatives: wie se ("whose")

For "whose", Afrikaans uses wie se — the relativiser wie plus the possessive marker se. The noun possessed follows se, and then the clause runs verb-final as usual.

Die seun wie se fiets gesteel is, woon hier langsaan.

The boy whose bike was stolen lives right next door.

Ek het 'n kollega wie se man 'n dokter is.

I have a colleague whose husband is a doctor.

In wie se man 'n dokter is, the possessed noun man sits right after wie se, and the verb is still closes the clause. Wie se is the only place the older form wie survives productively in modern Afrikaans; elsewhere plain wat has taken over.

Prepositional relatives: the waar-compounds

This is where English and Afrikaans diverge sharply. English strands its preposition ("the chair that you're sitting on") or pied-pipes it formally ("the chair on which you're sitting"). Afrikaans, when the antecedent is a thing, does neither: it fuses waar + preposition into a single compound — waarop ("on which"), waarin ("in which"), waarmee ("with which"), waaroor ("about which") — and places it at the front of the relative clause.

Die stoel waarop jy sit, is antiek.

The chair you're sitting on is antique.

Die huis waarin ons woon, is meer as honderd jaar oud.

The house we live in is more than a hundred years old.

Die mes waarmee sy die brood gesny het, was stomp.

The knife she cut the bread with was blunt.

Die onderwerp waaroor hulle gestry het, was onbenullig.

The subject they argued about was trivial.

The compound is written solid (one word: waarop, never waar op), it sits at the clause edge right after the antecedent, and the verb still goes to the end. For the full list and the meaning of each waar-compound, see the waar-compounds page. One rule to internalise now: this fusion happens only with inanimate antecedents. When the antecedent is a person, you keep the preposition with a pronoun instead (die man met wie ek gepraat het — "the man I spoke with"), the person/thing split you also meet with prepositions and pronouns.

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For things, fuse: waarmee, waaroor, waarop, waarin. For people, don't — use the preposition plus wie (met wie, oor wie). Afrikaans never strands a preposition at the end of a relative clause the way English does ("the chair you sit on"); it pulls the relationship to the front with waar- or wie.

Putting it together: the main clause keeps its own order

A subtlety worth seeing clearly: when a relative clause interrupts the main clause, the two clauses obey separate word-order rules at the same time. The relative clause is verb-final inside its commas; the main clause keeps its own verb-second order.

Die restaurant wat ons aanbeveel het, is nou toe.

The restaurant we recommended is now closed.

Trace the verbs: inside the commas, wat ons aanbeveel het is verb-final (auxiliary het last); outside, the main clause Die restaurant ... is nou toe keeps is in second position relative to its own subject. Two clauses, two orders, running side by side without interfering — which is exactly what you would expect once you treat the relative clause as just another verb-final subordinate clause.

Common mistakes

❌ Die man wat staan daar, is my oom.

Incorrect — the relative clause is verb-final; the verb must close it: 'wat daar staan'.

✅ Die man wat daar staan, is my oom.

The man standing there is my uncle.

❌ Die fliek wat ons het gisteraand gesien, was goed.

Incorrect — main-clause order kept inside the relative clause; send the cluster to the end: 'wat ons gisteraand gesien het'.

✅ Die fliek wat ons gisteraand gesien het, was goed.

The film we saw last night was good.

❌ Die stoel wat jy op sit, is antiek.

Incorrect — Afrikaans doesn't strand the preposition; fuse it: 'die stoel waarop jy sit'.

✅ Die stoel waarop jy sit, is antiek.

The chair you're sitting on is antique.

❌ Die man waarmee ek gepraat het, is 'n dokter.

Incorrect — waar-compounds are for things; for a person use 'met wie': 'die man met wie ek gepraat het'.

✅ Die man met wie ek gepraat het, is 'n dokter.

The man I spoke with is a doctor.

❌ Die seun wie fiets gesteel is, woon hier.

Incorrect — 'whose' is 'wie se', with the possessive se: 'die seun wie se fiets'.

✅ Die seun wie se fiets gesteel is, woon hier.

The boy whose bike was stolen lives here.

Key takeaways

A relative clause is just a verb-final subordinate clause — the verb goes to the end, no new rule required.
wat is the all-purpose relativiser for people and things alike; English's who/which/that split disappears (see relative wat).
The relativiser sits immediately after its antecedent, and in the perfect the auxiliary het lands last (see the clause-final verb).
"Whose" is wie se
- the possessed noun: die seun wie se fiets....
Prepositional relatives with things use solid-written waar-compounds at the clause edge (waarop, waarmee, waaroor) — never a stranded preposition (see waar-compounds). For people, use preposition + wie (met wie).
The interrupting relative clause and the main clause keep separate word orders at the same time.

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