A definite Arabic antecedent normally requires an overt relative pronoun: الرجل الذي اتصل “the man who called,” الرسالة التي وصلت “the message that arrived.” The relative pronoun agrees with the antecedent in gender and number, while the clause after it explains which person or thing the speaker means.
English can omit object that in “the report I read.” Arabic cannot simply copy that English choice. It first asks whether the antecedent is definite. If it is, the الذي-type relative pronoun is obligatory; then Arabic decides whether an internal resumptive pronoun is required. The matching forms are tabulated on The الذي Relative-Pronoun Paradigm.
The basic architecture
A definite relative construction has three parts:
- a definite antecedent, such as الموظفة;
- an agreeing relative pronoun, such as التي;
- a relative clause, called صلة الموصول, which contains a complete proposition and, where needed, a link back to the antecedent.
وصلت الموظفة التي ستدير الجلسة.
waṣalati l-muwaẓẓafatu llatī satudīru l-jalsa(h).
The employee who will lead the session arrived.
Here الموظفة is definite, التي matches its feminine singular gender and number, and the employee is the understood subject of ستدير. No separate subject pronoun is needed.
وجدنا المفتاح الذي اختفى صباحا.
wajadnā l-miftāḥa lladhī khtafā ṣabāḥā.
We found the key that disappeared this morning.
The same structure works with nonhuman antecedents. The relative form follows grammatical gender: masculine المفتاح الذي, feminine السيارة التي.
Agreement with the antecedent
| Definite antecedent | Relative pronoun | Example beginning |
|---|---|---|
| masculine singular | الذي | الطالب الذي... |
| feminine singular | التي | الطالبة التي... |
| masculine dual, nominative | اللذان | الطالبان اللذان... |
| masculine dual, accusative/genitive | اللذين | الطالبين اللذين... |
| human masculine/mixed plural | الذين | الطلاب الذين... |
| nonhuman plural | التي | الكتب التي... |
Nonhuman plurals use feminine singular agreement. This is why الرسائل التي وصلت is correct even though الرسائل is plural.
Human or otherwise rational plurals instead use الذين and plural subject marking inside the relative clause, as in الطلاب الذين وصلوا. Do not confuse that pattern with an independent verb-first clause containing an overt plural noun: formal MSA normally has singular وصل الطلاب, but plural الطلاب وصلوا when the overt subject comes first. Literary personification can exceptionally extend rational agreement to a nonhuman referent (literary); neutral factual MSA keeps feminine singular agreement.
حفظت الرسائل التي وصلت من العملاء.
ḥafiẓtu r-rasāʾila llatī waṣalat mina l-ʿumalāʾ.
I saved the messages that arrived from the clients.
Dual relative pronouns also reflect the antecedent's case. In the next example, الخبيران اللذان is nominative because it is the subject. In the following one, الخبيرتين اللتين is accusative because it is the object of استشرت.
الخبيران اللذان راجعا العقد حاضران الآن.
al-khabīrāni lladhāni rājaʿā l-ʿaqda ḥāḍirāni l-ʾān.
The two experts who reviewed the contract are here now.
استشرت الخبيرتين اللتين أوصت بهما اللجنة.
ʾistashartu l-khabīratayni llatayni ʾawṣat bihimā l-lajna(h).
I consulted the two experts whom the committee recommended.
When the antecedent is the clause subject
If the antecedent is the understood subject of the relative clause, Arabic normally leaves no overt resumptive pronoun. The verb itself provides the needed person, gender, and number information.
قابلت الطبيب الذي يعمل في المركز الصحي.
qābaltu ṭ-ṭabība lladhī yaʿmalu fī l-markazi ṣ-ṣiḥḥiyy.
I met the doctor who works at the health center.
هذه هي المنصة التي تتيح للطلاب تحميل الملفات.
hādhihi hiya l-minaṣṣatu llatī tutīḥu li-ṭ-ṭullābi taḥmīla l-malaffāt.
This is the platform that allows students to download the files.
Adding هو or هي before these verbs would usually create unnecessary emphasis or a different information structure. English who already seems to occupy the subject slot; Arabic الذي introduces the clause, while the verb's agreement identifies the understood subject.
Direct-object resumptives: common, but not absolute
When the antecedent is a direct object inside the relative clause, a suffix on the verb is the clearest and most common learner pattern.
أرسلت التقرير الذي طلبه المدير.
ʾarsaltu t-taqrīra lladhī ṭalabahu l-mudīr.
I sent the report that the manager requested.
The ـه in طلبه resumes masculine التقرير. With a feminine antecedent, use ـها; with a dual, ـهما; and with a human or otherwise rational plural, use the appropriate plural suffix. A nonhuman plural normally takes feminine singular ـها, as in الكتب التي قرأتها “the books that I read.”
Traditional grammar and contemporary formal usage also allow deletion of some direct-object resumptive pronouns when the relationship is completely recoverable: هذا الكتاب الذي قرأت can mean “this is the book that I read.” This is a genuine surface gap, not an English-style deletion of the relative pronoun—الذي remains. Conditions and stylistic preferences vary, so an explicit suffix such as قرأته is the safer, clearer productive pattern at A2.
هذا هو المقال الذي قرأته قبل الاجتماع.
hādhā huwa l-maqālu lladhī qaraʾtuhu qabla l-ijtimāʿ.
This is the article that I read before the meeting.
Do not turn that limited option into a blanket rule. It applies to a recoverable direct object, not to a preposition or a possessive relationship.
Prepositional and possessive resumptives are obligatory
If English relates the antecedent to a preposition, Arabic expresses the object of that preposition with a suffix: فيه، عليها، معهم، عنهما. Formal Arabic does not strand a bare preposition at the end of the clause.
زرنا القرية التي نشأ فيها والدي.
zurnā l-qaryata llatī nashaʾa fīhā wālidī.
We visited the village where my father grew up.
أولئك هم الزملاء الذين تعاونت معهم في المشروع.
ʾulāʾika humu z-zumalāʾu lladhīna taʿāwantu maʿahum fī l-mashrūʿ.
Those are the colleagues I collaborated with on the project.
For English whose, Arabic normally uses a possessed noun carrying a suffix that resumes the antecedent.
شكرت الجارة التي وجدت محفظتها في الحديقة.
shakartu l-jārata llatī wajadtu miḥfaẓatahā fī l-ḥadīqa(h).
I thanked the neighbor whose wallet I found in the garden.
The wallet is the direct object of وجدت, but the neighbor is represented by possessive ـها on محفظة. Omitting that suffix would mean merely “the wallet,” with no grammatical link to the neighbor.
Definite versus indefinite antecedents
The relative pronoun is selected by antecedent definiteness, not by whether English says who or that.
نحتاج إلى الموظف الذي يتحدث الصينية.
naḥtāju ʾilā l-muwaẓẓafi lladhī yataḥaddathu ṣ-ṣīniyya(h).
We need the employee who speaks Chinese.
نحتاج إلى موظف يتحدث الصينية.
naḥtāju ʾilā muwaẓẓafin yataḥaddathu ṣ-ṣīniyya(h).
We need an employee who speaks Chinese.
The first antecedent is identifiable and definite, so it takes الذي. The second introduces any suitable employee, so its adjective-like clause follows directly.
Demonstrative phrases are definite too. هذا الملف is “this file,” so a relative clause after it uses الذي. By contrast, هذا ملف means “this is a file”; its predicate ملف is indefinite.
هذا الملف الذي أرسلته أمس ناقص، لكن ذلك ملف يتضمن كل المرفقات.
hādhā l-malaffu lladhī ʾarsaltahu ʾamsi nāqiṣun, lakinna dhālika malaffun yataḍammanu kulla l-murfaqāt.
This file that you sent yesterday is incomplete, but that is a file containing all the attachments. (One male addressee.)
Restrictive and additional information
Arabic can use a definite relative clause to identify a subset—“the students who passed”—or to add information about an already unique referent—“the director, who arrived yesterday.” The relative pronoun appears in both. Context, punctuation in writing, and prosody distinguish the readings; Arabic does not switch to a different pronoun as English sometimes switches between that and which.
In (formal) prose, commas may signal parenthetical information, but punctuation cannot replace grammatical agreement or a required resumptive.
Common Mistakes
Omitting the relative pronoun because English can omit “that”
❌ راجعت العقد أرسلته الشركة.
Incorrect for “the contract that the company sent”; the definite antecedent requires alladhī.
✅ راجعت العقد الذي أرسلته الشركة.
rājaʿtu l-ʿaqda lladhī ʾarsalat-hu sh-sharika(h).
I reviewed the contract that the company sent.
Using the masculine form after a feminine noun
❌ السيارة الذي تعطلت في الطريق مستأجرة.
Incorrect — feminine as-sayyāra requires allatī.
✅ السيارة التي تعطلت في الطريق مستأجرة.
as-sayyāratu llatī taʿaṭṭalat fī ṭ-ṭarīqi mustaʾjara(h).
The car that broke down on the road is rented.
Ignoring a dual antecedent
❌ قابلت الطالبين الذين فازا بالمسابقة.
Incorrect in careful MSA — exactly two masculine students take alladhayni, not plural alladhīna.
✅ قابلت الطالبين اللذين فازا بالمسابقة.
qābaltu ṭ-ṭālibayni lladhayni fāzā bi-l-musābaqa(h).
I met the two students who won the competition.
Stranding a preposition
❌ هذا هو الموضوع الذي سألت عن.
Incorrect — ʿan must have a resumptive object referring to al-mawḍūʿ.
✅ هذا هو الموضوع الذي سألت عنه.
hādhā huwa l-mawḍūʿu lladhī saʾaltu ʿanhu.
This is the topic I asked about.
Omitting a possessive resumptive
❌ التقيت الكاتب الذي قرأت رواية.
Incorrect for “the writer whose novel I read”; the novel must carry a suffix linking it to the writer.
✅ التقيت الكاتب الذي قرأت روايته.
ʾiltaqaytu l-kātiba lladhī qaraʾtu riwāyatahu.
I met the writer whose novel I read.
Key Takeaways
- A definite antecedent normally requires an agreeing الذي-type relative pronoun.
- The relative pronoun matches gender and number; dual forms also match case.
- Subject relatives need no separate resumptive pronoun.
- A direct-object resumptive is common and can sometimes be omitted, but the relative pronoun itself remains.
- Prepositional and possessive resumptive suffixes are obligatory.
Now practice Arabic
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Arabic →Related Topics
- The الذي Relative-Pronoun ParadigmA2 — Choose the Arabic relative pronoun that matches a definite antecedent in gender, number, and—where relevant—dual case.
- Relative Clauses with Indefinite AntecedentsA2 — Describe indefinite Arabic nouns with directly attached adjective-like clauses, without an overt relative pronoun.
- Near Demonstratives: هذا، هذه، هذان، هاتان، هؤلاءA1 — Choose near demonstratives by gender, number, case, and human reference, then combine them with definite nouns and relative clauses.