English relative clauses often leave an empty position: “the book that I read ,” “the colleague whom I spoke with .” Formal Modern Standard Arabic commonly fills that position with a pronoun that points back to the antecedent: الكتاب الذي قرأته “the book that I read it” and الزميل الذي تحدثت معه “the colleague whom I spoke with him.” This return element is a resumptive pronoun, traditionally الضمير العائد.
English translations omit “it” and “him,” but Arabic suffixes show the antecedent's internal role and complete the relationship required by a verb, noun, or preposition. An overt suffix is required after an ordinary preposition and on a possessed noun. With a simple direct object, it is the clearest learner default, although some definite relative clauses also license an unexpressed object.
Antecedent outside, grammatical role inside
A relative expression has two parts. The antecedent stands in the larger sentence; the relative clause says something about it. Inside that clause, Arabic needs a link—overt or understood—back to the antecedent.
هذا هو المقال الذي راجعته في القطار.
hādhā huwa l-maqālu lladhī rājaʿtuhu fī l-qiṭār.
This is the article that I reviewed on the train.
The relative pronoun الذي agrees with masculine singular المقال, but it does not itself serve as the direct object after راجعت. The suffix ـه supplies that role inside the clause; Direct-Object Suffixes on Verbs gives the complete object paradigm.
هذه هي الزميلة التي تحدثت معها بعد الاجتماع.
hādhihi hiya z-zamīlatu llatī taḥaddathtu maʿahā baʿda l-ijtimāʿ.
This is the colleague whom I spoke with after the meeting.
Here مع requires a complement, and ـها both completes the preposition and retrieves feminine singular الزميلة. The relative pronoun and resumptive suffix do different work.
The resumptive paradigm in relative clauses
The return pronoun matches the antecedent's grammatical gender and number. Its form also depends on its host.
| Antecedent | As verb object | After بـ | Example frame |
|---|---|---|---|
| masculine singular | ـه | به | الرجل الذي قابلته |
| feminine singular | ـها | بها | المرأة التي قابلتها |
| dual, either gender | ـهما | بهما | الطالبان اللذان قابلتهما |
| masculine/mixed plural | ـهم | بهم | الطلاب الذين قابلتهم |
| feminine plural | ـهنّ | بهنّ | الطالبات اللاتي قابلتهنّ |
The h-initial forms may show vowel fronting after i or y in careful pronunciation: بهم bihim, but معهم maʿahum. That phonological variation does not change the antecedent.
هذان هما الباحثان اللذان تعاونت معهما العام الماضي.
hādhāni humā l-bāḥithāni lladhāni taʿāwantu maʿahumā l-ʿāma l-māḍī.
These are the two researchers with whom I collaborated last year.
هؤلاء هن الطالبات اللاتي قابلتهن في المؤتمر.
hāʾulāʾi hunna ṭ-ṭālibātu llātī qābaltuhunna fī l-muʾtamar.
These are the female students whom I met at the conference.
Formal Arabic preserves feminine plural ـهنّ for an all-female human antecedent. Replacing every plural resumptive with ـهم erases a real agreement distinction.
Why prepositions require an overt resumptive
English permits preposition stranding: “the office that I worked in.” Standard Arabic does not leave an ordinary preposition without its complement. The preposition stays inside the relative clause and takes a suffix: المكتب الذي عملت فيه.
هذا هو المكتب الذي عملت فيه خمس سنوات.
hādhā huwa l-maktabu lladhī ʿamiltu fīhi khamsa sanawāt.
This is the office where I worked for five years.
تلك هي القضية التي تحدثنا عنها في الجلسة.
tilka hiya l-qaḍiyyatu llatī taḥaddathnā ʿanhā fī l-jalsa(h).
That is the issue that we discussed in the session.
The preposition must be the one selected by the Arabic expression. عمل في gives فيه; تحدث عن gives عنها. English “discuss” has no preposition, but Arabic تحدث does not inherit English valency.
If a complex preposition contains a noun, the suffix attaches where that expression requires it: البيت الذي وقفت أمامه “the house in front of which I stood.” The principle remains the same—the internal Arabic phrase must be grammatically complete.
هذا هو المبنى الذي وقفت أمامه الحافلة.
hādhā huwa l-mabnā lladhī waqafat ʾamāmahu l-ḥāfila(h).
This is the building in front of which the bus stopped.
Direct objects and possessors
When the antecedent is the direct object, formal MSA commonly attaches the matching suffix to the verb. With a definite antecedent and a simple, unambiguous dependency, an object gap is also attested: المقال الذي راجعت can mean “the article that I reviewed.” When the antecedent is the possessor of a noun inside the clause, however, the matching suffix on that noun is overt.
هذه هي النسخة التي أرسلناها إلى الناشر.
hādhihi hiya n-nuskhatu llatī ʾarsalnāhā ʾilā n-nāshir.
This is the copy that we sent to the publisher.
هذا هو الباحث الذي قرأت دراسته الجديدة.
hādhā huwa l-bāḥithu lladhī qaraʾtu dirāsatahu l-jadīda(h).
This is the researcher whose new study I read.
In the second sentence, the researcher is not the object of قرأت; دراسة is. The suffix on دراسته marks the antecedent as possessor. English uses “whose,” while Arabic builds a full internal noun phrase, literally “I read his study.”
Subject relatives: the link can be unspoken
When the antecedent is the subject of the relative clause, no separate object suffix appears. The finite verb itself contains subject agreement and can license a null subject.
وصل الطالب الذي فاز بالمنحة.
waṣala ṭ-ṭālibu lladhī fāza bi-l-minḥa(h).
The student who won the scholarship arrived.
Inside الذي فاز, the perfect verb فاز is third-person masculine singular, matching الطالب. Traditional analysis describes an understood pronoun هو in the verb. Adding overt هو would normally introduce emphasis or a different discourse structure; it is not required simply to imitate the visible object resumptive in قرأته.
Contrast a subject relative with an object relative:
هو الطبيب الذي اتصل بي.
huwa ṭ-ṭabību lladhī ttaṣala bī.
He is the doctor who called me. (Independent huwa is the main subject; the doctor is the embedded subject.)
هذا هو الطبيب الذي اتصلت به.
hādhā huwa ṭ-ṭabību lladhī ttaṣaltu bihi.
This is the doctor whom I called. (The doctor is the complement of bi-.)
The contrast is carried by subject marking on اتصل versus اتصلت, plus the overt prepositional resumptive به.
Indefinite antecedents
An indefinite antecedent normally takes an adjectival relative clause without الذي / التي, but the internal return link follows the same logic.
قرأت مقالا تعلمت منه كثيرا.
qaraʾtu maqālan taʿallamtu minhu kathīrā.
I read an article that I learned a great deal from.
نحتاج إلى خطة يمكننا تنفيذها خلال شهر.
naḥtāju ʾilā khuṭṭatin yumkinunā tanfīdhuhā khilāla shahr.
We need a plan that we can implement within a month.
The absence of التي after indefinite خطة does not license deletion of ـها from تنفيذها. Definiteness controls the relative marker; internal syntax controls the resumptive. The limited direct-object gap option described above does not extend freely to indefinite relatives, possessors, or objects of prepositions.
Left-dislocated topics
Resumption also appears outside relative clauses. A noun introduced as a topic can stand before a complete comment clause containing a pronoun that retrieves it.
هذا التقرير، راجعته صباحا وأرسلته بعد الظهر.
hādhā t-taqrīru, rājaʿtuhu ṣabāḥā wa-ʾarsaltuhu baʿda ẓ-ẓuhr.
As for this report, I reviewed it in the morning and sent it in the afternoon.
The topic هذا التقرير is nominative in fully inflected analysis; the two ـه suffixes fill object positions inside the comment. A marked fronted accusative object without resumption is a different formal construction. Learners should not mix the two by leaving a nominative topic without a return pronoun.
Both addressee gender and antecedent agreement may occur in the same sentence:
هذه هي الوثيقة التي أرسلتها إليك يا خالد.
hādhihi hiya l-wathīqatu llatī ʾarsaltuhā ʾilayka yā khālid.
This is the document that I sent to you, Khalid.
هذه هي الوثيقة التي أرسلتها إليك يا مريم.
hādhihi hiya l-wathīqatu llatī ʾarsaltuhā ʾilayki yā maryam.
This is the document that I sent to you, Maryam.
The feminine ـها resumes الوثيقة in both sentences. Only إليكَ / إليكِ changes with the addressee.
Avoiding ambiguous resumption
A suffix supplies features, not a full name. If two nearby masculine singular nouns can both be ـه, grammar alone cannot decide the reference. Repeat the intended noun or restructure the clause.
قابلت المدير الذي اتصل بالمترجم بعد أن راجعت تقريره.
qābaltu l-mudīra lladhī ttaṣala bi-l-mutarjimi baʿda ʾan rājaʿtu taqrīrah.
I met the director who called the translator after I reviewed his report. (His is ambiguous.)
This sentence is grammatical, but تقريره could mean the director's or the translator's report. Good formal writing does not make a suffix carry more reference than its features can support.
Common Mistakes
Dropping the link after an indefinite antecedent
❌ هذا تقرير قرأت في المنزل.
Incorrect for ‘This is a report that I read at home’ — the indefinite report is not linked to the following clause.
✅ هذا تقرير قرأته في المنزل.
hādhā taqrīrun qaraʾtuhu fī l-manzil.
This is a report that I read at home.
Stranding a preposition
❌ هذا هو المكتب الذي عملت في.
Incorrect — standard Arabic requires في to have a complement.
✅ هذا هو المكتب الذي عملت فيه.
hādhā huwa l-maktabu lladhī ʿamiltu fīh.
This is the office where I worked.
Losing second-person gender
❌ هذه هي الرسالة التي وجهتها إليكم يا موظفات.
Incorrect — an all-female plural audience requires ـكن, not masculine or mixed plural ـكم.
✅ هذه هي الرسالة التي وجهتها إليكن يا موظفات.
hādhihi hiya r-risālatu llatī wajjahtuhā ʾilaykunna yā muwaẓẓafāt.
This is the message that I addressed to you, employees. (All are women.)
Using English possessor order
❌ هذا هو الباحث الذي هو دراسة قرأت.
Incorrect for ‘the researcher whose study I read’ — Arabic attaches the possessor to دراسة inside a complete clause.
✅ هذا هو الباحث الذي قرأت دراسته.
hādhā huwa l-bāḥithu lladhī qaraʾtu dirāsatah.
This is the researcher whose study I read.
Leaving two possible antecedents
❌ تحدث المدير مع المترجم عن تقريره.
Potentially unclear — تقريره may be the director's report or the translator's.
✅ تحدث المدير مع المترجم عن تقرير المترجم.
taḥaddatha l-mudīru maʿa l-mutarjimi ʿan taqrīri l-mutarjim.
The director spoke with the translator about the translator's report.
Key Takeaways
- Rebuild the internal Arabic clause as a complete structure; its object, preposition, or possessed noun often needs a suffix returning to the antecedent.
- Never strand an ordinary Arabic preposition: use فيه، معها، عنه, and similar forms.
- Subject relatives can use the finite verb's null subject, so they do not take an extra object suffix.
- Indefinite relative clauses omit الذي / التي, not the resumptive required by their internal syntax.
- Match gender and number precisely, and repeat a noun when one suffix could point to multiple antecedents.
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