A free relative contains its meaning internally instead of modifying an overt lexical noun. In Qui arribi primer obrirà la porta, there is no noun before qui: the whole clause means “the person who arrives first.” English uses forms such as “whoever,” “what,” “where,” and “how”; Catalan distributes those meanings across qui, el que, allò que, com, quan, and on. More strictly, forms with an article or demonstrative such as el que and allò que are often called semi-free relatives, because a small nominal element remains visible even though no lexical noun does.
Free means “without an overt antecedent”
Compare a headed relative with a free one:
La persona que arribi primer obrirà la porta.
The person who arrives first will open the door.
Qui arribi primer obrirà la porta.
Whoever arrives first will open the door.
The derivation is transparent: la persona que arribi primer → remove the overt antecedent la persona and use human qui → qui arribi primer. The entire free relative is the subject of obrirà, while qui is the subject of arribi inside the relative clause. This double role—an external role for the whole clause and an internal role for the relative word—is the key to the construction.
Qui: an unspecified person
Bare qui refers to a human and is invariable. It can mean “whoever,” “the person who,” or generically “those who.” Its verb is normally singular when the reference is open-ended.
Qui vulgui quedar-se haurà d'avisar abans de les sis.
Anyone who wants to stay will have to let us know before six.
No confiïs en qui et promet resultats immediats.
Do not trust anyone who promises you immediate results.
The preposition en belongs to confiar en and introduces the whole free relative. Inside it, qui is the subject of promet. A free relative headed by qui can fill the usual noun-phrase roles: subject, object, complement of a preposition, or predicative complement.
Ara ja no és qui era quan el vaig conèixer.
He is no longer the person he was when I met him.
For a definite set, el qui, la qui, els qui, les qui are semantically “the one(s) who” and show number and gender in the article. They are often called semi-free relatives because the article behaves like the visible remnant of an omitted noun.
El que and allò que: things, content, and propositions
In el que, que is unaccented. The sequence can be semi-free and select a masculine item—el que és blau (“the blue one”)—or it can refer more broadly to content: “what.” Context distinguishes the readings.
No he entès el que m'has volgut dir.
I haven't understood what you were trying to tell me.
Dels dos abrics, em quedo amb el que abriga més.
Of the two coats, I'll keep the warmer one.
Use allò que when you want an explicitly neuter, nonhuman meaning: a fact, behavior, event, or piece of content rather than a masculine noun. It is often clearer than neutral el que in careful prose.
Allò que em preocupa no és el preu, sinó el termini.
What worries me is not the price but the deadline.
No facis allò que després lamentaràs.
Don't do what you'll regret later.
Do not confuse this with a relative whose antecedent is an entire preceding clause. Formal Catalan uses cosa que or la qual cosa there: Han cancel·lat el tren, cosa que ens complica el viatge. That is not a free relative.
Com, quan, and on: manner, time, and place
These words can head free relatives with adverbial meaning. The entire clause fills a manner, time, or location slot without naming a separate antecedent.
Fes-ho com et vagi millor.
Do it however works best for you.
En parlarem quan tornis de Menorca.
We'll talk about it when you return from Menorca.
Deixa les claus on les pugui trobar tothom.
Leave the keys where everyone can find them.
Derive the last one from a full phrase: Deixa les claus *al lloc en què les pugui trobar tothom → replace the locative antecedent and relative phrase with free *on → Deixa les claus on les pugui trobar tothom. Because on itself encodes location, standard Catalan does not add a resumptive hi for that same gap.
Prepositions refine the spatial relationship: d'on marks origin, per on a route, and fins on a limit.
Torna per on has vingut; l'altre camí és tallat.
Go back the way you came; the other path is closed.
With time, quan can be factual or open-ended. Mood supplies the difference: quan va arribar identifies an actual time; quan arribi points to a future time not yet realized. Similarly, com ho fa describes a known manner, whereas com vulgui leaves the choice open.
The preposition belongs where Catalan grammar requires it
English often strands a preposition at the end: “whoever you spoke to.” Catalan normally places the governing preposition before the free relative or uses it inside the appropriate construction.
Dona el formulari a qui te'l demani.
Give the form to whoever asks you for it.
Here a marks the recipient of dona and introduces the whole free relative. Within that relative, qui is the subject of demani. By contrast, in No sé amb qui parlar, amb qui belongs inside an embedded question and the infinitive parlar governs amb.
The weak pronouns en and hi are not translations of “what” or “where.” They represent complements selected by a Catalan verb. In En parlarem quan tornis, en replaces an understood d'això because the verb is parlar de; it does not duplicate quan. In Aniré on em diguis, do not add hi merely because English has “go there.”
Aniré on em diguis, però no m'hi quedaré gaire.
I'll go wherever you tell me, but I won't stay there long.
The first clause has free on as the destination of aniré. In the second, hi refers back to that now established place. This is legitimate discourse anaphora, not doubling inside the relative.
A short dialogue
—A qui donaràs l'última entrada? —A qui arribi primer; no he promès res a ningú.
—Who will you give the last ticket to? —Whoever arrives first; I haven't promised anything to anyone.
The first a qui is interrogative. The answer a qui arribi primer is a free relative and names the recipient without an overt antecedent. The future-oriented subjunctive arribi shows that the person is not yet identified.
Free relatives are strong phrases, not clitics: they do not elide against the verb and never attach with a hyphen. Any weak pronoun inside them follows the ordinary rules: qui *te'l demani, el que **m'has dit*. Do not reorder a cluster to imitate English pronoun order; see two-clitic order.
Regional and register notes
The core forms on this page are standard across Catalan-speaking territories. (regional: Valencian) ací may naturally appear in a clause such as Queda't on estigues més còmode, ací o fora, but the relative remains on. (regional: Balearic) article systems differ in noun phrases, yet qui, el que, allò que, com, quan, and on remain available. These differences do not create a separate free-relative grammar.
Common Mistakes
1. Importing Spanish lo que.
❌ No sé lo que vols.
Incorrect in standard Catalan — lo is a Spanish-style neuter article here.
✅ No sé el que vols.
I don't know what you want.
2. Writing interrogative què after the article.
❌ Agafa el què necessitis.
Incorrect — the relative in el que has no accent.
✅ Agafa el que necessitis.
Take whatever you need.
3. Adding a resumptive locative pronoun.
❌ Deixa-ho on hi arribi la llum.
Incorrect for the intended gap — on already expresses the place reached by the light.
✅ Deixa-ho on arribi la llum.
Leave it where the light reaches.
4. Stranding a preposition by English word order.
❌ No sé qui parlar amb.
Incorrect — Catalan does not normally strand amb.
✅ No sé amb qui parlar.
I don't know who to talk to.
5. Adding Spanish-style personal a indiscriminately.
❌ A qui treballi millor rebrà el premi.
Incorrect — qui is the subject of treballi, so a has no function.
✅ Qui treballi millor rebrà el premi.
Whoever works best will receive the prize.
Key Takeaways
Use qui for an unspecified person, el que or allò que for a thing or content, and com, quan, or on for manner, time, or place. Determine both the role of the whole free relative and the role of its introductory word inside the clause. That two-level analysis prevents stray prepositions, unnecessary en/hi, and confusion with embedded questions.
Related Topics
- Relative QueB1 — Use invariant unstressed que to build Catalan subject and direct-object relative clauses without omission, agreement, or stranded prepositions.
- Prepositional Relatives with Què, Qui, and El QualB1 — Choose què, qui, or the agreeing forms of el qual after Catalan prepositions and avoid stranded or resumptive alternatives.
- Relative OnB1 — Use locative on for literal places and directions, add spatial prepositions when needed, and choose en què or el qual for nonlocative relations.
- Interrogative PronounsB1 — How qui, què, quin, quant, and on ask direct and embedded questions in contemporary Catalan.
- Mood in Relative ClausesB2 — Choose indicative or subjunctive in Catalan relatives according to whether an antecedent is asserted, sought, hypothetical, denied, or evaluated.