Catalan que introduces the core kind of relative clause: la veïna que viu al tercer “the neighbor who lives on the third floor” and el missatge que has enviat “the message that you sent.” In these clauses, que can be the subject or direct object, refers back to an expressed antecedent, and never changes for gender or number.
This relative que is unstressed and has no accent. It is required where English can omit “that,” but it cannot carry a preposition or leave one stranded at the end of the clause.
From two sentences to one relative clause
A relative clause packages a repeated noun as an antecedent plus a dependency. Start with two complete clauses:
La veïna viu al tercer. La veïna ha trucat. → La veïna que viu al tercer ha trucat.
The neighbor lives on the third floor. The neighbor called. → The neighbor who lives on the third floor called.
The repeated la veïna is the subject of viu. In the combined sentence, the first occurrence becomes the antecedent and the second becomes subject relative que.
Now compare a direct object:
Em vas recomanar una sèrie. Hem començat la sèrie. → Hem començat la sèrie que em vas recomanar.
You recommended a series to me. We started the series. → We started the series that you recommended to me.
Inside the relative clause, the understood structure is em vas recomanar _. The gap is the direct object of recomanar, and que connects that gap to la sèrie. Catalan does not also insert la inside the relative in neutral standard usage.
Que as the relative-clause subject
Subject que can refer to a person, animal, object, institution, or abstract entity. It is invariant even when the antecedent changes.
| Antecedent | Relative clause | Agreement appears on |
|---|---|---|
| el tècnic | que vindrà demà | vindrà, singular |
| les tècniques | que vindran demà | vindran, plural |
| la proposta | que sembla viable | sembla, singular |
| els canvis | que semblen viables | semblen, plural |
Els autobusos que passen pel centre solen anar plens a aquesta hora.
The buses that go through the city center are usually full at this time.
La decisió, que ha sorprès tot l'equip, entrarà en vigor dilluns.
The decision, which has surprised the whole team, will take effect on Monday.
The first relative restricts the reference to a subset of buses and has no commas. The second is nonrestrictive: the commas present extra information about an already identified decision. Both use que. Punctuation changes how the antecedent is identified; it does not change the form of the relative.
The subject normally does not need an additional personal pronoun. La noia que treballa aquí already means “the girl who works here”; adding coreferential ella creates a marked or dislocated pattern rather than an ordinary relative.
Que as the direct object
Direct-object que likewise works with human and nonhuman antecedents. It does not show the antecedent's gender or number, and Catalan does not distinguish English “that,” “whom,” and “which” here.
Aquests són els informes que va revisar la directora abans de la reunió.
These are the reports that the director reviewed before the meeting.
La metgessa que vam consultar ens va explicar totes les opcions amb molta claredat.
The doctor whom we consulted explained all the options to us very clearly.
In the first sentence, la directora is the overt subject of va revisar and que is its object. In the second, nosaltres is the omitted subject of vam consultar and que represents human direct object la metgessa. Human reference does not by itself require qui: que is the most frequent form for an ordinary animate direct object.
Contemporary standard Catalan also permits a qui and, in the appropriate context, al qual / a la qual for an animate direct object. These alternatives are especially useful when bare que would leave subject and object ambiguous, and they are required with certain psychological predicates whose human object is an experiencer:
Els infants a qui il·lusiona fer cagar el tió esperen impacients la nit de Nadal.
The children who are excited by making the Christmas log ‘poop’ presents eagerly await Christmas Eve.
Here bare que could be misread as the subject of il·lusiona. If you choose qui in a headed direct-object relative, it appears as a qui, never as bare qui. This is a specific property of animate relative objects, not a reason to insert Spanish-style personal a before every human noun phrase.
Catalan also retains que when English drops “that/which/whom”:
No trobo el correu que em vas enviar ahir.
I can't find the email you sent me yesterday.
English can say “the email you sent me.” Catalan cannot normally say el correu em vas enviar. The relative marker is part of the clause's structure, not an optional translation of an English word.
An antecedent outside an infinitive
The missing subject or object can belong to a nonfinite verb embedded inside the relative clause. Que still appears at the beginning of the relative and never attaches to that infinitive.
Aquest és el document que he de signar abans de les cinc.
This is the document that I have to sign before five.
The dependency is he de signar _: que is the object selected by infinitive signar. Because that object is already represented by the relative, do not add signar-lo. Compare an independent clause, where the weak pronoun is necessary: He de signar-lo abans de les cinc.
Busquem una persona que pugui ajudar-nos durant el trasllat.
We're looking for someone who can help us during the move.
Here que is the subject of finite pugui; attached -nos is the direct object of infinitive ajudar. The two forms have different antecedents and functions, so their coexistence is not doubling.
Que cannot carry or strand a preposition
Use bare que only when no preposition governs the relative element. If the full phrase has a preposition, preserve it before a stressed relative: amb qui, de què, en el qual, and so forth.
Treballo amb la Berta. → La Berta, amb qui treballo, coneix molt bé el projecte.
I work with Berta. → Berta, whom I work with, knows the project very well.
Parlem del pressupost. → El pressupost de què parlem encara no està aprovat.
We're talking about the budget. → The budget we're talking about has not yet been approved.
English allows “Berta, who I work with” and “the budget we are talking about,” leaving the preposition at the end or omitting the relative marker. Catalan standard syntax puts the preposition before the relative. La Berta que treballo amb is a direct English calque.
The choice among those stressed forms is developed on the prepositional relatives page.
Using a resumptive clitic does not repair bare que in careful usage. Outside a relative, Parlem del pressupost → En parlem correctly uses en. Inside the relative, the standard construction replaces the entire de-phrase with de què: el pressupost de què parlem, not el pressupost que en parlem. The same principle gives la ciutat on vivim or la ciutat en què vivim, not la ciutat que hi vivim in formal prose.
Que, què, and qui are not interchangeable spellings
Relative que is weak and unaccented. Stressed què appears after a preposition with a nonhuman antecedent: l'eina amb què ho vam obrir. Qui is stressed and typically follows a preposition when its antecedent is a person: la persona amb qui treballo. The accent is grammatical information, not decoration.
Nor should French or English word order determine the choice. Catalan does not use bare qui merely because the relative is a human subject: the neutral form is la dona que ha trucat, not la dona qui ha trucat. The latter has historical and limited stylistic precedents but is not the contemporary general-standard pattern for an ordinary headed relative.
A dialogue with an unambiguous antecedent
—Has vist la bicicleta que l'Ona vol vendre? —Sí, és la bicicleta que tenia aparcada davant de casa.
Have you seen the bicycle that Ona wants to sell? —Yes, it's the bicycle she had parked in front of her house.
In both turns, feminine singular la bicicleta is the antecedent and direct object inside the relative: l'Ona vol vendre _ and tenia _ aparcada. There is no object clitic inside either relative because que already establishes that dependency.
Regional and register perspective
Invariant subject/direct-object que belongs to the shared IEC and AVL standards and is not specifically Central. Valencian, Balearic, Northwestern, Northern, and Alguerese varieties differ in pronunciation and in the frequency of colloquial resumptive patterns, but the edited standard distinction remains the same.
(informal, widespread) speech often generalizes que and resumes the missing relation with hi, en, or a personal clitic: forms such as la casa que hi viu and el tema que en parlàvem. These patterns are important to recognize and can serve discourse functions, but (formal) prose uses la casa on viu and el tema de què parlàvem. Do not mix the two systems accidentally.
Common Mistakes
1. Adding an accent to weak relative que.
❌ La notícia què ha arribat aquest matí és falsa.
Incorrect—subject relative que is unstressed and has no accent.
✅ La notícia que ha arribat aquest matí és falsa.
The news that arrived this morning is false.
2. Omitting que because English can omit “that.”
❌ El llibre em vas deixar és a la motxilla.
Incorrect—Catalan requires the relative marker.
✅ El llibre que em vas deixar és a la motxilla.
The book you lent me is in the backpack.
3. Doubling a direct-object relative with a weak pronoun.
❌ Aquest és l'informe que l'he revisat avui.
Incorrect in neutral standard usage—que already represents the direct object.
✅ Aquest és l'informe que he revisat avui.
This is the report that I reviewed today.
4. Stranding a preposition or repairing it with en/hi.
❌ És una qüestió que no en vull parlar ara.
Nonstandard in careful prose—the de-relation must be expressed before the relative.
✅ És una qüestió de què no vull parlar ara.
It's a matter that I don't want to talk about now.
5. Using bare qui as a headed direct object.
❌ La professora qui vaig veure al passadís em va saludar.
Incorrect—headed direct-object qui requires a; the more frequent simple choice is que.
✅ La professora que vaig veure al passadís em va saludar. / La professora a qui vaig veure al passadís em va saludar.
The teacher I saw in the hallway greeted me.
Key Takeaways
Use unaccented, invariant que for subject and direct-object relatives with expressed antecedents. Keep it even where English omits “that,” and do not double it with an object clitic. If the reconstructed phrase contains a preposition, bare que is no longer the standard solution: move the preposition before què, qui, or el qual, or use locative on where appropriate.
Related Topics
- 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.
- Free RelativesB1 — How qui, el que, allò que, com, quan, and on form relative clauses without an overt antecedent.
- Colloquial Resumptive Pronouns in Relative ClausesC1 — How spoken Catalan uses que plus a clitic or possessive, why speakers do it, and how formal prose repairs the pattern.
- Relative ClausesB2 — Distinguish restrictive and nonrestrictive Catalan relative clauses and choose que, què, qui, on, or el qual with accurate punctuation and register.
- Restrictive versus Nonrestrictive RelativesB2 — Use reference, prosody, punctuation, and relative forms to distinguish identifying Catalan relatives from parenthetical ones.