This is the page where 的 does its most powerful work — and where English speakers most need to rewire their instincts. A relative clause is a whole mini-sentence used to describe a noun: the book that I bought, the person who came yesterday. Chinese builds these with the same 的 you already know from attributive phrases, but with one radical difference in word order: the clause comes before the noun, not after it. 我买的书 is, literally, I-bought-de book — the entire clause "I bought" sits in front of 书. Get this reversal into your bones and Chinese relative clauses stop being hard, because there is nothing else to learn: no relative pronoun, no case, no agreement. Just [clause] 的 [noun].
The reversal: clause BEFORE the noun
English is head-initial — the head noun comes first, then the clause: the book [that I bought]. Chinese is head-final — the clause comes first, then the head noun: [我买] 的 书. The head noun is always the last word in the whole phrase.
| Meaning | English order | Chinese order |
|---|---|---|
| the book I bought | the book → [I bought] | [我买] 的 书 (wǒ mǎi de shū) |
| the person who came yesterday | the person → [came yesterday] | [昨天来] 的 人 (zuótiān lái de rén) |
| students who can speak Chinese | students → [can speak Chinese] | [会说中文] 的 学生 (huì shuō Zhōngwén de xuésheng) |
Read the Chinese column right-to-left in your head and the English pops out: 书 = "the book," 我买的 = "that I bought." The whole clause is just a big modifier sealed with 的, exactly like a one-word adjective would be.
我昨天买的书还没看。
wǒ zuótiān mǎi de shū hái méi kàn
I still haven't read the book I bought yesterday. (informal) — the clause 我昨天买 sits before 书.
昨天来的那个人是我同事。
zuótiān lái de nàge rén shì wǒ tóngshì
The person who came yesterday is my colleague. (neutral) — 昨天来的 before 人.
这是我最喜欢的电影。
zhè shì wǒ zuì xǐhuan de diànyǐng
This is my favorite movie. (informal) — 我最喜欢的 modifies 电影.
No relative pronoun, no case: 的 does it all
English chooses who for people, which/that for things, and even whom for objects. Chinese makes none of these distinctions. Whether the head noun is the subject of the clause (昨天来的人 — the person did the coming) or its object (我买的书 — the book was bought), the marker is the same single 的. There is nothing to decline and nothing to choose.
会说中文的学生请举手。
huì shuō Zhōngwén de xuésheng qǐng jǔ shǒu
Students who can speak Chinese, please raise your hand. (neutral, classroom) — 学生 is the SUBJECT of 会说中文.
你点的菜都来了。
nǐ diǎn de cài dōu lái le
All the dishes you ordered have arrived. (informal) — 菜 is the OBJECT of 点, yet the marker is still just 的.
那个穿红衣服的女孩是我妹妹。
nàge chuān hóng yīfu de nǚhái shì wǒ mèimei
That girl in red is my little sister. (informal) — subject relative: 女孩 wears the clothes.
Long clauses feel front-heavy — that's normal
Because the modifier precedes the noun, a long Chinese relative clause makes you wait for the noun, which feels top-heavy to English ears. Native speakers are completely comfortable with it. When the clause's object is the topic, it is common to move it to the front for emphasis, leaving the relative clause to modify the subject.
他说的话我一句都不信。
tā shuō de huà wǒ yí jù dōu bú xìn
I don't believe a single word he says. (informal) — 他说的话 (the words he says) fronted as topic.
住在楼上的老人很和气。
zhù zài lóushàng de lǎorén hěn héqi
The old man who lives upstairs is very kind. (neutral) — a locative clause 住在楼上 before 老人.
这是一部值得反复观看的电影。
zhè shì yí bù zhídé fǎnfù guānkàn de diànyǐng
This is a film worth watching again and again. (literary, review register) — 值得反复观看 modifies 电影.
If you drop the head noun entirely, the relative clause collapses into a 的-nominalisation: 我买的 "the one I bought." Relative clause and nominalisation are the same machine with and without a following noun. For stacking a relative clause together with a demonstrative and an adjective, see ordering multiple 的-phrases.
Common Mistakes
1. Putting the clause after the noun (English order). This is the number-one error. The clause must come before the head noun.
❌ 书我昨天买的还没看。
Incorrect — English word order; the clause goes before the noun: 我昨天买的书.
✅ 我昨天买的书还没看。
wǒ zuótiān mǎi de shū hái méi kàn
I still haven't read the book I bought yesterday. — clause 我昨天买 + 的 + 书.
2. Dropping 的. Without 的 the words are just a plain sentence, not a modifier of the noun.
❌ 昨天来人是我同事。
Incorrect — without 的 this reads like 'yesterday a person came…'; you need 昨天来的人.
✅ 昨天来的人是我同事。
zuótiān lái de rén shì wǒ tóngshì
The person who came yesterday is my colleague. — 昨天来的 + 人.
3. Keeping the head noun before its own clause (subject relatives). Even when the noun is the do-er, the clause still leads.
❌ 女孩穿红衣服的是我妹妹。
Incorrect — the clause must precede the noun: 穿红衣服的女孩.
✅ 穿红衣服的女孩是我妹妹。
chuān hóng yīfu de nǚhái shì wǒ mèimei
The girl in red is my little sister. — 穿红衣服的 + 女孩.
4. Splitting the head noun into the clause. The head noun is a single unit that comes after 的, not something you break up.
❌ 这是我最喜欢电影的。
Incorrect — 电影 is the head noun and belongs after 的: 我最喜欢的电影.
✅ 这是我最喜欢的电影。
zhè shì wǒ zuì xǐhuan de diànyǐng
This is my favorite movie. — clause 我最喜欢 + 的 + 电影.
Key Takeaways
- A whole clause + 的 + noun is a relative clause — and the clause comes before the noun (head-final), the mirror image of English.
- 我买的书 = [I bought] de book = "the book I bought"; read the noun as the last word of the phrase.
- Chinese has no relative pronoun and no case: subject relatives (昨天来的人) and object relatives (我买的书) use the same lone 的.
- Long, front-heavy relative clauses are normal; don't be tempted to move them after the noun.
- Drop the head noun and you get a 的-nominalisation (我买的 "the one I bought") — same structure, no noun.
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Start learning Chinese→Related Topics
- 的 Nominalization (红的, 我买的)HSK 2 — Drop the noun after 的 and the 的-phrase itself becomes the noun: 红的 'the red one', 我的 'mine', 吃的 'things to eat', 卖菜的 'the vegetable seller' — 的 turns any modifier or clause into a stand-alone noun.
- 的 as Attributive / PossessiveHSK 1 — 的 (de) is the all-purpose linker that ties a modifier to the noun it describes — possession (我的书), a noun's property (老师的话), an adjective (漂亮的花) or a whole phrase (很贵的东西): modifier + 的 + noun.
- 所 (Structural 所: that-which)HSK 5 — 所 (suǒ) sits before a verb to make 'that which is V-ed': 我所知道的 (what I know), 所说的话 (the words that were said). It's the formal, elevated version of a plain 的-clause, it strengthens passives (被人所骗), and it heads everyday words 所以 (therefore) and 所有 (all).