In an object relative, the antecedent is the understood object of a verb inside the relative clause. Mainstream Cairene normally makes that relationship audible with an attached object clitic: الكتاب اللي قريته is structurally “the book that I read it.” English normally forbids that repeated pronoun, so omission is one of the most persistent transfer errors.
The suffix is the productive, clarity-preserving baseline. Short zero-object relatives occur for some speakers in highly recoverable conversational contexts; acceptability varies with the speaker, animacy, clause length, and sometimes language contact. They are not freely interchangeable with resumption. Produce the suffix unless you have learned a particular speaker's construction.
Rule 1: reconstruct the ordinary verb, then replace the object noun with a suffix
Start from a complete independent clause and preserve its subject, tense, aspect, negation, and object marking.
| Independent clause | Relative clause | Result |
|---|---|---|
| أنا قريت الكتاب | اللي أنا قريته | the one I read |
| منى شافت البنت | اللي منى شافتها | whom Mona saw |
| إحنا قابلنا الناس | اللي إحنا قابلناهم | whom we met |
التقرير اللي قريته ناقص صفحتين.
it-taʾrīr illi ʾarētu nāʾiṣ ṣafḥitēn.
The report I read is missing two pages.
المهندسة اللي منى قابلتها شغالة في أسوان.
il-muhandisa lli Mona ʾābilitha shaghghāla fi ʾAswān.
The engineer Mona met works in Aswan.
الضيوف اللي استقبلناهم وصلوا من طنطا.
iḍ-ḍuyūf illi staʾbalnāhum wiṣlu min Ṭanṭa.
The guests we welcomed came from Tanta.
The clitics ـه، ـها، ـهم match the antecedent, not the relative-clause subject. The resumptive pronouns page gives their wider distribution in possessive and topic structures.
Rule 2: gender and number live on the clitic
Invariant اللي gives no agreement clue, so the object suffix identifies the antecedent's gender and number. For nonhuman plurals construed as a set, feminine singular ـها is common; plural ـهم can individuate members.
الصورة اللي طبعتها طلعت غامقة.
iṣ-ṣūra lli ṭabaʿtaha ṭilʿit ghāmʾa.
The picture I printed came out dark.
الكتب اللي طلبتها وصلت النهارده.
il-kutub illi ṭalabtaha wiṣlit innaharda.
The books I ordered arrived today.
اللعيبة اللي شجعتهم سلموا علينا بعد الماتش.
il-laʿība lli shaggaʿtuhum sallimu ʿalēna baʿd il-mātsh.
The players I cheered greeted us after the match.
Human plural اللعيبة requires plural resumption. With objects such as books, feminine singular resumption treats the collection as one nonhuman set; speakers can choose plural when individual books are especially salient.
Rule 3: resumption is strongest where clarity needs it
The object suffix is the broad Cairo norm and becomes especially important when the relative has its own overt subject, when the antecedent is human or animate, when other objects occur, or when the clause is long. A missing suffix can otherwise make the listener initially parse the verb as intransitive or attach the clause incorrectly.
العميل اللي المدير كلمه بعد الاجتماع وافق على العرض.
il-ʿamīl illi l-mudīr kallimu baʿd il-igtimāʿ wāfaʾ ʿala l-ʿarḍ.
The client the manager called after the meeting accepted the offer.
الرسالة اللي بعتهالك وإنت في السفر لسه عندك؟
ir-risāla lli baʿathālak wi-ʾinta fi s-safar lissa ʿandak?
Do you still have the message I sent you while you were away?
In بعتهالك, feminine ـها resumes الرسالة and ـك marks the recipient. The direct-object suffix comes before the recipient suffix.
Limited zero-object variation
Some speakers permit a short direct-object gap when the antecedent is adjacent and the meaning cannot be mistaken, especially in rapid speech; language contact can favor gaps in some bilingual repertoires. Other Cairo speakers reject the same omission, and descriptive grammars often treat direct-object resumption as required. This variation does not extend to a stranded preposition, and it is not a license to omit animate or clarity-bearing clitics. The publication baseline here is therefore the resumed form.
Rule 4: negation surrounds the verb plus object clitic
When the relative verb is negated with ما...ش, the resumptive object remains inside the negative circumfix.
الفيلم اللي ماشفتوش نازل من السينما الخميس.
il-fīlm illi mashuftūsh nāzil min is-sīnima l-khamīs.
The film I haven't seen is leaving the cinema on Thursday.
الأسماء اللي ماكتبناهاش مش موجودة في الكشف.
il-ʾasmāʾ illi makatabnāhāsh mish mawgūda fi l-kashf.
The names we didn't write down aren't on the list.
Do not place an independent هو/هي after ـش. The suffix is the object and belongs to the same prosodic word as the negated verb.
Rule 5: definite and indefinite heads differ only in the linker
Indefinite heads normally omit اللي, but object resumption remains. Zero relative marking and zero object marking are separate questions.
لقيت تطبيق حملته زمان ولسه شغال.
laʾēt taṭbīʾ ḥammaltu zamān wi-lissa shaghghāl.
I found an app that I downloaded long ago and that still works.
التطبيق ده اللي حملته امبارح بيهنج.
it-taṭbīʾ da lli ḥammaltu imbāriḥ biyihannig.
This app that I downloaded yesterday keeps freezing.
The first antecedent is indefinite and has no linker; the second is definite through الـ + ده and uses اللي. Both retain masculine ـه.
Near and far identification
Neutral ده/دي/دول can point near or far. Place the demonstrative after the definite head, then use اللي and a matching object suffix.
الشنطة دي اللي هنا أنا جبتها من الأقصر.
ish-shanṭa di lli hina ʾana gibtha min il-ʾUʾṣur.
This bag here is the one I brought from Luxor.
الشنطة دي اللي هناك أختي اشترتها.
ish-shanṭa di lli hunāk ʾukhti shtarithā.
That bag over there is the one my sister bought.
Distance changes هنا/هناك, not the invariant linker or feminine resumptive.
A pointing and identification dialogue
أنهي كتاب عجبك من اللي على الرف؟
ʾanhi kitāb ʿagabak min illi ʿala r-raff?
Which book did you like out of the ones on the shelf?
الكتاب الأزرق ده اللي سارة رشحتهولي.
il-kitāb il-ʾazraʾ da lli Sāra rashshaḥithūli.
This blue book—the one Sara recommended to me.
قصدك اللي غلافه عليه مركب؟
ʾaṣdak illi ghilāfu ʿalēh markib?
You mean the one whose cover has a boat on it?
The second turn contains object ـه inside the two-object form رشحتهولي; the third uses possessive resumption غلافه.
Register and variation
(mainstream Cairene, informal/neutral) resumptive object clitics are the safe productive pattern. (formal/MSA) formal relatives use inflected markers and their own resumption rules; do not mix الذي into an otherwise Cairo clause merely to sound careful. (contact/class/age/community variation) some bilingual and younger speakers accept more direct-object gaps, while many speakers retain the suffix categorically. (regional: Alexandria, Delta, Upper Egypt, Bedouin varieties) rates and clitic forms vary. (performance language) scripted dialogue may omit or exaggerate a suffix to portray a voice.
Common Mistakes
1. Copying the English object gap.
❌ فين المفتاح اللي إنت لقيت الصبح؟
Unsafe as a neutral production baseline — this zero-object version is speaker-variable, while the resumed form is broadly accepted.
✅ فين المفتاح اللي إنت لقيته الصبح؟
fēn il-miftāḥ illi ʾinta laʾētu ṣ-ṣubḥ?
Where's the key you found this morning?
2. Using the wrong-gender suffix.
❌ الفاتورة اللي دفعته كانت غالية.
Incorrect — feminine الفاتورة requires ـها.
✅ الفاتورة اللي دفعتها كانت غالية قوي.
il-fātūra lli dafaʿtaha kānit ghālya ʾawi.
The bill I paid was really expensive.
3. Putting an independent pronoun outside verbal negation.
❌ الكتاب اللي ماقريتش هو لسه جديد.
Incorrect — the resumptive object belongs on the verb inside ما...ش.
✅ الكتاب اللي ماقريتهوش لسه جديد.
il-kitāb illi maʾarētūsh lissa gidīd.
The book I haven't read is still new.
4. Mixing formal demonstrative order with colloquial resumption.
❌ هذا الفيلم اللي شفته طويل.
Register mixture — هذا is formal; neutral Cairo uses postnominal ده.
✅ الفيلم ده اللي شفته كان طويل أوي.
il-fīlm da lli shuftu kān ṭawīl ʾawi.
This film that I saw was very long.
Key Takeaways
- Build the relative from an ordinary clause and replace the repeated direct object with a bound suffix.
- Match the suffix to the antecedent; اللي itself remains invariant.
- Resumption is the productive Cairo baseline and is especially strong with animate, long, or potentially ambiguous relatives.
- Indefinite heads omit اللي but keep their object-resumption pattern.
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Start learning Arabic →Related Topics
- اللي: The Core Relative MarkerB1 — Use invariant اللي after definite human and nonhuman antecedents, then mark the antecedent's role with a gap or resumptive clitic.
- Subject Relatives with الليB1 — Build subject relative clauses with an invariant linker, a subject gap, ordinary Cairene agreement, and independent tense and negation.
- Prepositional Relatives with ResumptionB1 — Keep an Egyptian preposition inside the relative clause and attach a suffix that resumes its antecedent.
- Resumptive PronounsB2 — Understand how Egyptian Arabic uses bound pronouns inside relative clauses and after fronted topics to point back to an accessible noun.
- Direct-Object Suffixes on VerbsB1 — Attach Egyptian direct-object pronouns to past, imperfect, and negative verb hosts while preserving gender, clitic order, and discourse reference.
- Clitics inside ما...شA2 — Build Egyptian negative words in the order ما + host + object and recipient clitics + ش, including the stem adjustments that attachment triggers.