Relative Clauses with Che

The relative pronoun che is the single most useful word in Italian sentence construction. It lets you take two short sentences and join them into one — exactly what English does with who, whom, which, and that. Italian compresses all four of those English options into one invariable form: che. This page shows you how to use it, when not to use it, and the small handful of details that trip up nearly every learner.

What che does

A relative pronoun connects a noun (the antecedent) to a clause that describes it. In English we say the book that I read or the woman who lives next door — the book and the woman are the antecedents, and the underlined clauses give extra information about them. Italian works the same way, with che as the connector:

Notice that the same che covered three different English equivalents (that, who, no relative pronoun at all). This is the central simplification of Italian relatives: che is invariable. It does not change for gender, it does not change for number, it does not change for whether the antecedent is a person or an object.

The two functions of che: subject and direct object

Although che has only one form, it plays two different grammatical roles inside the relative clause. Either it stands in for the subject of the verb, or it stands in for the direct object. Italian doesn't ask you to mark which — context does the work.

Che as subject

When che is the subject of the relative clause, the verb that follows agrees with the antecedent:

Here il treno, gli amici, and la pizza are doing the verbing — they leave, they live, they cost. Che is acting as their stand-in inside the clause.

Che as direct object

When che stands for the direct object, a different subject (often a pronoun, sometimes implicit) is doing the verbing:

In these sentences someone else (I, you) is doing the buying, the sending, the wearing — and the antecedent is the thing being bought, sent, or worn. English speakers often drop the relative pronoun in this case (the book I bought), but Italian never can. Che must always appear.

Restrictive vs non-restrictive clauses

Italian, like English, distinguishes two flavors of relative clause based on whether the information is essential or extra. The grammar of che doesn't change, but the punctuation does — and so does the meaning.

Restrictive (defining) — no commas

A restrictive clause narrows down which member of a category you mean. Without it, the sentence would be vague or wrong:

Drop the relative clause from any of these and the sentence loses its point — the book is nice tells us nothing about which book.

Non-restrictive (parenthetical) — with commas

A non-restrictive clause adds extra information about an already-identified entity. The commas are essential — they signal that the clause is parenthetical:

The reader could already identify my favorite book, Rome, and Marco without the relative clause — those clauses just add background. Use the commas. Skipping them changes the meaning.

The cardinal rule: che NEVER follows a preposition

This is the single rule that, if you remember it, will save you from the most common error English speakers make. Whenever a preposition needs to introduce the relative — the book about which, the friend with whom, the city in which — Italian switches to cui or il quale. Che is impossible after a preposition.

If you find yourself wanting to say di che, a che, con che, in che, or per che, stop — you need cui instead. (See the page on relative clauses with cui for the full treatment.)

Compound tenses and past participle agreement

When che stands for the direct object and the relative clause uses a compound tense (passato prossimo, trapassato, etc.), the question of past participle agreement arises. This is one of those places where modern usage and traditional prescription diverge.

The traditional rule says the past participle agrees with the preceding direct object — and in a relative clause introduced by che, the antecedent is precisely such a preceding direct object:

In current spoken and written Italian, however, this agreement is often dropped with bare che. You'll regularly see and hear:

Both versions are accepted; the agreed form sounds slightly more careful or literary. Note, however, that with clitic pronouns (li ho letti, le ho scritte) agreement is still obligatory — that rule has not loosened.

Distinguishing che (relative) from che (conjunction)

Italian uses the word che for two grammatical jobs that English keeps separate: the relative pronoun (that, who, which) and the subordinating conjunction (that). Telling them apart matters because only one of them takes a noun antecedent — and confusing them is a sure sign of beginner-level Italian.

Che as conjunction (subordinator)

After verbs of thinking, saying, hoping, wanting, fearing, and many others, che introduces a whole subordinate clause — not a description of a noun:

In all of these, che introduces an idea, not a description. There is no noun being modified.

Che as relative pronoun

A relative che always sits right after a noun (the antecedent) and the clause that follows describes that noun:

The test is mechanical: ask "what is che describing?" If the answer is a specific noun right before it, it's a relative pronoun. If che is introducing a whole thought after a verb like penso, credo, spero, dico, it's a conjunction.

This distinction also matters because the conjunction che very often triggers the subjunctive (penso che venga), while the relative che usually takes the indicative (il libro che leggo) — except in the specific cases described on the subjunctive in relatives page.

Animate and inanimate, persons and things

Unlike English, which distinguishes who (people) from which (things), Italian uses the same che for both:

This is one of the genuine simplifications Italian offers compared to English. Whether you're talking about a friend, a city, an emotion, or a piece of furniture, che works.

The neuter "il che" — referring back to a whole idea

When you want a relative pronoun to refer not to a specific noun but to an entire previous statement, Italian uses il che (literally the which):

This construction is parallel to English which used after a comma to refer to a whole previous clause. It's especially common in writing and careful speech.

Position of the relative clause

Italian relative clauses normally follow the antecedent immediately. Inserting other material between the antecedent and che produces awkward or unclear sentences:

This is unambiguous. Compare to a slightly worse-ordered version where the relative clause is pushed further from its antecedent — Italian readers will hesitate. When word order forces distance, native speakers often switch to il quale to clarify which noun the relative refers to (see the il quale page).

Common Mistakes

1. Adding a redundant clitic pronoun

This is the single most common error English speakers make once they've learned object pronouns. Because che already represents the direct object, adding a clitic for the same role is ungrammatical:

The rule: if che is the direct object, no other object pronoun appears in the clause for that same role.

2. Using che after a preposition

English speakers regularly try to extend che to all relative situations, including after prepositions. It doesn't work:

3. Omitting the relative pronoun (English-style)

English allows you to drop the relative when it stands for the direct object (the book I read). Italian never does:

4. Confusing relative che with conjunction che

Beginners sometimes use che + subjunctive in a relative clause where the indicative is expected, because they've memorized "che → subjunctive" from the conjunction:

The relative che takes the indicative unless the antecedent is indefinite, negative, superlative, or "only/unique" — in which case the subjunctive is required (see the subjunctive in relatives page).

5. Forgetting commas in non-restrictive clauses

Without commas, a non-restrictive clause becomes restrictive — and the meaning changes:

If you only have one brother, the second version is the right one — the commas signal that he lives in Rome is extra information, not the criterion for picking which brother.

Key Takeaways

• Che is invariable: one form for all genders, numbers, animates, and inanimates.
• Che covers subject and direct object roles. Never use it after a preposition — switch to cui or il quale.
• Italian never omits the relative pronoun; English speakers must add che even where English drops that.
• Don't add a clitic pronoun in the relative clause when che is already the object.
• Use commas to mark non-restrictive clauses; without them, the meaning becomes restrictive.
• For relative clauses with subjunctive triggers (indefinite, negative, superlative, unico), see the dedicated page.