A relative clause (oração relativa) is a subordinate clause that modifies a noun. It is the clausal analogue of an adjective: everywhere o livro azul works, o livro que comprei ontem works too, because both modify livro. This page is the syntactic treatment — how relative clauses are built, how the relative pronoun moves, how prepositions pied-pipe, how free relatives work, and how reduced relatives compress the structure. For the forms and register of individual pronouns, see the pronoun pages; for the semantic and discourse contrast between restrictive and non-restrictive relatives, see Relative Clauses Overview. For cujo specifically, see Relative Clauses with Cujo.
Relative clauses are among the most heavily studied constructions in Portuguese generative syntax (Brito 1991, Alexandre 2000, Raposo et al. 2013, ch. 38). The reason is that they display several phenomena that are theoretically important: operator movement, pied-piping of prepositions, island sensitivity, the resumptive-vs-gap alternation, and reduced non-finite forms. This page gives you the essentials, with enough structural detail to read advanced Portuguese prose and produce native-sounding relatives yourself.
The core architecture
A relative clause has three structural ingredients:
- An antecedent — the noun (or noun phrase) being modified, outside the clause.
- A relative pronoun — que, quem, o qual, cujo, onde, quando, como — introducing the clause.
- An inside-the-clause role for the relative pronoun — subject, direct object, object of a preposition, possessor, etc.
The relative pronoun plays two jobs at once: it connects the clause to the antecedent outside, and it fills a grammatical slot inside the clause. This dual role is the defining feature of relative clauses.
O livro que comprei ontem é ótimo.
The book I bought yesterday is great.
Here o livro is the antecedent, que is the relative pronoun, and inside the subordinate clause que plays the role of direct object of comprei (it is the book that was bought). The base position of the direct object is "empty" because the pronoun has been fronted to introduce the clause.
The two positions: antecedent slot and gap
Syntacticians describe the structure as follows. The relative pronoun is base-generated inside the clause in its argument position, then moved to the front to link the clause to the antecedent. The base position is left as a gap — an understood but silent slot.
O livro *que comprei _ ontem (gap = direct object of *comprei)
A casa *onde vivemos _ (gap = locative adverbial inside *vivemos)
Seeing relative clauses this way — as clauses with an empty slot — is the key to understanding the rest of the structural facts.
Restrictive vs non-restrictive: a structural reminder
The two flavours of relative clause differ syntactically in only one visible respect: punctuation (commas or no commas in writing; pause or no pause in speech).
Os alunos que estudaram passaram no exame.
The students who studied passed the exam. (restrictive — only those who studied)
Os meus alunos, que estudaram muito, passaram no exame.
My students, who studied a lot, passed the exam. (non-restrictive — all my students)
The restrictive clause identifies the subset of students being talked about; the non-restrictive clause adds information about an already-identified group. The structural difference: non-restrictive relatives are set off prosodically and syntactically from the main clause; restrictive ones are integrated into the NP. The pronoun selection rules are slightly different too — non-restrictive clauses more readily take o qual forms, and cujo is more comfortable in non-restrictive position.
Subject extraction: que
When the relative pronoun plays the role of subject inside the relative clause, Portuguese uses que. This is the simplest case.
O homem que entrou é o meu tio.
The man who came in is my uncle. (que = subject of entrou)
A empresa que ganhou o contrato é alemã.
The company that won the contract is German.
Os pais que educam bem os filhos têm boas recompensas.
Parents who raise their children well have good rewards.
Que is the workhorse relative pronoun of Portuguese. Unlike English, which distinguishes who (human) from which/that (non-human), Portuguese uses the single form que for both — and uses it far more broadly than Spanish does.
Object extraction: que again
When the relative pronoun plays the role of direct object, que is again the default.
O livro que li é fantástico.
The book I read is fantastic. (que = DO of li)
O filme que vimos ontem ganhou o Óscar.
The film we saw yesterday won the Oscar.
A carta que escrevi ainda está por enviar.
The letter I wrote is still waiting to be sent.
The direct-object gap leaves no overt pronoun inside the clause — the argument slot is simply empty.
When the antecedent is human: que or quem?
For an animate (human) direct object, Portuguese permits both que and (a) quem, with que being far more common and quem being slightly more emphatic or formal.
A mulher que conheci no Porto é advogada.
The woman I met in Porto is a lawyer. (neutral)
A mulher a quem conheci no Porto é advogada.
The woman whom I met in Porto is a lawyer. (more formal; some speakers reject this)
Most grammars note that a quem as a relative direct object is less idiomatic than as an indirect object or after a preposition. In everyday PT-PT, stick with que for human direct objects.
PP extraction: pied-piping
This is where Portuguese parts company with English. When the relative pronoun plays the role of object of a preposition, the preposition must move with the pronoun to the front of the relative clause. This movement is called pied-piping (the preposition follows the relative pronoun like children following the Pied Piper).
O livro de que falámos ontem já esgotou.
The book we talked about yesterday has sold out. (de que — preposition pied-piped)
A caneta com que escrevi a carta era do meu avô.
The pen with which I wrote the letter was my grandfather's.
A cidade em que nasci fica no Minho.
The city in which I was born is in the Minho region.
O assunto sobre que discutimos era complicado.
The topic on which we debated was complicated.
English allows preposition stranding (the book we talked ABOUT yesterday), where the preposition stays at the end of the clause, orphaned. Portuguese categorically forbids this. The preposition must travel to the front with the relative pronoun.
❌ O livro que falámos de ontem...
Ungrammatical — Portuguese does not strand prepositions.
✅ O livro de que falámos ontem...
The book we talked about yesterday...
This is one of the most persistent transfer errors from English. The moment you reach for "the book that we talked about," your Portuguese must be o livro de que falámos — full stop.
Location and time: onde, quando
Portuguese has specialised relative pronouns for locative and temporal references. Using these is often more natural than a preposition + que or o qual construction.
A casa onde cresci já foi demolida.
The house where I grew up has been demolished. (locative — onde)
O dia em que te conheci mudou a minha vida.
The day I met you changed my life. (temporal — em que)
O ano em que nos mudámos para Lisboa foi 2019.
The year we moved to Lisbon was 2019. (temporal — em que)
Onde can also be used metaphorically with abstract antecedents, a development of recent PT-PT:
Some prescriptive grammarians object to this metaphorical onde (preferring em que), but it is widespread in modern speech and writing.
Pronouns for humans after prepositions: quem
When a preposition governs the gap and the antecedent is human, Portuguese strongly prefers quem over que. This is one of the clearest semantic distinctions among relative pronouns.
A colega com quem trabalho é portuguesa.
The colleague I work with is Portuguese.
O rapaz a quem emprestei o livro ainda não mo devolveu.
The boy I lent the book to hasn't given it back to me yet.
As pessoas de quem mais gosto vivem longe.
The people I like most live far away.
O professor para quem trabalho é exigente.
The professor I work for is demanding.
For indirect objects (a quem), this is essentially obligatory in writing. For other prepositions, both com quem/a quem/para quem/de quem are standard.
Formal alternatives: o qual, a qual, os quais, as quais
For formal or literary contexts — and especially after long or complex prepositional phrases — Portuguese uses the inflected relative o qual and its variants. This form agrees in gender and number with the antecedent and sounds distinctly formal.
A lei segundo a qual fomos julgados foi entretanto revogada.
The law under which we were judged has since been repealed.
Os colegas por intermédio dos quais conseguimos o contrato merecem ser lembrados.
The colleagues through whom we obtained the contract deserve to be remembered.
O congresso no qual apresentei o trabalho foi em Coimbra.
The conference at which I presented the work was in Coimbra.
O qual is the preferred form after compound prepositions (por intermédio de, a par de, em virtude de, no âmbito de). After simple prepositions, que is usually preferable unless the register demands elevation.
| Situation | Preferred relative |
|---|---|
| Subject or DO, any antecedent | que |
| Prep + non-human antecedent, short preposition | de que, em que, com que, a que, por que... |
| Prep + human antecedent | a quem, com quem, de quem, para quem... |
| Prep + any antecedent, formal register | do qual, no qual, pelo qual... |
| Compound preposition | o/a qual (required) |
| Possession | cujo, cuja, cujos, cujas |
| Location | onde |
| Time | quando, em que |
| Manner | como |
Cujo: possessive relative
The possessive relative cujo (with its four inflected forms) agrees with the thing possessed, not the possessor. Structurally, cujo sits directly before the possessed noun, with no article intervening.
O escritor cujo romance ganhou o prémio é português.
The writer whose novel won the prize is Portuguese.
A cantora cujas canções ouvimos no carro vem a Lisboa em maio.
The singer whose songs we listened to in the car is coming to Lisbon in May.
Notice the agreement: cujo is masculine singular agreeing with romance, even though o escritor is the possessor. Likewise cujas is feminine plural agreeing with canções, even though a cantora is feminine singular. Full treatment on Relative Clauses with Cujo.
Long-distance extraction
Portuguese relative pronouns can extract across multiple clause boundaries. This is called long-distance movement. The relative pronoun originates deep inside a subordinate structure and moves all the way to the front of the relative clause.
O livro que acho que ele comprou ontem já esgotou.
The book that I think he bought yesterday has sold out. (que extracts from inside the complement of acho)
A pessoa que eu disse que ia vir ainda não chegou.
The person I said was going to come hasn't arrived yet.
O documento em que toda a gente concorda que devemos apostar ainda não foi aprovado.
The document everyone agrees we should back hasn't been approved yet.
These structures are fully grammatical but heavier than short extractions. Native speakers produce them freely in writing and in educated speech.
Island constraints
Long-distance extraction respects the universal island constraints of syntax. You cannot extract out of certain syntactic configurations — notably complex noun phrases, relative clauses, and adverbial clauses.
❌ O livro que conheço o homem que escreveu...
Ungrammatical — extraction out of a relative clause (a 'complex NP island').
✅ Conheço o homem que escreveu o livro.
I know the man who wrote the book. (no extraction)
❌ O livro que saí antes que ele acabasse de ler...
Ungrammatical — extraction out of an adverbial clause (an 'adjunct island').
The technical term is subjacency: a moved element cannot cross too many bounding nodes in a single step. For a learner, the practical rule is simpler: if your relative clause has a second layer of subordination with another que or quando, check that the gap is in a main-clause-accessible position. When in doubt, rephrase.
Free relatives: no overt antecedent
A free relative (relativa livre or relativa sem antecedente) has no overt antecedent — the relative pronoun itself names the referent. English uses whoever, whatever, wherever.
Quem veio foi o João.
The one who came was João.
Quem chega primeiro escolhe o lugar.
Whoever arrives first chooses the seat.
O que dizes não tem sentido.
What you're saying makes no sense.
Onde queres ir decide tu.
Where you want to go — you decide.
Free relatives are systematic and productive. The pronouns quem, o que, onde, quando, como introduce them directly.
Faz como quiseres.
Do as you wish.
Podes sair quando acabares.
You can leave when you finish.
In careful analysis, free relatives are often considered to have an invisible nominal head that the relative pronoun modifies — but structurally, they function like complex noun phrases in their own right.
Reduced relative clauses
Portuguese has two types of reduced (non-finite) relative clauses: participial and gerundial. These are compact alternatives to finite relatives, widely used in descriptive prose.
Participial reduced relatives
A past participle can modify a noun directly, functioning as a one-word relative clause.
O homem ferido foi levado para o hospital.
The injured man was taken to the hospital.
This is equivalent to O homem que foi ferido or o homem que estava ferido. The participle has absorbed the relative-clause structure.
A porta fechada à chave ninguém conseguiu abrir.
The locked door — no one managed to open it.
As cartas enviadas ontem já chegaram.
The letters sent yesterday have already arrived.
Os alunos escolhidos para a bolsa receberam a resposta por e-mail.
The students chosen for the scholarship received the reply by email.
Participial relatives are ubiquitous in written Portuguese — academic, journalistic, and literary. The participle is interpreted passively: ferido = que foi ferido (who was injured).
Gerundial reduced relatives
The gerund form (-ando, -endo, -indo) can also modify a noun, producing a continuous-action reading.
Vi o rapaz correndo pela rua.
I saw the boy running down the street. (somewhat literary in EP)
A mulher chorando no canto da sala chamou a minha atenção.
The woman crying in the corner of the room caught my attention.
In European Portuguese, the gerundial relative is less common than in Brazilian Portuguese and often sounds literary or archaic. A spoken PT-PT speaker would usually rephrase: vi o rapaz a correr (using the a + infinitive progressive), or o rapaz que corria. In writing, especially narrative prose, the gerundial relative is elegant and widespread.
Clitic placement inside relative clauses
Relative clauses are subordinate clauses, and all subordinate clauses in PT-PT trigger proclisis — the object clitic moves in front of the verb.
A mulher que me ajudou é médica.
The woman who helped me is a doctor. (proclisis — me viu, not viu-me)
O livro que te ofereci era raro.
The book I gave you was rare.
A pessoa com quem lhe falei é competente.
The person I spoke to him about is competent.
This contrasts with main-clause enclisis (vi-te, ajudou-me). The moment you enter a relative clause, the clitic flips to the pre-verbal position. For full coverage, see Próclise Triggers.
Resumptive pronouns in relatives
Prescriptive Portuguese avoids resumptive pronouns inside relative clauses (the clitic or pronoun that fills the gap). But in colloquial speech, a resumptive occasionally appears, particularly with heavy extraction or oblique arguments.
(Colloquial) O livro que eu estava a falar dele ontem.
The book I was talking about yesterday. (non-standard — avoided in careful speech and writing)
(Standard) O livro de que eu estava a falar ontem.
The book I was talking about yesterday.
The colloquial resumptive pattern is a solution English speakers sometimes reach for because it avoids the pied-piping. In writing and careful speech, it is stigmatised; you should not imitate it.
Common Mistakes
❌ O livro que falámos ontem.
Missing preposition — 'falar de' requires de to pied-pipe with the relative pronoun.
✅ O livro de que falámos ontem.
The book we talked about yesterday.
❌ A cidade que eu nasci.
Missing preposition/locative — 'nascer em' requires em que or onde.
✅ A cidade em que nasci.
The city where I was born.
✅ A cidade onde nasci.
The city where I was born.
❌ O homem cujo casa fica no centro é rico.
Incorrect — cujo must agree with 'casa' (feminine), hence cuja.
✅ O homem cuja casa fica no centro é rico.
The man whose house is in the centre is rich.
❌ O livro que eu o li é bom.
Non-standard — do not duplicate the direct object with a clitic inside a relative clause.
✅ O livro que li é bom.
The book I read is good.
❌ A mulher que eu falei com ela ontem.
Colloquial/non-standard — do not strand 'com' and resume with 'ela'.
✅ A mulher com quem falei ontem.
The woman I spoke with yesterday.
❌ Ela disse que viu-me.
Subordinate clauses (including relatives) require proclisis in PT-PT.
✅ Ela disse que me viu.
She said she saw me.
❌ A pessoa a quem eu deu o livro.
Incorrect past tense — the preterite of 'dar' (1sg) is 'dei'.
✅ A pessoa a quem dei o livro.
The person I gave the book to.
Key Takeaways
- A relative clause modifies a noun and always contains a gap — the unexpressed argument slot that the relative pronoun represents.
- Subject and direct-object relatives use que for any antecedent. PT-PT does not generally distinguish human from non-human with this pronoun.
- Pied-piping is obligatory: whenever a preposition governs the gap, it must move with the relative pronoun to the front of the clause. Preposition stranding (the book that we talked about) is ungrammatical in Portuguese.
- Human + preposition prefers quem over que: a quem, com quem, para quem, de quem.
- Formal and pied-piped-after-compound-PP contexts use o qual / a qual / os quais / as quais, which inflect for gender and number.
- Location, time, manner have their own relative pronouns: onde, quando, como.
- Possession uses cujo, which agrees with the thing possessed (not the possessor).
- Subordinate-clause proclisis applies: the clitic flips in front of the verb (que me ajudou, not *que ajudou-me).
- Long-distance extraction is grammatical but respects island constraints — you cannot extract out of another relative clause or out of an adjunct clause.
- Free relatives (quem, o que, onde, quando, como) name their own antecedents; reduced relatives (participial or gerundial) compress a finite relative into a single word or phrase.
Related Topics
- Subordination OverviewB1 — The main types of subordinate clauses in European Portuguese — substantive, adjective, and adverbial — with finite and non-finite variants and the logic of mood selection.
- Complement ClausesB1 — Clauses that function as subject or object of a verb — finite que-clauses with indicative or subjunctive, non-finite infinitival complements, embedded questions, and subject-raising.
- Relative Clauses OverviewA2 — How relative clauses work in European Portuguese — que, quem, o qual, cujo, onde, and the restrictive vs non-restrictive distinction.
- Relative Clauses with Cujo (Possessive)B2 — Building possessive relative clauses — the syntax, word order, and formal register of cujo-clauses.
- Relative Clauses with PrepositionsB1 — How to build relative clauses when the verb inside needs a preposition — em que, de que, com quem, a quem, sobre o qual.
- Relative Pronoun Que (The Most Common)A2 — The workhorse relative pronoun of Portuguese — used for people, things, and concepts, as subject or direct object of the relative clause