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### Subject Inversion in Relative Clauses

When using relative clauses—sentences that connect two ideas using **che** (that/which)—English strictly follows the order: Object + *that* + Subject + Verb ("The will that the notary drafted").

Italian can follow this exact order too, but native speakers frequently invert the subject and the verb in these clauses. Instead of saying *Il testamento che il notaio ha redatto*, it is very common and natural to place the subject after the verb: **Il testamento che ha redatto il notaio**.

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### Placing Focus on the Subject

Why invert the word order? In Italian, placing the subject at the very end of the relative clause naturally highlights *who* did the action. It draws attention to the specific person—whether it is the grandmother who hid an heirloom or the legitimate heir who wants it.

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### Discussing Wills and Legacies

This inverted structure is especially common in formal or descriptive contexts, such as discussing inheritances and legal documents. When reading a will, you will often hear about the legacy (**il lascito**), the wishes (**la volontà**), and the deceased (**il defunto**). 

Notice how naturally the subject inversion flows when revealing who prepared or expressed these final wishes.

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Subject inversion in relative clauses

adjective

adjective/adverb

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

preposition

pronoun

proper noun

sentence

verb

Subject pronouns and the verb to be (io sono)

Singular definite articles (il, la)

Singular demonstratives (questo, questa)

Basic verbal negation (non)

Yes/No questions

Coordinating conjunctions (e, ma, o)

Regular plurals and definite articles (-i, -e, i, le)

Plural verb to be (noi siamo, voi siete)

Plural demonstratives (questi, queste)

Nouns ending in -e

Special singular articles (lo, l')

The plural article (gli)

Special indefinite articles (uno, un')

Demonstrative adjectives (quello, quella)

Adjective endings (-o, -a, -i, -e)

Expressing quantity (molto, poco, tanto)

The verb to have (ho, hai, ha...)

There is / there are (c'è, ci sono)

The preposition of (di)

Singular possessives (il mio, la mia)

Numbers 1 to 10 (uno, due, tre...)

Numbers 11 to 20 (undici, dodici...)

Numbers 21 to 100 (trenta, quaranta...)

Idiomatic avere (avere fame, avere anni)

Plural possessive adjectives (i miei, le mie)

Possessives with family members (mio padre)

Formal address (dare del Lei)

Present tense of -are verbs (-o, -i, -a)

Question words (chi, cosa, dove)

Present tense of -ere verbs (-o, -i, -e)

Question words (quando, come, perché)

Question word agreement (quanto, quanta, quanti, quante)

Regular -ire verbs

Verbs with -isc- (capisco, capisci, capisce)

Pronouns after prepositions (me, te, lui)

The verb fare (faccio, fai, fa)

The verb andare (vado, vai, va)

The verb stare (sto, stai, sta)

The verb venire (vengo, vieni, viene)

The verb uscire (esco, esci, esce)

Location and destination (a, in)

Origin and movement (da)

Articulated prepositions with a (al, alla)

Articulated prepositions with in (nel, nella)

Articulated prepositions with di and da (del, dal)

Simple prepositions (con, per, su, tra)

Articulated prepositions with su (sul, sulla)

Months of the year

Telling time (sono le...)

Dates (il + number)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primo, secondo, terzo...)

The verb to want (volere)

The verb can (potere)

The verb must (dovere)

The verb to know (sapere)

Reflexive verbs (mi lavo, ti lavi)

Indirect object pronouns (gli, le, ci...)

Expressing preferences (mi piace)

Plural preferences (mi piacciono)

Comparatives (più... di, meno... di)

The passato prossimo with avere (ho parlato)

Irregular past participles (fatto, letto, preso)

The passato prossimo with essere (sono andato)

Reflexive verbs in the past (mi sono svegliato)

Time adverbs with the past tense (già, mai, ancora)

Third-person direct object pronouns (lo, la, li, le)

First and second-person direct object pronouns (mi, ti, ci, vi)

The four seasons

Prepositions of place (vicino a, davanti a)

Conversational words (beh, allora, davvero)

Indefinite adjectives for some (qualche, alcuni)

Indefinite adjectives for every and all (ogni, tutti)

Indefinite pronouns (qualcosa, qualcuno)

Noun suffixes (-ino, -one)

Adverbs of manner (-mente)

Comparisons of equality (così... come)

The relative superlative (il più)

The absolute superlative (-issimo)

Irregular comparatives (migliore, peggiore)

Present progressive (stare + -ando, -endo)

Imminent actions (stare per)

The locative pronoun (ci)

The partitive pronoun (ne)

Pronoun placement with modal verbs

Impersonal subjects (si)

Prepositions of time (da, per, tra, fra)

Past participle agreement with pronouns

Question	Answer
the will (legal)	il testamento
to draft / to draw up (a document or text)	redigere
the notary	il notaio
legitimate	legittimo
The will that the notary drafted is legitimate.	Il testamento che ha redatto il notaio è legittimo.
The inheritance that grandmother left isn't large.	L'eredità che ha lasciato la nonna non è grande.
the heirloom	il cimelio
the heir	l'erede
the diamond	il diamante
The heirloom that the legitimate heir wants is an old diamond.	Il cimelio che vuole l'erede legittimo è un vecchio diamante.
to pertain / to be due (as a right or duty)	spettare
The diamond that the notary found is due to you.	Il diamante che ha trovato il notaio spetta a te.
the reading	la lettura
As soon as the notary has finished the reading of the will, we'll talk.	Appena il notaio avrà finito la lettura del testamento, parleremo.
Will you give the inheritance to the heir? Yes, I will give it to him.	Darai l'eredità all'erede? Sì, gliela darò.
The lawyer must draft the document that is due to you.	L'avvocato deve redigere il documento che ti spetta.
During the reading, we discovered a legitimate heir.	Durante la lettura abbiamo scoperto un erede legittimo.
Where is the heirloom that grandmother hid?	Dov'è il cimelio che ha nascosto la nonna?
Did the inheritance that the family received solve the problem?	L'eredità che ha ricevuto la famiglia ha risolto il problema?
the legacy / bequest	il lascito
the deceased	il defunto
This is the legacy that the deceased prepared for us.	Questo è il lascito che ha preparato per noi il defunto.
the will / wish	la volontà
We must respect the will that the deceased expressed.	Dobbiamo rispettare la volontà che ha espresso il defunto.
Even though I accept the legacy, I didn't like the will that the notary read.	Pur accettando il lascito, non mi è piaciuto il testamento che ha letto il notaio.
I don't believe the will that uncle left, but I don't think about it.	Non credo al testamento che ha lasciato lo zio, ma non ci penso.
Did you like the heirlooms that the notary handed over?	Vi sono piaciuti i cimeli che ha consegnato il notaio?
These are the last wishes that grandfather left, and we care about them.	Queste sono le ultime volontà che ha lasciato il nonno, e noi ci teniamo.