Breakdown of Gli animali perdono l'habitat, il quale questo cambiamento irreversibile va minacciando.
questo
this (masculine)
l'animale
the animal (m)
perdere
to lose, to miss
il cambiamento
the change
il quale
who, which, whom (also la quale, i quali, le quali)
andare
to be gradually (doing something)
l'habitat
the habitat (m)
irreversibile
irreversible
minacciare
to threaten
Questions & Answers about Gli animali perdono l'habitat, il quale questo cambiamento irreversibile va minacciando.
Why is il quale used here instead of che?
You could absolutely use che here, but il quale is a more formal, stylistic alternative. It has the advantage of explicitly showing gender and number (masculine singular, matching l'habitat), which helps prevent ambiguity in complex written sentences. In this sentence, it acts as the direct object of the relative clause.
How does va minacciando differ from sta minacciando?
In the second half of the sentence, what is the subject and what is the object?
The word order here can be confusing for English speakers. The subject of the relative clause is questo cambiamento irreversibile (this irreversible change), while the direct object is il quale (which, representing the habitat). Because relative pronouns must appear right after the noun they refer to, the object comes before the subject in this clause.
Why is it il quale and not la quale for l'habitat?
Habitat is a masculine noun. Like most foreign loanwords in Italian ending in a consonant, it is invariable, meaning its form doesn't change in the plural (you would say gli habitat for multiple). Since it refers to a single habitat here, the matching relative pronoun must be the masculine singular il quale.
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