Breakdown of Dov'è il cimelio che ha nascosto la nonna?
essere
to be
dove
where
avere
to have
la nonna
the grandmother
Questions & Answers about Dov'è il cimelio che ha nascosto la nonna?
Why is la nonna at the end of the sentence instead of before the verb?
Is it grammatically correct to say che la nonna ha nascosto?
Does the relative pronoun che refer to the heirloom or the grandmother?
It refers to il cimelio (the heirloom), acting as the direct object of the clause. Because the subject (la nonna) is inverted and placed after the verb, the sentence looks literally like 'the heirloom that hid the grandmother.' Context tells us that the grandmother is the one who did the hiding.
Why does nonna have the definite article la here? Don't family members drop the article?
The rule about dropping the article for singular family members only applies when you use a possessive adjective, like mia nonna (my grandmother). Since there is no possessive adjective here, you just use the normal article to say 'the grandmother'.