When linking clauses with "to whom," the Romanian relative pronoun care (who/which) takes a dative form that matches the gender and number of the noun it describes.
| Gender / Number | Dative Relative Pronoun |
|---|---|
| Masculine / Neuter Singular | căruia |
| Feminine Singular | căreia |
| Plural (All Genders) | cărora |
Indirect Objects and Clitic Doubling
Most commonly, these dative relative pronouns act as indirect objects within their own clause (indicating who receives the action). When used this way, Romanian requires clitic doubling: you must include an unstressed dative pronoun (îi, i-, le, or le-) immediately before the verb inside the relative clause.
| I would like us to honor the philanthropist to whom we granted the prize. | Aș vrea să îl onorăm pe filantropul căruia i-am acordat premiul. |
| The woman to whom we funded the project is very generous. | Femeia căreia i-am finanțat proiectul este foarte generoasă. |
| The students to whom they did not grant the scholarship are sad. | Studenții cărora nu le-au acordat bursa sunt triști. |
Notice how the relative pronoun agrees with the noun (filantropul is masculine singular → căruia; femeia is feminine singular → căreia; studenții is plural → cărora), while the clitic double precedes the verb.
| The beneficiary to whom we grant the scholarship appreciates the gentleman's generosity. | Beneficiarul căruia îi acordăm bursa apreciază generozitatea domnului. |
| The woman whom we thank for her generosity finances a charitable project. | Femeia căreia îi mulțumim pentru generozitatea ei finanțează un proiect caritabil. |
Dative Prepositions
These relative pronouns are also used directly after prepositions that govern the dative case, such as mulțumită (thanks to) and datorită (due to / thanks to). When the relative pronoun is the object of a preposition rather than the indirect object of a verb, you do not use the clitic double.
| We must honor the philanthropist thanks to whom we finished the project. | Trebuie să îl onorăm pe filantropul mulțumită căruia am terminat proiectul. |
Combining Dative Structures
If the noun you are describing is already in the dative case (such as after datorită), and the relative pronoun is an indirect object in its own clause, the structures combine seamlessly:
| Thanks to the philanthropists to whom we wrote, the project succeeded. | Datorită filantropilor cărora le-am scris, proiectul a reușit. |
