The Double Agreement of "Whose"
To say "whose" in Romanian, use a two-part relative pronoun. Unlike in English, it must agree with both the owner and the thing being owned.
- The first word agrees with the gender and number of the thing being owned.
- The second word agrees with the gender and number of the owner.
| Possessed Object (1st Word) | Form |
|---|---|
| Masculine / Neuter Singular | al |
| Feminine Singular | a |
| Masculine Plural | ai |
| Feminine / Neuter Plural | ale |
| Owner (2nd Word) | Form |
|---|---|
| Masculine / Neuter Singular | cărui |
| Feminine Singular | cărei |
| Plural (all genders) | căror |
Singular Masculine Owners
When the owner is a masculine or neuter singular noun, the second word is always cărui.
If the thing being owned is also masculine or neuter singular, use al to get al cărui.
| The writer whose novel I am reading is famous. | Scriitorul al cărui roman îl citesc este celebru. |
If the thing being owned is feminine singular, use a to get a cărui. Notice how a matches the feminine simfonie, while cărui matches the masculine compozitor.
| The composer whose symphony is famous is my friend. | Compozitorul a cărui simfonie este celebră este prietenul meu. |
Feminine Owners
When the owner is a feminine singular noun, the second part is cărei. Here, a woman owns a feminine object (operă), giving us a cărei.
| I do not know the woman whose work you admire. | Nu cunosc femeia a cărei operă o admiri. |
Plural Objects and Owners
If the thing being owned is plural, the first word changes to ai (masculine plural) or ale (feminine and neuter plural). Here is a masculine singular owner with plural feminine objects:
| The writer whose poems I often read is a woman. | Scriitorul ale cărui poezii le citesc adesea este o femeie. |
When the owners are plural, the second word is căror (regardless of gender). In this example, painters (plural owner) own neuter paintings (plural object). We use ale for the paintings and căror for the painters:
| The painters whose paintings we admire are very famous. | Pictorii ale căror tablouri le admirăm sunt foarte celebri. |