Word
Procurorul în fața căruia pledează clienta este sever.
Meaning
The prosecutor in front of whom the client pleads is severe.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Procurorul în fața căruia pledează clienta este sever.
fi
to be (sunt, ești, este, suntem, sunteți, sunt)
clienta
the customer
în fața
in front of
sever
severe
Questions & Answers about Procurorul în fața căruia pledează clienta este sever.
Why do we use căruia here instead of just care?
The phrase în fața (in front of) always requires the Genitive case. Because it refers back to procurorul (a masculine singular noun), the relative pronoun care must take the masculine singular Genitive form, which is căruia.
Does căruia agree in gender with procurorul or with clienta?
It agrees with procurorul. A relative pronoun always takes its gender and number from the noun it describes, not from the subject of its own clause. If the prosecutor were female, you would use the feminine Genitive form căreia instead.
Why is the verb before the subject in the phrase pledează clienta?
In Romanian relative clauses, it is extremely common to invert the subject and the verb, placing the verb right after the relative pronoun. Saying în fața căruia clienta pledează is not wrong, but this inverted word order sounds much more natural to native speakers.
Could we use în față instead of în fața here?
No, because you need the articulated form (ending in the definite article -a) when it acts as a preposition linking to another word. În față is just an adverb meaning ahead or in front, while în fața means in front of and forces the following word into the Genitive case.