Breakdown of Это родственник, имя которого мы не знаем.
это
this / it is
не
not
мы
we
знать
to know
родственник
relative
который
which / who / that (relative pronoun)
имя
name
Questions & Answers about Это родственник, имя которого мы не знаем.
Why do we use the genitive form которого here instead of the nominative который?
In this sentence, которого means "whose" (literally "of whom"). Because it shows possession (the name of the relative), it must be in the Genitive case. It takes the masculine singular ending because it refers back to родственник, which is a masculine noun.
Why is the word order имя которого instead of которого имя?
When using the Genitive form of который to mean "whose", Russian places it immediately after the noun it possesses. It helps to think of the literal translation: "the name of whom" rather than "whose name".
What case is the word имя in this sentence?
It is in the Accusative case because it is the direct object of the verb не знаем (we do not know). Since имя is a neuter noun, its Accusative form looks exactly the same as its Nominative (dictionary) form.
Why does the comma go before имя and not right before которого?
In Russian, a comma must always separate the main sentence (Это родственник) from the relative clause that gives extra information about it. The descriptive clause here actually starts with the noun being possessed (имя), so the comma must go before имя, not before которого.
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