B2 · Subordinate clauses
The relative pronouns beyond que
« Whose » agrees with the thing owned, not the owner.
Que covers almost everything and is the normal case. But as soon as a preposition stands in front and people are meant, quem appears: a pessoa com quem falei, o amigo a quem escrevi.
Cujo is « whose », and it agrees with what is owned and not with the owner: o escritor cuja obra li, a casa cujos donos emigraram. English « whose » is invariable and points at the owner, so the instinct is to make it masculine after « the writer » — and the form follows obra instead. It never takes an article.
O qual, a qual, os quais stand where que would be ambiguous, and after longer prepositions: a razão pela qual saiu, o jardim ao lado do qual vivo.
And onde may be a relative pronoun for places: a cidade onde nasci — shorter and commoner than na qual nasci, and exactly your « where » in « the town where I was born ».
Die Form
| the person I spoke to | a pessoa com quem falei |
| the friend I wrote to | o amigo a quem escrevi |
| the author whose work I read | o escritor cuja obra li |
| the reason he left | a razão pela qual saiu |
| the city where I was born | a cidade onde nasci |
| the book I spoke about | o livro de que falei |
Die Regeln im Einzelnen
After a preposition and with people, quem stands.
É o colega com quem partilho o escritório.That is the colleague I share the office with.
cujo agrees with the thing.
Conheço o autor cujos livros lemos.I know the author whose books we are reading.
o qual makes clear who is meant.
A irmã do Pedro, a qual mora no Porto, chega hoje.Pedro's sister, who lives in Porto, arrives today.
onde stands for a place.
Esta é a casa onde cresci.This is the house where I grew up.
Woran man es erkennt
- com quem
- a quem
- cujo
- pela qual
- onde
Beispielsätze
Os amigos de quem te falei chegam amanhã.The friends I told you about arrive tomorrow.
É um problema cuja solução ninguém conhece.It is a problem whose solution nobody knows.
O prédio em frente do qual esperámos já não existe.The building we waited in front of is gone.
Voltei à aldeia onde passei a infância.I went back to the village where I spent my childhood.
Die typisch deutsche Falle
Aufgepasst
Cujo agrees with the possession and not with the possessor. In o escritor cuja obra li the form is feminine because obra is feminine — the writer has nothing to do with it. And an article after it is always wrong: cuja a obra does not exist.
cujo agrees with what is owned.
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