Relative Pronouns

Quî, Quae, Quod (singular) Quî, Quae, Quae (plural)

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Be able to reproduce this chart mentally or orally sine morâ.

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Usual Translation
nom. sg.	quî	quae	quod	who, which, what, that
gen. sg.	cuius	cuius	cuius	whose, of whom, of which
dat. sg.	cui	cui	cui	to/for whom; to/for which
acc. sg.	quem	quam	quod	whom, which, that
abl. sg.	quô	quâ	quô	by whom; by which

nom. pl.	quî	quae	quae	who, which, what, that
gen. pl.	quôrum	quârum	quôrum	whose, of whom, of which
dat. pl.	quibus	quibus	quibus	to/for whom; to/for which
acc. pl.	quôs	quâs	quae	whom, which, that
abl. pl.	quibus	quibus	quibus	by whom; by which

Rules to Remember

1. The CASE (of the relative pronoun) comes from the (relative) CLAUSE.

2. The GENDER and NUMBER come from the antecedent.

The case of the relative pronoun derives from its use in its own, dependent clause:

I liked the book that she gave me.

Mihi placebat liber quem mihi dedit.

1. The dependent clause is "that she gave me." The relative word that is in the accusative case because it is the object in its own clause: She gave what? She gave that.

2. The gender and number of quem must be masculine and singular because the antecedent liber is masculine and singular.

Further examples:

The man who wrote the book is working hard.	Vir qui librum scripsit diligenter laborat.
The woman who is running toward the field is his sister.	Femina quae ad agrum currit soror ei est.
He will see the river whose waters are dangerous.	Flumen videbit cuius aquae periculosae sunt.
The tyrant is a person for whom no leisure is safe.	Tyrannus est homo cui nullum otium tutum est.
He gave a gift to the woman whom we saw there.	Donum dedit feminae quam ibi vidimus.
Caesar, about whom this book says many things, has died.	Mortuus est Caesar, de quo hic liber multa dicit.

More examples.

Latin Teaching Materials at Saint Louis University: © Claude Pavur 1997 - 2009. This material is being made freely available for non-commercial educational use.