Relative clause that keeps a pronoun

Level 4Sounds Like fuk6 zi2 doi6 ci4 gwaan1 hai6 siu2 geoi3

In Cantonese, when you want to describe a person or thing by their relationship to something else (like 'the man whose car broke'), you don't leave a gap. Instead, you keep a 'resumptive pronoun' (佢 keoi5) inside the descriptive clause to act as a placeholder for that person or thing.

How It Works

This pattern, known as a resumptive pronoun (復指代詞 fuk6 zi2 doi6 ci4), is essential for complex descriptions where the noun being described isn't the subject or direct object of the description.

1. Expressing 'Whose' (Possession)
Cantonese does not have a word for 'whose.' To say 'The woman whose son is smart,' you literally say 'The [her son is smart] woman.'
Structure: [Clause containing 佢 (keoi5) + Noun] + 嘅 (ge3) / Classifier + Head Noun.
Example: 佢個仔好聰明嗰個女人 (The woman whose son is smart).

2. Indirect Objects and Prepositions
When the head noun is the recipient of an action (to whom) or the object of a preposition (with whom), the pronoun is also retained.
Example (Indirect Object): 我畀咗錢佢嗰個男人 (The man [to whom] I gave money).
Example (Preposition): 我同佢食過飯嗰個女仔 (The girl [with whom] I have eaten).

3. The 'Gap' Restriction (Important!)
You only use this strategy for possessives and prepositional objects. If the head noun is the subject or direct object of the clause, you must leave a gap and not use a pronoun. For example, 'The person who bought the car' is 買咗車嗰個人, not 佢買咗車嗰個人.

4. Why is it used?
Without the pronoun, the sentence often becomes ambiguous or ungrammatical. In the 'gap' strategy (used for simple subjects/objects), the listener knows where the noun fits. But in complex relationships, the pronoun 佢 (keoi5) acts as a syntactic anchor, making it clear exactly how the head noun relates to the action in the clause.

Examples (4)

  1. 佢架車壞咗嗰個男人係我朋友。

    The man whose car broke down is my friend.

    Word by Word: He [classifier] car broken-already that [classifier] man is my friend.

    Here, 佢 (keoi5) refers back to 'the man.' Without it, the sentence would just be 'The car-broken man,' which is less precise.

  2. 我識佢爸爸嗰個女仔好聰明。

    The girl whose father I know is very smart.

    Word by Word: I know her father that [classifier] girl very smart.

    The pronoun 佢 (keoi5) is placed before 'father' to show the girl's relationship to him within the descriptive clause.

  3. 我尋日同佢食飯嗰個人係我老細。

    The person I ate dinner with yesterday is my boss.

    Word by Word: I yesterday with him eat rice that [classifier] person is my boss.

    In this case, the head noun is the object of the preposition 同 (tung4 - with). The pronoun 佢 (keoi5) must stay after 同.

  4. 我俾咗錢佢嗰個男人走咗喇。

    The man to whom I gave money has left.

    Word by Word: I give-already money him that [classifier] man leave-already [particle].

    The man is the indirect object of 'give.' The pronoun 佢 (keoi5) marks his spot in the clause.

Common Mistakes

  • Omitting the resumptive pronoun in possessive relative clauses.

    個仔好聰明嗰個女人
    佢個仔好聰明嗰個女人

    Learners often try to translate 'whose' by leaving a gap, but in Cantonese, you must include 佢 (keoi5) to show that it is her son who is smart.

  • Using 嘅 (ge3) inside the clause to mean 'whose'.

    我識嘅爸爸嗰個女仔
    我識佢爸爸嗰個女仔

    Using 嘅 (ge3) inside the clause makes it sound like 'The girl of the father I know,' which changes the meaning. Use the pronoun 佢 (keoi5) instead.

  • Using a resumptive pronoun for subjects or direct objects.

    佢食咗飯嗰個人
    食咗飯嗰個人

    While possessives and prepositions need a pronoun, a pronoun is normally not used for the subject or direct object of the relative clause. In those cases leave a 'gap' instead.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Relative clause that keeps a pronounLevel 4

Learn This First

To understand this specific type of relative clause, you first need to be comfortable with how Cantonese forms basic relative clauses using either the particle 嘅 or a classifier. You also need to understand basic pronouns, as this pattern specifically involves keeping a pronoun inside the clause to refer back to the head noun (resumptive pronoun).