que (relatiu àton)

Unstressed Relative Que

Level 4

Unaccented que can introduce a relative clause as its subject or direct object.

How It Works

In el llibre que he llegit, que stands for the direct object of he llegit. In la noia que parla, it stands for the subject of parla. It does not change form for gender or number.

A restrictive relative identifies which noun is meant and normally has no separating comma. An explanatory relative adds information about an already identified referent and is set off by commas. Those punctuation choices can change the meaning.

Do not confuse relative que with accented prepositional què, or with the conjunction que introducing a statement. If the function inside the relative requires a preposition, use an appropriate prepositional relative instead of deleting the preposition or adding a redundant object pronoun.

Examples (3)

  1. El llibre que llegeixo és curt.

    The book I am reading is short.

  2. La noia que parla és la meva germana.

    The girl who is speaking is my sister.

  3. Els veïns, que ja ho sabien, van trucar.

    The neighbors, who already knew, called.

How It Connects

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que (relatiu àton)Level 4Unstressed Relative Que

Learn This First

Identify the subject or object function of relative que before extending relative structure.

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