dak li

What or the Thing That

Level 4

Treat dak li + clause as one nominal expression that can serve as subject or object.

How It Works

Dak li combines a demonstrative with a relative clause. English often expresses the whole phrase as ‘what’, ‘that which’ or ‘the thing that’. It supplies a referent in a statement rather than requesting an answer.

Compare dak, ‘that’, with dak li ktibt, ‘what I wrote’. The relative identifies the referent as the object of writing. Ktibt permits I or singular you; context identifies the writer. The complete expression can be a subject or object. Because the demonstrative is overt, the Maltese construction has a head even when English uses a headless ‘what’ clause.

Masculine singular dak can refer to generic content. For a plural group, dawk li means ‘those who/that’. When that group is the relative's subject, the verb has plural agreement. The marker li stays unchanged.

Examples (3)

  1. Dak li ktibt dwar il-ħanut huwa ċar.

    What I wrote about the shop is clear.

    The expression is the main subject; context selects I from ktibt.

  2. Żammejt dak li sibt fil-kaxxa.

    I kept what I found in the box.

    The expression is the object of keeping; both verbs have shared first-/second-person singular forms.

  3. Dawk li waslu filgħodu ħarġu kmieni.

    Those who arrived in the morning went out early.

    Dawk is plural, with plural subject agreement in both clauses.

How It Connects

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

dak liLevel 4What or the Thing That

Learn This First

Build demonstrative-headed expressions that English renders as what or those who, tracking their main-clause function separately from the relative's roles.

Words in This Pattern

li