जो ... त्यो

Relative Clauses with जो

Level 4Sounds Like jō ... tyō

जो ... त्यो means the one who ... that one.

How It Works

जो is the relative word: who, which or that. It introduces a clause that tells which noun you mean. Then त्यो picks the noun up again in the main clause.

  • जो मान्छे आएको छ, त्यो मेरो साथी हो।
  • जो किताब मैले किनेँ, त्यो धेरै राम्रो छ।
  • जो केटाहरू खेलिरहेका छन्, ती मेरा भाइहरू हुन्।

Use त्यो for one and ती for many people. For plural things, speech often keeps त्यो. The doer inside the जो clause takes its own marker, such as ले in मैले किनेँ.

Speech often uses the shorter -एको clause before the noun: मैले किनेको किताब. The जो ... त्यो pair is helpful when the clause is long.

Examples (5)

  1. जो मान्छे आएको छ, त्यो मेरो साथी हो।

    The person who has come is my friend.

    त्यो picks up मान्छे.

  2. जो किताब मैले किनेँ, त्यो धेरै राम्रो छ।

    The book that I bought is very good.

    मैले belongs to the जो clause.

  3. जो केटाहरू खेलिरहेका छन्, ती मेरा भाइहरू हुन्।

    The boys who are playing are my brothers.

    ती matches the plural केटाहरू.

  4. जो घर हामीले देख्यौँ, त्यो मलाई मन पर्‍यो।

    I liked the house that we saw.

    The two clauses have different doers.

  5. जो पैसा तिमीले दियौ, त्यो मैले राखेको छु।

    I have kept the money you gave.

    त्यो stands for पैसा.

Common Mistakes

  • A learner uses त्यो for a plural noun.

    जो केटाहरू खेल्दै छन्, त्यो मेरा भाइहरू हुन्।
    जो केटाहरू खेल्दै छन्, ती मेरा भाइहरू हुन्।

    A plural noun for people needs ती.

How It Connects

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

जो ... त्योLevel 4Relative Clauses with जो

Learn This First

जो ... त्यो builds relative clauses.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.