Pronouns Inside Relative Clauses

Level 3

A person object stays as a pronoun: ɔbarima a mehunuu no no (the man whom I saw). A thing object leaves a gap: ntoma a wotɔeɛ no (the cloth that you bought).

How It Works

1. Subjects: always a prefix

  • People: ɔkyerɛkyerɛfoɔ a ɔkyerɛ yɛn Twi no (the teacher who teaches us Twi)
  • Things: aduane a ɛwɔ hɔ no (the food that is there)

2. Person objects: keep the pronoun
Use the Object Pronouns in their normal place after the verb: no for one person, wɔn for several.

  • ɔbarima a mehunuu no no (the man whom I saw)
  • mmofra a mehunuu wɔn no (the children whom I saw)

3. Two no's in a row
In mehunuu no no the first no means him or her, and the second closes the clause. Because a pronoun follows the verb, the past doubles (hunuu) instead of taking -iɛ.

4. Thing objects: usually a gap
ntoma a wotɔeɛ no (the cloth that you bought) has nothing after the verb. This matches Leaving Out It: a known thing is often left out, but a person is not. A few verbs that change the thing itself still keep no, such as te (tear): krataa a Kofi tee no no (the paper that Kofi tore).

5. The same rule in focus
Focus sentences follow the same split: Hwan na Yaw pɛ no? (Who does Yaw like?) keeps no, but Dɛn na Yaw pɛ? (What does Yaw like?) does not. See Focus on the Object: X na.

Examples (6)

  1. ɔbarima a mehunuu no no

    the man whom I saw

    Word by Word: man REL I-see-PAST him the

    The first no is the pronoun him, and the second closes the clause.

  2. Ɔbaa a Kofi waree no no te Kumase.

    The woman whom Kofi married lives in Kumasi.

    Word by Word: woman REL Kofi marry-PAST her the live Kumasi

  3. Mmofra a mehunuu wɔn no wɔ sukuu.

    The children whom I saw are at school.

    Several people take wɔn (them).

  4. Ntoma a wotɔeɛ no yɛ fɛ.

    The cloth that you bought is pretty.

    Word by Word: cloth REL you-buy-PAST the be pretty

    A thing leaves a gap after the verb, so tɔ takes its clause-final past.

  5. Ɔkyerɛkyerɛfoɔ a ɔkyerɛ yɛn Twi no firi Kumase.

    The teacher who teaches us Twi comes from Kumasi.

    A person subject keeps ɔ-.

  6. Aduane a ɛwɔ hɔ no yɛ dɛ.

    The food that is there is tasty.

    A thing subject keeps ɛ-.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving a gap for a person object.

    ɔbarima a mehunuiɛ no
    ɔbarima a mehunuu no no

    A person object must stay inside the clause as a pronoun. Leaving the spot empty, as English does, is not grammatical here.

  • Using no for several people.

    mmofra a mehunuu no no
    mmofra a mehunuu wɔn no

    The intended meaning is the children whom I saw. The pronoun has to match the noun: no is one person and wɔn is several.

How It Connects

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Pronouns Inside Relative ClausesLevel 3

Learn This First

Relative clauses keep the person-or-thing split of left-out objects.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

noa