| Sentieri 7B.1 - L'imperativo informale (Informal Commands) |
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16.2 - relative pronouns - part I
Relative pronouns are so called because they act as a reference, i.e. they relate
two sentences (a primary and a subordinate one) by linking them in one single period.
For instance, the boy who came here is your brother
links together the boy is your brother (primary sentence) and he came here
(subordinate sentence, because it connects to the former one by means of who).
In a relative clause different relations are possible between the primary sentence and the
subordinate one. They may share either the subject, or the object, or other
parts of the sentence.
This first paragraph will focus relative pronouns used as a subject and as an object, whose
possible combinations are summarized in the following table:
- A shows the case in which both sentences share the same noun as a subject:
| Paul left for Paris | + | he (Paul) bought a suitcase |
= Paul, who bought a suitcase, left for Paris |
- B shows the case in which the primary sentence's object is
the subject of the subordinate sentence:
| I miss Paul | + | he (Paul) left for Rome |
= I miss Paul, who left for Rome |
- C shows the case in which the subject of the primary sentence
becomes the object of the subordinate one:
| Paul left for Paris | + | you had met him (Paul) |
= Paul, whom you had met, left for Paris |
- D shows the case in which both sentences share the same direct
object:
| I miss Paul | + | you had met him (Paul) |
= I miss Paul, whom you had met |
RELATIVE PRONOUNS AS A SUBJECT
(cases A and B )
As already seen in the previous examples, they are pronouns that bind two sentences
(a primary and a subordinate one) that share the same subject into one single period.
English pronouns used as a subject are who (whose use is normally limited to humans) and
that (for a more general purpose).
THE ITALIAN RELATIVE PRONOUN "CHE"
(cases A and B
che
who / that
(masculine/feminine, singular/plural)
l'attore che ha ricevuto un premio lavorerà nel prossimo film = the actor who received an award will work in the next movie
molte donne che attendevano pazientemente formavano una coda = many women who were patiently waiting formed a queue
Notice the relations between the primary sentence and the subordinate one, that
always share one noun. By dividing a period containing a relative clause in its
basic parts, it will be very easy for the student to tell whether the pronoun acts as a
subject or as an object.
In the aforesaid examples, C and D are the sentences in which the pronoun
acts as a direct object of the subordinate sentence.
In these cases, English uses either whom (for humans) or that, and
often the pronoun may even be omitted.
Italian, instead, always uses the pronoun che.
la chiave che il portiere custodisce apre la porta della mia casa = the key that the building manager keeps opens the door of my house
l'amico che incontrerò oggi insegna matematica = the friend (whom) I will meet today teaches maths
i cespugli che ho potato crescono velocemente = the bushes (that) I pruned grow fast
The pronoun che has to be always used, because it cannot be omitted as
in English.
Case D is when both the primary and the subordinate sentences share a common object.
ho comprato questo libro che tu hai già letto = I bought this book that you have already read
incontrammo la signora che tua madre aveva aiutato = we met the lady (whom) your mother had helped
ha ricevuto le lettere che gli hanno spedito = he / she received the letters (that) they had sent to him / her
Once again, che acts as a universal pronoun.
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| Last updated 2015/10/27 15:26:45 PDT | Hits 1219 |
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