Grammar · Building Sentences · 7 min
Relative Clauses: Arabic's ש־
الَّذِي, الَّتِي, الَّذِينَ, and the one place Arabic leaves the ש־ out
Hebrew joins a description to a noun with one small, unchanging word: הספר שקראתי, or formally הספר אשר קראתי. MSA does the same job with a relative pronoun that agrees with its noun, much like an adjective: الَّذِي alladhī for a masculine noun, الَّتِي allatī for a feminine one, الَّذِينَ alladhīna for a group of men. The idea is familiar. Only the agreement is new.
| Used for | Arabic | Translit | Hebrew |
|---|---|---|---|
| masculine singular | الَّذِي | alladhī | שֶׁ־ / אֲשֶׁר |
| feminine singular, and plurals of things | الَّتِي | allatī | שֶׁ־ / אֲשֶׁר |
| masculine plural (people) | الَّذِينَ | alladhīna | שֶׁ־ / אֲשֶׁר |
| feminine plural (people) | اللَّوَاتِي / اللَّاتِي | allawātī / allātī | שֶׁ־ / אֲשֶׁר |
| dual (m. / f.) | اللَّذَانِ / اللَّتَانِ | alladhāni / allatāni | שֶׁ־ / אֲשֶׁר |
| spoken Arabic: everything | اللِّي | illi | שֶׁ־ |
In practice you need the first three. Remember one rule from the plurals lesson: a plural of things (books, cities, lessons) counts as feminine singular, so it takes الَّتِي. The duals turn up mainly in formal writing.
Rule 1: only after a definite noun
Here Arabic and Hebrew part ways. Hebrew uses ש־ after any noun, definite or not: התלמיד שעבר, תלמיד שעבר. Arabic uses الَّذِي only after a definite noun. After an indefinite noun, the clause follows with no relative word at all: طَالِب نَجَحَ, "a student (who) passed." The logic comes from the definite-article lesson. الَّذِي starts with ال, so it is definite, and like an adjective it must match its noun. An indefinite noun gets the indefinite version, which is nothing.
| Pattern | Arabic | Hebrew |
|---|---|---|
| adjective, definite | الْبَيْت الْكَبِير | הבית הגדול |
| adjective, indefinite | بَيْت كَبِير | בית גדול |
| clause, definite | الْبَيْت الَّذِي اشْتَرَيْنَاهُ | הבית שקנינו |
| clause, indefinite | بَيْت اشْتَرَيْنَاهُ | בית שקנינו |
Definite or not?
- الطَّالِب الَّذِي نَجَحَ فِي الِامْتِحَانא-טאלב אלד'י נג'ח פי אל-אמתחאןaṭ-ṭālib alladhī najaḥa fī al-imtiḥān
the student who passed the exam
התלמיד שעבר את המבחן هَاتَالْمِيد شِئَاڤَار إِت هَامِڤْخَانhatalmid she'avar et hamivkhan
The noun is definite, so it takes alladhī.
- طَالِب نَجَحَ فِي الِامْتِحَانטאלב נג'ח פי אל-אמתחאןṭālib najaḥa fī al-imtiḥān
a student who passed the exam
תלמיד שעבר את המבחן تَالْمِيد شِئَاڤَار إِت هَامِڤْخَانtalmid she'avar et hamivkhan
The noun is indefinite, so there is no relative word. Hebrew still needs its ש־.
- عِنْدِي صَدِيق يَسْكُن فِي حَيْفَاענדי צדיק יסכן פי חיפאʿindī ṣadīq yaskun fī ḥayfā
I have a friend who lives in Haifa.
יש לי חבר שגר בחיפה يِش لِي خَاڤِر شِگَار بِخِيفَاyesh li khaver shegar bekheifa
"A friend" is indefinite, so the verb follows the noun directly. يَسْكُن is from سَكَنَ ↔ שָׁכַן, the root of שָׁכֵן and מִשְׁכָּן.
- الْكُتُب الَّتِي اشْتَرَيْتُهَاאל-כתב אלתי אשתריתהאal-kutub allatī ishtaraytuhā
the books I bought
הספרים שקניתי هَاسْفَارِيم شِكَانِيتِيhasfarim shekaniti
Books are things, so their plural takes the feminine singular allatī, and the pronoun that points back is ‑hā, "it."
Rule 2: the pronoun that comes back
Hebrew already does half of this. After a preposition, Hebrew must add a pronoun that points back to the noun: הבית שגרתי בו, הילדה שדיברתי איתה. For a direct object it is optional: הספר שקראתי (אותו). Arabic makes the pointer standard in both cases, so the object gets one too: الْكِتَاب الَّذِي قَرَأْتُهُ, "the book that I read it." Arabic grammar calls this pronoun الْعَائِد al-ʿāʾid, "the one that returns." The only time you leave it out is when the noun is the subject of the clause, because the verb's own ending already points back.
Pointing back
- الْكِتَاب الَّذِي قَرَأْتُهُאל-כתאב אלד'י קראתהal-kitāb alladhī qaraʾtuhu
the book (that) I read
הספר שקראתי (אותו) هَاسِفِر شِكَارَاتِي (أُوتُو)hasefer shekarati (oto)
‑hu "it" points back to the book. Hebrew may add אותו, and Arabic nearly always adds ‑hu. قَرَأَ ↔ קָרָא is the same root.
- الْبَيْت الَّذِي أَسْكُنُ فِيهِאל-בית אלד'י אסכן פיהal-bayt alladhī askunu fīhi
the house I live in
הבית שאני גר בו هَابَايِت شِئَانِي گَار بُوhabayit she'ani gar bo
After a preposition both languages insist on the pointer: fīhi = בו.
- الْبِنْت الَّتِي تَكَلَّمْتُ مَعَهَاאל-בנת אלתי תכלמת מעהאal-bint allatī takallamtu maʿahā
the girl I talked with
הילדה שדיברתי איתה هَايَالْدَا شِدِيبَارْتِي إِيتَاhayalda shedibarti ita
maʿahā = איתה, or Biblical עִמָּהּ.
- الْمُعَلِّمُونَ الَّذِينَ يُعَلِّمُونَنَاאל-מעלמון אלד'ין יעלמוננאal-muʿallimūna alladhīna yuʿallimūnanā
the teachers who teach us
המורים שמלמדים אותנו هَامُورِيم شِمِلَامْدِيم أُوتَانُوhamorim shemelamdim otanu
The teachers are the subject, so there is no pointer: the ‑ūna of the verb already refers to them.
- الْمَدِينَة الَّتِي وُلِدْتُ فِيهَاאל-מדינה אלתי ולדת פיהאal-madīna allatī wulidtu fīhā
the city I was born in
העיר שנולדתי בה هَائِير شِنُولَادِتِي بَاha'ir shenoladeti ba
وُلِدَ ↔ נוֹלַד: the root و-ل-د is י-ל-ד, with the same و ↔ י swap as וָלָד ↔ יֶלֶד.
On the street: illi does it all
The spoken dialects threw out the whole family of forms and kept a single, unchanging word: اللِّي illi in Levantine and Egyptian, lli (or elli) in Moroccan. It doesn't change for gender or number, which makes it behave just like Hebrew ש־. The two rules mostly survive: illi follows a definite noun, an indefinite noun usually takes nothing, and the pronoun still points back. On its own, illi also means "the one who" or "what," covering both Hebrew מי ש־ and מה ש־. MSA uses مَنْ and مَا for those.
illi, lli, and friends
- الْكْتَاب اللِّي قَرَيْتُهאל-כתאב אלי אריתוil-ktāb illi ʾarēto
the book I read (Levantine)
הספר שקראתי هَاسِفِر شِكَارَاتِيhasefer shekarati
illi doesn't change, and the ‑o "it" still points back to the book.
- الرَّاجِل اللِّي هِنَاكא-ראגל אלי הנאךir-rāgil illi hināk
the man over there (Egyptian)
האיש שנמצא שם هَائِيش شِنِمْتْسَا شَامha'ish shenimtsa sham
illi can introduce a clause with no verb at all: "the man who (is) over there."
- الدَّار اللِّي سَاكن فِيهَاא-דאר לי סאכן פיהאd-dār lli sāken fīha
the house I live in (Moroccan)
הבית שאני גר בו هَابَايِت شِئَانِي گَار بُوhabayit she'ani gar bo
Darija lli, with the pointer fīha. sāken "living" is the participle of سَكَنَ, Hebrew שׁוֹכֵן.
- فِيه حَدَا بِدُّه يْشُوفَكפיה חדא בדו ישופךfīh ḥada biddo yshūfak
There's someone who wants to see you. (Levantine)
יש מישהו שרוצה לראות אותך يِش مِيشِهُو شِرُوتْسِي لِيرُوت أُوتْخَاyesh mishehu sherotse lirot otkha
"Someone" is indefinite, so even the dialect skips illi and goes straight to the verb.
- مَنْ جَدَّ وَجَدَמן ג'ד וג'דman jadda wajad
Whoever strives, finds. (proverb)
מי שמתאמץ מוצא مِي شِمِتْأَامِتْس مُوتْسِيmi shemit'amets motse
With no noun in front, MSA uses مَنْ "whoever" (מי ש־) and مَا "whatever" (מה ש־).
- اللِّي بِدَّك إِيَّاهאלי בדך איאilli biddak iyyā
whatever you want (Levantine)
מה שאתה רוצה مَا شِئَاتَا رُوتْسِيma she'ata rotse
On its own, illi covers מה ש־ too. iyyā carries the object pronoun, the إيّا from the verb-first lesson.