A relative pronoun is used to refer back to the subject of a sentence
N.B: “relative” is derived from the verb refero, referre, meaning to bring back.
There are masculine, feminine, and neuter forms, as seen below.
The dictionary definition of qui, quae, quo is who or which, but the definition can change based on the case. Finally, the singular and plural translations are exactly the same!
Nom. who, which, what, that
Gen. whose, of whom, of which
Dat. to/for whom; to/for which
Acc. (verb) (prep) whom, which
Abl. (SIDSPACE) (IFWAB) whom, which
Relative pronouns are used in relative clauses which can be identified by a relative pronoun at the start of the sentence. The noun that the relative pronoun refers back to is known as the antecedent.
Who or Which? The meaning of the antecedent determines which (see what I did there…) one to use. If the antecedent is a person, then you should use who. But, if the antecedent is a thing, then you should use which.
Lastly, let’s look at an example sentence.
Lectica, quam servi ferebant, erat pulchra.
The couch, which the slaves were carrying, was beautiful.
Lectica is the antecedent and quam is the relative pronoun in the nominative case.
Relative pronouns can be tricky, but they are also used in English so it’s best to get used to them!
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