Arabic Relative Pronouns: الَّذِي، الَّتِي and the Hidden Return Pronoun
Relative pronouns are the words that let you say 'the man who works here' or 'the book that I read' — and Arabic handles them in a way that surprises English speakers twice. First, the relative pronoun agrees with its antecedent in gender and number, so 'who' and 'that' are not one word but a small family: الَّذِي (alladhī) for a masculine singular, الَّتِي (allatī) for a feminine singular, and distinct dual and plural forms. Second, Arabic relative clauses usually contain an extra pronoun that English drops entirely: 'the book that I read it'. That little pronoun, the ʿāʾid or 'return pronoun', is the single most common source of mistakes in this topic.
This guide walks through the complete paradigm with full harakat, explains the definite-versus-indefinite rule that decides when a relative pronoun appears at all, and shows exactly where the return pronoun hides. Every pattern here appears constantly in the Quran and in everyday MSA.
The core pair: الَّذِي and الَّتِي
The two forms you will meet in almost every text are الَّذِي (alladhī) and الَّتِي (allatī). Use الَّذِي when the noun being described is masculine singular, and الَّتِي when it is feminine singular. Both begin with the same أَلْـ element you know from the definite article, which is a helpful memory hook: relative pronouns of this family only ever describe definite nouns.
A relative clause sits directly after the noun it describes, with no comma and no change in word order inside the clause. Agreement follows the grammatical gender of the antecedent, not natural logic: since سَيَّارَة (sayyāra, 'car') is feminine, a clause describing it must use الَّتِي even though a car has no gender in reality.
The full paradigm: duals and plurals
Arabic distinguishes exactly two of something, so the relative pronoun has dual forms — and unusually, these duals change with grammatical case like dual nouns. The masculine dual is اللَّذَانِ (alladhāni) when the antecedent is nominative and اللَّذَيْنِ (alladhayni) when it is accusative or genitive; the feminine dual is اللَّتَانِ (allatāni) and اللَّتَيْنِ (allatayni).
The masculine plural is الَّذِينَ (alladhīna), one of the most frequent words in the Quran — the phrase الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا (alladhīna āmanū, 'those who believe') appears throughout the text. The feminine plural has two interchangeable forms, اللَّاتِي (allātī) and اللَّوَاتِي (allawātī).
Non-human plurals are treated as feminine singular throughout Arabic grammar, so a plural of things takes الَّتِي: 'the books that I read' is الْكُتُبُ الَّتِي قَرَأْتُهَا. The plurals الَّذِينَ and اللَّاتِي are reserved for people.
- Masculine singular: الَّذِي (alladhī)
- Feminine singular (and non-human plurals): الَّتِي (allatī)
- Masculine dual: اللَّذَانِ (alladhāni) nominative, اللَّذَيْنِ (alladhayni) accusative/genitive
- Feminine dual: اللَّتَانِ (allatāni) nominative, اللَّتَيْنِ (allatayni) accusative/genitive
- Masculine plural (people): الَّذِينَ (alladhīna)
- Feminine plural (people): اللَّاتِي (allātī) or اللَّوَاتِي (allawātī)
Definite vs indefinite: when the relative pronoun disappears
Here is the rule that governs the whole system: use a relative pronoun only when the antecedent is definite. If the noun being described is indefinite, the describing clause follows it directly with no relative pronoun at all. Arab grammarians summarize it in a famous line: sentences after definite nouns are relative clauses, sentences after indefinite nouns are descriptions.
Compare 'the book that I read' with 'a book that I read'. The first has a definite antecedent, so الَّذِي appears: الْكِتَابُ الَّذِي قَرَأْتُهُ. The second has an indefinite antecedent, so the clause attaches bare: كِتَابٌ قَرَأْتُهُ — literally 'a book I-read-it'. Inserting الَّذِي after an indefinite noun is one of the clearest markers of learner Arabic.
Both versions keep the return pronoun — dropping the relative pronoun does not license dropping the ʿāʾid.
The hidden return pronoun (الْعَائِد)
Every Arabic relative clause must contain a pronoun that points back to the antecedent. Grammarians call it الْعَائِد (al-ʿāʾid), 'the returner'. English deletes this pronoun, which is why learners keep leaving it out: English says 'the house that I bought', while Arabic says الْبَيْتُ الَّذِي اشْتَرَيْتُهُ — 'the house that I bought it', with the ـهُ pointing back to the house.
Where the return pronoun sits depends on its role inside the clause. If the antecedent is the object of the verb, the ʿāʾid is an attached object pronoun on the verb (اشْتَرَيْتُهُ). If the antecedent is governed by a preposition, it attaches to the preposition: الْبَيْتُ الَّذِي أَسْكُنُ فِيهِ, 'the house that I live in it'. And if the antecedent is the subject of the clause, the ʿāʾid is simply the hidden subject already inside the conjugated verb: in الرَّجُلُ الَّذِي جَاءَ ('the man who came'), the verb جَاءَ carries an understood 'he' — the return pronoun is there, just invisible.
A practical self-check: translate your clause back word-for-word into clumsy English. If you cannot find an 'it', 'him', 'her', or 'them' pointing to the antecedent — and the antecedent is not the subject — the ʿāʾid is missing. Fahm's grammar course has a dedicated B1 lesson on relative clauses that drills exactly this pattern.
مَنْ and مَا as relative words
Two more words act as relatives without any antecedent at all: مَنْ (man) for people, 'whoever / the one who', and مَا (mā) for things, 'whatever / that which'. They never change form. You will recognize them from questions — the same words mean 'who?' and 'what?' — but context makes the relative reading unmistakable.
These are everywhere in proverbs and in the Quran. Reading in Fahm's Quran reader with word-by-word analysis is an efficient way to see مَنْ, مَا, and the الَّذِي family behaving naturally in real sentences, and the dictionary search will identify any form you do not recognize.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between الَّذِي and الَّتِي?
الَّذِي (alladhī) describes a masculine singular noun and الَّتِي (allatī) a feminine singular noun. الَّتِي also covers all non-human plurals, because Arabic treats plurals of things as feminine singular: الْكُتُبُ الَّتِي، 'the books that…'.
What is the ʿāʾid (return) pronoun?
It is the pronoun inside a relative clause that points back to the noun being described. Arabic requires it even though English drops it: الْكِتَابُ الَّذِي قَرَأْتُهُ is literally 'the book that I read it'. When the antecedent is the clause's subject, the ʿāʾid is the hidden subject of the verb.
Why is there no relative pronoun in كِتَابٌ قَرَأْتُهُ?
Because the antecedent is indefinite. Relative pronouns like الَّذِي are used only after definite nouns; after an indefinite noun the describing clause attaches directly, with no relative pronoun — but the return pronoun still stays.
Do relative pronouns change with grammatical case?
Only the duals: اللَّذَانِ and اللَّتَانِ are nominative, becoming اللَّذَيْنِ and اللَّتَيْنِ in the accusative and genitive. All other forms are invariable.
Is الَّذِينَ common in the Quran?
Extremely. Phrases like الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا ('those who believe') recur throughout the Quran, so mastering the relative pronoun paradigm pays off immediately in Quranic reading.
Fahm covers this with interactive lessons, spaced repetition, and quizzes — start free, no account needed.
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