In this post we’re going to talk about relative clauses and how to form them in Syrian.
What is a relative clause?
A relative clause is a clause that acts like an adjective – that is, it adds extra information about a noun (the ‘head noun’) to which it is attached. Examples of relative clauses in English are things like ‘the man who I saw‘, ‘a key (that) I found in the park‘, ‘a book (that) you heard about‘.
Arabic relative clauses work differently in two important ways. Firstly, they agree with their noun for definiteness, and secondly, the noun always has to be referenced (usually by a pronoun) in the relative clause.
Definite and indefinite clauses
A relative clause attached to a definite noun is always introduced with اللي illi (which does not change for gender or number, unlike its fuS7a counterparts الذي, التي etc):
| Definite | Indefinite |
| الشب اللي شفتو ishshabb illi shifto the guy that I saw |
شب شفتو shabb shifto a guy that I saw |
| الصبية اللي كانت هون من شوي iSSabiyye lli kaanet hoon min shwayy the girl who was here just now |
صبية كانت هون من شوي Sabiyye kaanet hoon min shwayy the girl who was here just now |
اللي is often translated as ‘that’, but it’s important to remember that unlike its English counterpart, it is obligatory with definite clauses and wrong with indefinite clauses.
Referencing the head noun
Unlike in English, the head noun always has to be referenced somehow in the relative clause. When the head noun is the subject, this reference is simply the agreement marking on the verb. In all other cases, however, Arabic requires us to include a pronoun which shows us exactly what role the head noun is playing in the relative clause:
| شب شفتو shabb shift-o a guy I saw [him] |
صبية شفتها Sabiyye shift-ha a girl I saw [her] |
| الناس اللي دقيتلهن innaas illi da2eet-ilhon the people I called [to them] |
البيوت اللي فتت عليهن libyuut illi fitet 3aleyy-on the houses I went into [them] |
Indefinite relative clauses with subjunctive
An indefinite relative clause with a subjunctive generally expresses ‘an X to Y (with, etc)’:
بيت نقعد فيه
beet ni23od fii
a house to stay in
a house for us to stay in
سكينة تقطع فيها الخضروات
sikkiine t2aTTe3 fiiha lkhaDrawaat
a knife to chop the vegetables with
a knife for you to chop the vegetables with
Relative clauses standing alone
A definite relative clause with اللي, like a definite adjective, can stand on its own (as a ‘headless’ relative clause). There are many possible translations here, including ‘the one/the ones that’, ‘the guy/woman that’, depending on context:
اللي عم تدور عليه
illi 3am itdawwer 3alee
what you are looking for
the one you’re looking for
the guy you’re looking for
اللي اجو امبارح
illi 2iju mbaare7
the ones that came yesterday
the guys that came yesterday
That’s all for today!