B2 · Subordinate clauses
Relative pronouns: cujo, o qual
Topic 118 of 133 · about 4 minutes
Your goal
You can join clauses with o qual, cujo and a preposition plus quem, and so build longer, precise sentences.
Os amigos de quem te falei chegam amanhã.The friends I told you about arrive tomorrow.
É um problema cuja solução ninguém conhece.It is a problem whose solution nobody knows.
O prédio em frente do qual esperámos já não existe.The building we waited in front of is gone.
Done at 8 of 10, including 3 of 4 written yourself · about 5 min
Explainer video
Watch first – then practise
The essentials
Remembercujo agrees with what is owned.
« Whose » agrees with the thing owned, not the owner.
- Signal words
- com quem
- a quem
- cujo
- pela qual
- onde
The form
The forms and what they mean
Each row gives the meaning first, then the form in Portuguese.
| the person I spoke to | a pessoa com quem falei |
| the friend I wrote to | o amigo a quem escrevi |
| the author whose work I read | o escritor cuja obra li |
| the reason he left | a razão pela qual saiu |
| the city where I was born | a cidade onde nasci |
| the book I spoke about | o livro de que falei |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
After a preposition and with people, quem stands.
É o colega com quem partilho o escritório.That is the colleague I share the office with.
cujo agrees with the thing.
Conheço o autor cujos livros lemos.I know the author whose books we are reading.
o qual makes clear who is meant.
A irmã do Pedro, a qual mora no Porto, chega hoje.Pedro's sister, who lives in Porto, arrives today.
More rules (1)
onde stands for a place.
Esta é a casa onde cresci.This is the house where I grew up.
Example sentences
1 more example sentences
Voltei à aldeia onde passei a infância.I went back to the village where I spent my childhood.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
Cujo agrees with the possession and not with the possessor. In o escritor cuja obra li the form is feminine because obra is feminine — the writer has nothing to do with it. And an article after it is always wrong: cuja a obra does not exist.
Lesson
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
Que covers almost everything and is the normal case. But as soon as a preposition stands in front and people are meant, quem appears: a pessoa com quem falei, o amigo a quem escrevi.
Cujo is « whose », and it agrees with what is owned and not with the owner: o escritor cuja obra li, a casa cujos donos emigraram. English « whose » is invariable and points at the owner, so the instinct is to make it masculine after « the writer » — and the form follows obra instead. It never takes an article.
O qual, a qual, os quais stand where que would be ambiguous, and after longer prepositions: a razão pela qual saiu, o jardim ao lado do qual vivo.
And onde may be a relative pronoun for places: a cidade onde nasci — shorter and commoner than na qual nasci, and exactly your « where » in « the town where I was born ».
The verbs on this page, in every form: ser · chegar · conhecer · passar · falar · ler · crescer · esperar
Now write it yourself2 sentences on this topic, typed and checked instantly.
Words you will need9
They appear in this topic’s examples and exercises and are new at this point on the learning path.
- o colegathe colleague
- partilharto share
- os direitos de autorcopyright
- cujowhose
- crescerto grow
- a solução aquosathe aqueous solution
- o prédiothe building
- existirto exist
- o jardim de infânciathe nursery school
Missing a word? Look it up in the dictionary