il quale
Italian
Etymology
Compare French lequel.
Pronoun
il quale (feminine la quale, masculine plural i quali, feminine plural le quali)
- whom; which; after a preposition
- Synonym: cui
- l'uomo con il quale parlo ― the man to whom I speak
- (rare) who; whom; which; that; subject or object
- Synonym: chi
- mia moglie, la quale è bella ― my wife, who is beautiful
- la mia macchina, la quale ho venduta ― my car, which I have sold
Usage notes
- Used instead of cui after numerals and other quantifiers + di:
- quattro dei quali ― four of which
- Sometimes used when the invariant alternatives che or cui are ambiguous with respect to gender or number:
- Giovanni e Claudia, ai quali avevi parlato ― Giovanni and Claudia, to both of whom you talked (plural and hence including all)
- Giovanni e Claudia, alla quale avevi parlato ― Giovanni and Claudia, to the latter of whom you talked (feminine singular and hence including only Claudia)
- Generally, use after a preposition is moderately common, while use as a subject or object is quite rare.