الذي

الذي

Arabic

Etymology

An innovation in Arabic, formed from اَل‎ (al-, “the”) +‎ لَ‎ (la, “truly”) +‎ ذِي‎ (ḏī, “this”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /al.la.ðiː/

• Audio

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Pronoun

اَلَّذِي • (allaḏī) m sg

1. (relative pronoun) who, that, which
   • 10th century, Al-Mutanabbi

     ‏أَنَا الَّذِي نَظَرَ الْأَعْمَى إِلَى أَدَبِي
     وَأَسْمَعَتْ كَلِمَاتِي مَنْ بِهِ صَمَمُ‎

     ʾanā allaḏī naẓara l-ʾaʿmā ʾilā ʾadabī
     wa-ʾasmaʿat kalimātī man bihi ṣamamu

     I am he whose set-down verse the blind have seen,
     whose words and rhymes have echoed in unhearing ears!

Usage notes

Although used similarly to the relative pronouns of the modern Germanic and Romance languages, it may be worth noting that "relative clauses" in Arabic are structurally identical to "nominal" (or zero-copula) sentences and "verbal" sentences with fronted nouns. Thus, when the relative pronoun is the object of a verb or a preposition, a pronominal clitic that references and agrees with the "relative pronoun" in gender and number is added after the respective verb or preposition while the relative pronoun itself remains at the beginning of the clause, though the addition of clitics after verbs and participles is optional (just as when nouns in verbal sentences are fronted).

1. ‏هٰذَا هُوَ الرَّجُلُ الَّذِي رَأَيْتُ‎ ― hāḏā huwa r-rajulu allaḏī raʾaytu ― This is the man I saw. (literally, “This is the man that I saw”)
2. ‏هٰذَا هُوَ الرَّجُلُ الَّذِي رَأَيْتُهُ‎ ― hāḏā huwa r-rajulu allaḏī raʾaytuhu ― This is the man I saw. (literally, “This is the man that I saw him”)
3. ‏هٰذَا هُوَ الصُّنْدُوقُ الَّذِي فِيهِ الْكِتَابُ‎ ― hāḏā huwa ṣ-ṣundūqu allaḏī fīhi l-kitābu ― This is the box that the book is in. (literally, “This is the box that in it is the book”)
4. ‏تِلْكَ هِيَ الْوَرَقَةُ الَّتِي كَتَبْتُ عَلَيْهَا‎ ― tilka hiya l-waraqatu allatī katabtu ʿalayhā ― This is the paper on which I wrote. (literally, “This is the paper that I wrote on it”)

This is also the case in fused (or nominal) relative clauses.

1. ‏فَٱقْضِ مَا أَنْتَ قَاضٍ‎ ― fa-qḍi mā ʾanta qāḍin ― So judge as you will. (literally, “So ordain what[ever] you [are] ordaining")”)

Syntactically, this differs from, for example, English, where relative pronouns replace nouns (as in that, which, who, and whom) and determiners (as in whose and which) in the relative clause. Hence, relative pronouns are classified in traditional Arabic grammar as a subcategory of nouns. In linguistics, such a clitic is often termed a resumptive pronoun, whose addition in the relative clause is also a feature of Hebrew (for which see the usage notes in the entry for אשר‎).

If the antecedent is indefinite, the relative pronoun is obligatorily omitted, regardless of the structure of the relative clause.

1. ‏هٰذَا هُوَ الرَّجُلُ الَّذِي يَبِيعُ كُتُبًا كَثِيرَةً‎ ― hāḏā huwa r-rajulu allaḏī yabīʿu kutuban kaṯīratan ― This is the man who sells a lot of books. (literally, “This is the man that sells many books”)
2. ‏هٰذَا رَجُلٌ يَبِيعُ كُتُبًا كَثِيرَةً‎ ― hāḏā rajulun yabīʿu kutuban kaṯīratan ― This is a man who sells a lot of books. (literally, “This [is] a man sells many books”)
3. ‏هٰذَا هُوَ الرَّجُلُ الَّذِي شَعْرُهُ طَوِيلٌ‎ ― hāḏā huwa r-rajulu allaḏī šaʿruhu ṭawīlun ― This is the man whose hair is long. (literally, “This is the man that his hair [is] long”)
4. ‏هٰذَا رَجُلٌ شَعْرُهُ طَوِيلٌ‎ ― hāḏā rajulun šaʿruhu ṭawīlun ― This is a man whose hair is long. (literally, “This [is] a man his hair [is] long”)

If the relative clause includes a predicative adjective qualifying an attribute of the antecedent or another referent related to or associated with it, the adjective may be moved to the front of the clause, in which case the relative pronoun is obligatorily omitted. The adjective also becomes perpetually in the singular unless the attribute or related referent is a broken plural, in which case the adjective may be pluralized, though this is relatively uncommon and some traditional grammarians criticize it. In its new position, the adjective agrees with the antecedent in case and definiteness and with the noun denoting the attribute or associated referent in gender.

1. ‏رَأَيْتُ رَجُلًا طَوِيلًا شَعْرُهُ‎ ― raʾaytu rajulan ṭawīlan šaʿruhu ― I saw a man whose hair is long. (literally, “I saw a man long (indef m sg acc) [is] his hair”)
2. ‏رَأَيْتُ الرَّجُلَ الطَّوِيلَ شَعْرُهُ‎ ― raʾaytu r-rajula ṭ-ṭawīla šaʿruhu ― I saw the man whose hair is long. (literally, “I saw the man long (def m sg acc) [is] his hair”)
3. ‏رَأَيْتُ ٱمْرَأَةً طَوِيلًا شَعْرُهَا‎ ― raʾaytu mraʾatan ṭawīlan šaʿruhā ― I saw a woman whose hair is long. (literally, “I saw a woman long (indef m sg acc) [is] her hair”)
4. ‏رَأَيْتُ الْمَرْأَةَ الطَّوِيلَ شَعْرُهَا‎ ― raʾaytu l-marʾata ṭ-ṭawīla šaʿruhā ― I saw the woman whose hair is long. (literally, “I saw the woman long (def m sg acc) [is] her hair”)
5. ‏هٰؤُلَاءِ رِجَالٌ طَوِيلٌ شَعْرُهُمْ‎ ― hāʾulāʾi rijālun ṭawīlun šaʿruhum ― These are men with long hair. (literally, “These [are] men long (indef m sg nom) [is] their hair”)
6. ‏هٰؤُلَاءِ نِسَاءٌ طَوِيلٌ شَعْرُهُنَّ‎ ― hāʾulāʾi nisāʾun ṭawīlun šaʿruhunna ― These are women with long hair. (literally, “These [are] women long (indef m sg nom) [is] their hair”)
7. ‏وَقَفَ الْعُصْفُورُ عَلَى شَجَرَةٍ عَظِيمَةٍ أَغْصَانُهَا‎ ― waqafa l-ʿuṣfūru ʿalā šajaratin ʿaẓīmatin ʾaḡṣānuhā ― The bird stood on a tree with great branches. (literally, “The bird stood on a tree great (indef f sg gen) [are] its branches (inan m pl)”)
8. ‏وَقَفَ الْعُصْفُورُ عَلَى شَجَرَةٍ عِظَامٍ أَغْصَانُهَا‎ ― waqafa l-ʿuṣfūru ʿalā šajaratin ʿiẓāmin ʾaḡṣānuhā ― The bird stood on a tree with great branches. (literally, “The bird stood on a tree great (indef c pl gen) [are] its branches (inan m pl)”)

Declension

Declension of pronoun اَلَّذِي (allaḏī)

Singular	Masculine		Feminine
	singular invariable		singular invariable
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Informal	—	اَلَّذِي allaḏī	—	اَلَّتِي‎ allatī
Nominative	—	اَلَّذِي allaḏī	—	اَلَّتِي‎ allatī
Accusative	—	اَلَّذِي allaḏī	—	اَلَّتِي‎ allatī
Genitive	—	اَلَّذِي allaḏī	—	اَلَّتِي‎ allatī
Dual	Masculine		Feminine
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Informal	—	اَللَّذَيْن‎ al-laḏayn	—	اَللَّتَيْن‎ al-latayn
Nominative	—	اَللَّذَانِ‎ al-laḏāni	—	اَللَّتَانِ‎ al-latāni
Accusative	—	اَللَّذَيْنِ‎ al-laḏayni	—	اَللَّتَيْنِ‎ al-latayni
Genitive	—	اَللَّذَيْنِ‎ al-laḏayni	—	اَللَّتَيْنِ‎ al-latayni
Plural	Masculine		Feminine
	broken plural invariable		broken plural invariable
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Informal	—	اَلَّذِينَ‎‎; اَلْأُلَى‎ allaḏīna‎; al-ʾulā	—	اَللَّاتِي‎‎; اَللَّائِي‎‎; اَللَّوَاتِي‎‎; اَلْأُلَى‎ al-lātī‎; al-lāʾī‎; al-lawātī‎; al-ʾulā
Nominative	—	اَلَّذِينَ‎‎; اَلْأُلَى‎ allaḏīna‎; al-ʾulā	—	اَللَّاتِي‎‎; اَللَّائِي‎‎; اَللَّوَاتِي‎‎; اَلْأُلَى‎ al-lātī‎; al-lāʾī‎; al-lawātī‎; al-ʾulā
Accusative	—	اَلَّذِينَ‎‎; اَلْأُلَى‎ allaḏīna‎; al-ʾulā	—	اَللَّاتِي‎‎; اَللَّائِي‎‎; اَللَّوَاتِي‎‎; اَلْأُلَى‎ al-lātī‎; al-lāʾī‎; al-lawātī‎; al-ʾulā
Genitive	—	اَلَّذِينَ‎‎; اَلْأُلَى‎ allaḏīna‎; al-ʾulā	—	اَللَّاتِي‎‎; اَللَّائِي‎‎; اَللَّوَاتِي‎‎; اَلْأُلَى‎ al-lātī‎; al-lāʾī‎; al-lawātī‎; al-ʾulā

Descendants

• Gulf Arabic: الي‎
• Hijazi Arabic: اللي‎ (illi)
• Maltese: li
• Moroccan Arabic: اللي‎ (elli, lli), الدي‎ (eddi, ddi)

References

• Wehr, Hans (1979), “الذي”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN