The relative pronoun 8 This term refers, in the main, to the pronoun kiu, with alternative forms kiun, kiuj and kiujn, (who, whom, which, that). Here are some examples of their uses as relative pronouns: (a) (b) (c) (d)
the man who saw me the man that saw me the letter that was on the table the letter which was on the table the man (whom) I saw the man (that) I saw the letter (that) I wrote the letter (which) I wrote
Note that in (c) and (d) the pronouns in brackets may be omitted in English without altering the sense. Note also that in each of these cases the action is done, not by the man or the letter, as in (a) and (b), but by me. Since the pronoun in brackets (the relative pronoun) always refers to the word which precedes it, it refers in (c) and (d) to the object of the verb. In Esperanto, these words must always be put in: (a) (b) (c) (d)
la viro kiu vidis min la letero kiu estis sur la tablo la viro kiun mi vidis la letero kiun mi skribis
Remember that kiu(n) refers in each case to the word which precedes it. In (a) and (b) as we have seen, the word it refers to is the subject of the verb: la viro (subject) vidis min; la letero (subject) estis sur la tablo. In (c) and (d) the word referred to is the object: mi (subject) vidis la viron (object); mi (subject) skribis la leteron (object). This is why in the first two sets of examples, kiu does not take -n, while in the second two it does. In other words, if kiu refers to the object, it becomes kiun. If the word preceding the relative pronoun is plural, the relative pronoun will have the forms kiuj, kiujn. Note: Ke can never be used as a relative pronoun. For the student, the main difficulty lies in recognising where to put in a relative pronoun when it is not used in English: The book I read yesterday was good. La libro, kiun mi legis hieraĹ, estis bona. One possible consolation is that when we can miss it out in English, it will always end in -n in Esperanto! 9 Kies (whose) may also serve as a relative pronoun. Kies never changes; only the noun which follows it may change: The woman whose bag was on the table. La virino kies saketo estis sur la tablo. The woman whose bag he stole. La virino kies saketon li Ĺ?telis. 122