The relative pronoun che is one of the most useful words in Italian — it lets you connect two ideas into a single, more sophisticated sentence. Where English uses "who," "that," or "which" depending on the context, Italian almost always uses che, regardless of whether the antecedent is a person or a thing, masculine or feminine, singular or plural. Il ragazzo che parla è mio fratello (The boy who is speaking is my brother), Il libro che leggo è interessante (The book that I'm reading is interesting), Le ragazze che conosco sono simpatiche (The girls that I know are nice). One word, all those meanings — and che never changes form.
The one big rule to internalize: che cannot follow a preposition. When you need to say "with whom," "in which," "to whom," you switch to cui — la persona con cui parlo (the person with whom I'm talking), il giorno in cui ci siamo incontrati (the day on which we met), l'amico a cui scrivo (the friend to whom I write). For places you can also use dove (the restaurant where we eat = il ristorante dove mangiamo). In the exercises below you'll practice che as both subject and direct object of relative clauses, choose between che and cui based on whether a preposition is involved, and avoid the common error of saying con che instead of con cui. Mastering relative pronouns is the single biggest step toward sounding fluent rather than choppy.
A relative pronoun connects two clauses by referring back to a noun (person or thing) already mentioned. In English you use 'who', 'that', or 'which'. In Italian the main relative pronoun is 'che', which covers all of these. It never changes form — there is no masculine, feminine, singular, or plural version of 'che'. Example: 'Il ragazzo che parla è mio fratello.' (The boy who is speaking is my brother.) Here 'che' refers back to 'il ragazzo' and introduces the relative clause 'che parla'.
| Pronoun | Meaning | Used for | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| che | who / that / which | people and things — subject or direct object | Il libro che leggo è bello. (The book that I'm reading is beautiful.) |
| cui | whom / which | people and things — after a preposition | La persona con cui parlo è simpatica. (The person with whom I'm talking is nice.) |
| dove | where | places — replaces 'in cui / a cui' for locations | Il ristorante dove mangiamo è buono. (The restaurant where we eat is good.) |
| chi | whoever / the one who | people only — subject of a general statement | Chi studia, impara. (Whoever studies, learns.) |
'Che' can function as either the subject or the direct object of the relative clause. As subject: the relative clause verb agrees with the antecedent. 'La ragazza che canta si chiama Sofia.' (The girl who sings is called Sofia.) — 'che' is the subject of 'canta'. As direct object: 'che' replaces the object of the relative clause verb. 'Il film che guardo è noioso.' (The film that I'm watching is boring.) — 'che' is the direct object of 'guardo'; the real subject is 'io' (implied). Important: 'che' never changes, regardless of whether the antecedent is masculine/feminine or singular/plural. 'I ragazzi che conosco sono gentili.' (The boys that I know are kind.) 'Le ragazze che conosco sono gentili.' (The girls that I know are kind.)
When a relative pronoun follows a preposition (con, in, a, di, per, su, tra, fra), you must use 'cui' instead of 'che'. You cannot use 'che' after a preposition. Common patterns: con cui — with whom / with which in cui — in which / when (time) a cui — to whom / to which di cui — of whom / of which / about which per cui — for which / that is why su cui — on which Examples: 'L'amica con cui vado in vacanza si chiama Laura.' (The friend with whom I'm going on holiday is called Laura.) 'Il giorno in cui ci siamo incontrati era bellissimo.' (The day on which we met was beautiful.) 'La persona a cui ho scritto non ha risposto.' (The person to whom I wrote did not answer.) 'L'argomento di cui parla è complicato.' (The subject about which he is talking is complicated.)
Relative clauses work exactly the same way with past tenses. 'Che' still does not change form. 'Il film che ho visto era bellissimo.' (The film that I saw was beautiful.) — passato prossimo inside the relative clause. 'La lettera che hai scritto era molto commovente.' (The letter that you wrote was very moving.) 'Le persone che abbiamo incontrato erano molto simpatiche.' (The people that we met were very nice.) Note on past participle agreement: When 'che' is the direct object and the verb uses 'avere' in the passato prossimo, the past participle can optionally agree with the antecedent, but in modern spoken Italian this agreement is often omitted: 'Le ragazze che ho incontrato / incontrate erano gentili.' — both forms are acceptable.
1. Do NOT use 'che' after a preposition. Wrong: 'La persona con che parlo'. Correct: 'La persona con cui parlo'. 2. Do NOT confuse 'chi' (whoever — no specific antecedent) with 'che' (who/that — refers to a specific noun). Wrong: 'Il ragazzo chi parla'. Correct: 'Il ragazzo che parla'. 3. Do NOT try to make 'che' agree with the noun. It is always 'che', never 'chi', 'cho', or any other form. 4. 'Dove' can replace 'in cui' or 'a cui' for places, but not for people or abstract nouns. 'Il posto dove vivo' = 'Il posto in cui vivo'. Both are correct.
10 exercises · 0 completed
Che as Subject — People
10 questions
Che as Subject — Things
10 questions
Che as Subject — People and Things Mixed
10 questions
Che as Subject — Identifying the Correct Pronoun
10 questions
Che as Subject — Fill in the Blank
10 questions
Che as Subject — Sentence Meaning
10 questions
Che as Subject — Error Spotting
10 questions
Che as Subject — Varied Vocabulary
10 questions
Che as Subject — More Practice
10 questions
Che as Subject — Full Sentences
10 questions
10 exercises · 0 completed
Che as Direct Object — People
10 questions
Che as Direct Object — Things
10 questions
Che as Direct Object — Identifying the Subject
10 questions
Che as Direct Object — Fill in the Blank
10 questions
Che as Direct Object — Choosing the Right Pronoun
10 questions
Che as Direct Object — Error Spotting
10 questions
Che as Direct Object — Past Tense
10 questions
Che as Direct Object — Past Tense Fill in the Blank
10 questions
Che — Subject vs. Direct Object
10 questions
Che as Direct Object — Translation Practice
10 questions
10 exercises · 0 completed
Cui After Prepositions — Introduction
10 questions
Cui After Prepositions — a cui and di cui
10 questions
Cui After Prepositions — per cui, su cui, tra cui
10 questions
Cui — Choosing the Right Preposition
10 questions
Cui After Prepositions — Fill in the Blank
10 questions
Che vs. Cui — Choosing the Correct Form
10 questions
Cui After Prepositions — Error Spotting
10 questions
Che vs. Cui — Fill in the Blank
10 questions
Cui — Translation Practice
10 questions
Cui After Prepositions — Mixed Practice
10 questions
10 exercises · 0 completed
Dove as a Relative Pronoun for Places
10 questions
Dove vs. In Cui for Places
10 questions
Mixing che, cui, and dove
10 questions
Dove for Places — Fill in the Blank
10 questions
Mixing che, cui, and dove — More Practice
10 questions
Dove — Translation Practice
10 questions
Mixed Relative Pronouns — Full Sentence Choices
10 questions
Mixed Relative Pronouns — Fill in the Blank
10 questions
Mixed Relative Pronouns — Error Correction
10 questions
Mixed Relative Pronouns — Comprehensive Review
10 questions
10 exercises · 0 completed
Relative Pronouns with Past Tense — Part 1
10 questions
Relative Pronouns with Past Tense — Part 2
10 questions
Chi vs Che — People Without and With Antecedents
10 questions
All Relative Pronouns — Complex Past Tense Sentences
10 questions
Fill in the Relative Pronoun — Past Tense Sentences
10 questions
Relative Pronouns — Identifying the Verb's Preposition
10 questions
Mixed Relative Pronouns — Error Correction with Past Tense
10 questions
Relative Pronouns in Context — Full Sentences
10 questions
Final Mixed Challenge — All Relative Pronouns
10 questions
Final Fill-in Challenge — All Relative Pronouns
10 questions
Stuck on Relative Pronoun: che? Get 25 minutes with a native speaker — €1.
Pasqualino Ferrari (Super Squalo) teaches you 1-on-1 via video call. No commitment, no package.
Che is invariable and means "who", "whom", "which", or "that". It functions as subject or direct object: "Il libro che leggo è interessante" (The book that I am reading is interesting), "La donna che parla è mia madre" (The woman who is speaking is my mother).
No. Unlike English, where "that" can often be dropped ("the book I read"), Italian che is always required: "il libro che ho letto", never "il libro ho letto". This is a common omission mistake by English speakers.
Che cannot follow a preposition. Use "cui" with prepositions: "la persona di cui parlo" (the person I am talking about), "la casa in cui vivo" (the house I live in), "l’amico a cui ho scritto" (the friend I wrote to).
A2 Topics