Relative Pronouns — The Relative Noun
The connecting words الذي، التي، الذين — appearing ~3,500 times in the Quran.
What Is a Relative Noun?
A relative noun (اِسْمٌ مَوْصُولٌ — literally "the connected noun") links a definite noun to a following clause that gives more information about it — the Arabic equivalent of English who, which, and that: "the man who came", "those who believe".
Relative nouns appear approximately 3,500 times in the Quran. Just three words — الَّذِي، الَّتِي، الَّذِينَ — account for over 1,400 of those occurrences, which makes this one of the highest-value topics in all of Quranic vocabulary.
The Essential Three
| Form | Use | Quranic occurrences |
|---|---|---|
| الَّذِي | masculine singular (and non-rational nouns) | 304 |
| الَّتِي | feminine singular (and non-rational broken plurals) | 68 |
| الَّذِينَ | masculine plural — rational beings | 1,059 |
The relative noun always: 1. Follows a DEFINITE noun (its antecedent), 2. Is itself DEFINITE — one of the categories of definite nouns, 3. Is MABNI — its ending never changes for case, 4. Is followed immediately by its connecting clause (صِلَةُ الْمَوْصُولِ), without which its meaning is incomplete.
The connecting clause (صِلَةُ الْمَوْصُولِ) may be a nominal sentence, a verbal sentence, or a shibhu jumlah (prepositional phrase or adverbial idafah). The relative noun alone gives no complete information — الَّذِي by itself means just "the one who…" and leaves us waiting.
Beyond the specific set, Arabic also uses two flexible, non-specific relative nouns: مَنْ (who / whoever — used ~650 times as a relative, primarily for rational beings) and مَا (what / that which — used ~1,476 times as a relative). Both must be distinguished from their other roles as question words and negators.
Quranic Examples
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is الَّتِي used for plurals of objects?
Non-rational broken plurals are treated as singular feminine throughout Arabic grammar — so books, mountains, and verses all take الَّتِي, the same rule that governs demonstratives and adjectives.
Do the dual forms matter?
Barely, for Quranic reading: اللَّذَانِ and اللَّتَانِ each appear only twice in the entire Quran. Master the big three first.
How do I tell relative مَا from negative مَا?
Position and context. Relative مَا follows something it can refer back to and is itself followed by a completing clause; negative مَا precedes a verb or nominal sentence it negates. The lesson works through the contrast with examples.