La Pianura Padana è la regione più inquinata dell’Europa occidentale

Pronome relativo CHE
Relative pronoun CHE

“…l’enorme pianura che attraversa il Nord Italia”
(…the enormous plain that crosses Northern Italy)

The word “che” is a relative pronoun in Italian, and can often be translated as “who”, “whom”, “which”, or “that” in English. 

It refers back to a noun or pronoun mentioned previously, known as the antecedent, and introduces a relative clause that provides more information about that antecedent.

“Che” can function as the subject or the object of the relative clause, and it can refer to people or things.

Note that “che” is invariable, hence does not change form based on the gender or number of the antecedent. This invariability makes it different from other Italian relative pronouns such as “il quale”, “la quale”, “i quali”, and “le quali”, which do change form.

Here are some examples:

• “Il libro che ho comprato è interessante” (The book that I bought is interesting) – In this sentence, “che” is the object of the verb “ho comprato” and it refers back to “il libro”.

• “La donna che ha vinto il premio è mia amica.” (The woman who won the award is my friend) – Here, “che” is the subject of the verb “ha vinto” and it refers back to “la donna”.