How Do You Know When to Use Relative Pronouns in French

In this lesson, we'll talk about French relative pronouns or pronom relatifs.

the french relative pronouns

A Review of Relative Pronouns in English

Are you still familiar with relative pronouns in English? If y'all can no longer recall all those grammer lessons in school, don't worry, this topic is adequately like shooting fish in a barrel. Plus I'chiliad pretty sure you apply relative pronouns in your daily speech.

In English, relative pronouns are the words who, which, that, whom and where. These types of pronouns serve several purposes:

To betoken out conspicuously or properly place the person or matter being referred to (case:The girlwho passed by a while agone was my best friend in grade schoolhouse.)
To supply more data well-nigh the person or affair existence talked about (case:The building,which was built in the 1800s, is said to be haunted by ghosts.)
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To talk virtually it in grammar-y technical terms, relative pronouns are also used:

To connect the dependent clause or relative clause to the main clause.
To supplant the field of study, straight object, indirect object, or preposition.

French Relative Pronouns

When it comes to French, relative pronouns piece of work the aforementioned style. These are the words qui, que, lequel, auquel, duquel, dont and où.

ane. qui and que

Qui and que can both be used to refer to persons or things. The main deviation is, qui is used for the field of study (or indirect object for persons) while que is for the straight object. Qui is also being used after a preposition (à, de or pour)

Qui (discipline) could hateful who, which, or that.

Que (direct object) could mean who, whom, which, or that.

A few examples:

Mon frère, qui a vingt ans, est à l'université. (My brother, who's twenty, is at university.)

*Est-ce qu ' il y a united nations charabanc qui va au centre-ville? (ls there a bus that goes to the town center?)

Les amis que je vois le plus sont Léa et Mehdi. (The friends that I run into most are Lea and Mehdi.)

Voilà la maison que nous voulons acheter. (That'due south the house which we desire to buy.)

la personne à qui il parle (the person he is speaking to)

les enfants pour qui j'ai acheté des bonbons (the children I bought sweets for)

*Kindly note that que is shortened to qu' if information technology precedes a word that starts with a vowel or nearly words that begin with a letter h.

Quick reminder

Hither's a major difference betwixt English language and French relative pronouns: in English, who, whichand that are frequently being interchanged in daily apply. In French, however, this in non the case. Qui and que strictly take dissever uses for each.

2. lequel

Lequel is the French relative pronoun counterpart for "which" and information technology is used for indirect objects. Information technology follows the prepositions à, de or pour and only used when referring to things (never nigh people). In add-on, it has to agree with the substantive's gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural).

Masculine atypical	lequel
Feminine singular	laquelle
Masculine plural	lesquels
Feminine plural	lesquelles

All four ways "which"

Some examples:

le livre pour lequel elle est connue (the volume she is famous for)

la table sur laquelle j'ai mis mon sac (the tabular array I put my bag on)

Bated from having to agree with the noun'southward gender and count, you too need to consider the combinations of words which, in turn, creates an altogether new discussion.

For case:

à + the definite article le becomes au.
de + the definite article le becomes du.
à + the definite article les becomes aux.
de + the definite article les becomes des.

Similarly, lequel changes into different words when combined with the preposition à and de.

à + lequel	auquel
à + laquelle	à laquelle (remains the same)
à + lesquels	auxquels
à + lesquelles	auxquelles
de + lequel	duquel
de + laquelle	de laquelle (remains the same)
de + lesquels	desquels
de + lesquelles	desquelles

3. dont

Another French relative pronoun is dont. When translated in English, it means whose, of whom, of which. It may exist used to refer to persons or things. The good news is, it does not change its grade, nor does it take to hold with annihilation!

Let'south see some examples:

Plural substantive:les filmsdont tu parles (the films you lot are talking about)

Atypical noun: la femme dont la voiture est en panne (the woman whose car has cleaved down)

4. où

This French relative pronoun is used for places and times. Its English analogue could either be where, when or even which and that, depending on how it is used.

Où is besides used as the question word where (see commodity on Request QUESTIONS IN FRENCH) and the way information technology is used as an interrogative pronoun is basically the same equally its use equally a relative pronoun. At that place is an added function notwithstanding, and that is to refer to a time something occurred.

In short, it covers both identify and fourth dimension in its relative pronoun office and takes the chore of "when" also, aside from "where". (Annotation: the interrogative pronoun "quand" is not as multifunctional as où and cannot be used as a relative pronoun.)

Some examples:

Paris est la ville où on peut manger les meilleurs escargots.(Paris is the metropolis where we tin can eat the best snails.)

C'est l'année où il southward ont gagné la coupe du monde . (That'southward the year they won the world loving cup.)

In addition, où can likewise be used afterward prepositions.

La ville d'où elle vient…The metropolis (where) she's from...

Quick Epitomize on French Relative Pronouns

Relative pronouns in English are the words who, which, that, whom and where. In French, nosotros have qui, que, lequel, auquel and duquel.
Qui is used for the field of study while que is for direct objects and after a preposition. Both tin can refer to persons or things.
Lequel is used to refer to a affair and has to agree with the substantive information technology refers to. It is used for indirect objects.
Dont suggests possession and it tin refer to both persons or things. It never changes in form.
Où indicates the identify and time and tin can mean where, when, which or that, depending on how it is used.

Your turn!

Can yous attempt making your own sentences using the French relative pronouns you learned in this lesson? Share it with us in the comments department!

Here are some FAQs about French Relative Pronouns

What are relative pronouns in French?

Dont (whose, of whom, of which), lequel (which), où (where), que (that), and qui (who) are the five French relative pronouns!

When do you employ the French relative pronouns qui and que?

Qui and que are used to refer to persons or things.

When to make agreement in French reflexive relative pronouns?

Reflexive pronouns must agree with the bailiwick. The agreement happens when a clause with a pronominal verb in the infinitive course follows an impersonal subject.

Examples:

Il est difficile de se coucher tôt le soir.
It is difficult (for people in general) to get to bed early at night.

Il est difficile de me coucher tôt le soir.
It is difficult (for me) to become to bed early at night.

Il est difficile de nous coucher tôt le soir.
Information technology is difficult (for us) to go to bed early on at night.

When do you employ subjunctive in French afterwards relative pronouns?

In French, you use the subjunctive after the relative pronouns if the ancestor in the principal clause does non exist or is indefinite.

For instance:
Il n'y a aucun plat qui me fasse plaisir.
There is no dish that makes me happy.

How exercise you know when to use relative pronouns in French?

You volition employ relative pronouns when you lot connect a master clause and a relative clause.

For example:
Monday cousin, qui a trente ans, est à Paris.
(My brother, who'due south xx, is in Paris.)

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Source: https://www.talkinfrench.com/getting-know-french-relative-pronouns/