French Relative Pronouns
French Relative Pronouns
French Relative Pronouns
Before you can use French relative pronouns correctly, you first need to understand the grammar behind them.
Like its English counterpart, a French relative pronoun links a dependent or relative clause to a main clause. If
the previous sentence makes no sense to you, learn about clauses before working on this lesson. Also, since
relative pronouns may replace a subject, direct object, indirect object, or preposition, click to learn about these
grammar concepts if you aren't sure what they are.
Once you understand the above grammar terms, you're ready to learn about the French relative pronouns que,
qui, lequel, dont, and o. There are no one-to-one equivalents for these words; depending on context, the
English translation may be who, whom, that, which, whose, where, or when. Note that in French, relative
pronouns are required, whereas in English, they are sometimes optional.
The following table summarizes the functions and possible meanings of each relative pronoun; click the
pronouns to read detailed lessons.
Pronoun Function(s)
Possible Translations
Qui
Subject
Indirect object (person)
who, what
which, that, whom
Que
Direct object
Lequel
Dont
Object of de
Indicate possession
Note: ce que, ce qui, ce dont, and quoi are indefinite relative pronouns
Qui and que are the most often confused relative pronouns, probably because one of the first things French
students learn is that qui means "who" and que means "that" or "what." In fact, this is not always the case. The
choice between qui and que as a relative pronoun has nothing to do with the meaning in English, and everything
to do with how the word is used; that is, what part of the sentence it is replacing.
Que replaces the direct object (person or thing) in the dependent clause.
J'ai achet le livre. Ma sur l'a crit.
> J'ai achet le livre que ma sur a crit.
I bought the book (that) my sister wrote.
O habite le peintre ? Je l'ai vu aujourd'hui.
> O habite le peintre que j'ai vu aujourd'hui ?
***How do you know whether to use dont or duquel? You need dont when the preposition is de by itself. You
need duquel when de is part of a prepositional phrase, such as prs de, ct de, en face de, etc.
Dont replaces any person or thing after de:
O est le reu ? J'ai besoin du reu.
> O est le reu dont j'ai besoin ?
Where is the receipt (that) I need?
C'est la dame. J'ai parl de cette dame.
> C'est la dame dont j'ai parl.
That's the woman about (whom) I talked. (That's the woman [that] / [whom] I talked about.)
What's the difference between dont and duquel? You need dont when the preposition you're replacing is de by
itself. You need duquel when de is part of a prepositional phrase, such as prs de, ct de, en face de, etc.
You probably already know that as an interrogative pronoun, o means "where," and that it often means
"where" as a relative pronoun as well:
La boulangerie o j'ai travaill est ct de la banque.
The bakery where I worked is next to the bank. (The bakery [that] I worked at...)
Rouen est la ville o j'habite depuis 5 ans.
Rouen is the town where I've lived for 5 years.
But as a relative pronoun, o has an additional meaning - it refers to the moment in time something happened:
"when." This can be tricky, as French students tend to want to use the interrogative quand here. You can't,
because quand is not a relative pronoun. You must use the relative pronoun o.
Lundi, c'est le jour o nous faisons les achats.
Monday is the day (that) we do our shopping.
Le moment o nous sommes arrivs...
The moment (that) we arrived...
C'est l'anne o il est parti
That's the year (that) he left, That's when he left.