Relative pronouns in French QUI, QUE, LEQUEL,

AUQUEL, DUQUEL, DONT:

What is a relative pronoun

In English a relative pronoun is one of the words who, which and
that (and the more formal whom) which can be used to introduce
information that makes it clear which person or thing is being talked
about, for example, The man who has just come in is Ann’s
boyfriend; The vase that you broke was quite valuable
Relative pronouns can also introduce further information about
someone or something, for example, Peter, who is a brilliant painter,
wants to study art; Jane’s house, which was built in 1890, needs a
lot of repairs
• In French, the relative pronouns are qui, que, lequel, auquel,
and duquel
qui and que
• qui and que can both refer to people or things
Relative pronoun Meaning

Subject qui wh
whic
that

Direct object que who, who

whic
that

Mon frère, qui a vingt ans, My brother, who’s twenty,

est à l’université. is at university.

Est-ce qu’il y a un bus qui va Is there a bus that goes to

au centre-ville? the town centre?

Les amis que je vois le plus The friends (that) I see

sont Léa et Mehdi. most are Léa and Mehdi.
o

 Voilà la maison que nous That’s the house (which)

voulons acheter. we want to buy.
Ti
que changes to qu’ in front of a word beginning with a vowel and
most words beginning with h
• qui is also used after a preposition such as à, de or pour to talk
about people
la personne à qui il parle the person he is
speaking to

les enfants pour qui j’ai acheté the children I bought

des bonbons sweets for
Ti
In English we often miss out the object pronouns who, which and
that. For example, we can say both the friends that I see most, or
the friends I see most, and the house which we want to buy, or the
house we want to buy. In French you can NEVER miss out que or
qui in this way
Lequel, duquel & auquel:
Lequel, which usually means "which," is arguably the most
difficult French pronoun. Lequel has four basic forms because it
has to agree in gender and number with the noun it replaces. In
addition, lequel has several contracted forms—like the definite
articles le and les, lequel contracts with the prepositions à and
de.

Lequel is usually either an interrogative pronoun or a relative

pronoun. The only way for French-language learners to
use lequel correctly is to examine how it functions in various
grammatical situations.
p

 As an Interrogative Pronou
French has three main interrogative pronouns: qui, que,
and lequel, which are used to ask questions. They all have
different meanings and usages. Lequel can also serve as an
interrogative pronoun. When it does, lequel replaces quel +
noun, as in these examples:

• Quel livre veux-tu? Lequel veux-tu? > Which book do

you want? Which one do you want?
• Je veux la pomme là-bas. Laquelle? > I want the
apple over there. Which one?
• Je pense à mon frère. Auquel penses-tu ? [À quel
frère...] > I'm thinking about my brother. Which one are
you thinking about?

As a Relative Pronou
Like its English counterpart, a French relative pronoun links
a dependent or relative clause to a main clause. As a relative
pronoun, lequel replaces an inanimate object of a preposition.
(If the object of the preposition is a person, use qui.) The
following examples demonstrate the proper usage:

• Le livre dans lequel j'ai écrit... > The book in which I

wrote...
• La ville à laquelle je songe... > The town about which
I'm dreaming...
• Le cinéma près duquel j'ai mangé... > The theater
near which I ate... / The theater I ate near...

 As an Adjectiv
As noted, lequel is usually a pronoun, but it can also be a
relative adjective. Relative adjectives are placed in front of
nouns to indicate a link between that noun and an antecedent
(the same noun previously stated or implied). In both English
and French, relative adjectives are used mainly in legal,
administrative, or other highly formal language.

As it does when used as a pronoun, lequel has to agree in

gender and number with the noun it modifies when used as a
relative adjective. As in other uses, lequel, when used as
relative adjective, also contracts with the prepositions à and de,
as the table demonstrates.

Singular Plural

Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine

Forms lequel laquelle lesquels lesquelles

à+ auquel à laquelle auxquels auxquelles

lequel

de + duquel de desquels desquelles

lequel laquelle

Example Uses and Tip

French-language students can benefit by seeing lequel used in
the context of common dialogue, as in these sentences:

• Il y a cinq témoins, lesquels témoins vont arriver

demain. > There are five witnesses, who will arrive
tomorrow.

 • Il est possible que le défendeur tue encore, auquel

cas... > It's possible that the defendent will kill again, in
which case...

The difference between lequel as a relative adjective and

lequel as a relative pronoun is the same as the difference
between any adjective and pronoun. The relative adjective
precedes a noun, as in: 

• Laquelle somme sera... > The total (or sum) will be ...

The relative pronoun replaces a noun:

Avez-vous la clé? Laquelle? > Do you have the

key? Which one?
• La ville à laquelle je songe... > The town about which
I'm dreaming...
• Le cinéma près duquel j'ai mangé... > The theater
near which I ate... / The theater I ate near…

Dont – Relative Pronou

Pronom relati
The relative pronoun dont replaces the preposition de plus a person or
thing and serves as the object of a relative clause. If you’re unfamiliar
with any of these concepts, please study the lessons before reading this
one
Depending on the context, dont has a number of possible translations
• from whic
• from who
• includin
• of whic
• of who
• tha
• whos
• wit





h

 Voici le livre. Tu as parlé de ce Here’s the book. You talked about

livre this book.
 > Voici le livre dont tu as  > Here’s the book (that) you talked
parlé. about.
J’ai peur d’une seule chose I’m afraid of only one thing: the dark
: le noir  > The dark is the only thing (that)
 > Le noir est la seule I’m afraid o
chose dont j’ai peur.  > The dark is the only thing of which
I’m afraid.
Je me mé e de lui I’m suspicious of him
 > Tu connais l’homme  > Do you know the man (whom) I’m
dont je me mé e ? suspicious of
 > Do you know the man of whom
I’m suspicious?
Since possession is indicated with de, dont can express it as well.
When the thing possessed is a person, dont is equivalent to "whose";
when it’s inanimate, the best translation is often "with.
Je connais un homme. La femme I know a man. This man’s wife
de cet homme est espionne is a spy
 > Je connais un homme dont la  > I know a man whose wife is
femme est espionne. a spy.
Je cherche une maison. La porte I’m looking for a house. The
de la maison est jaune house’s door is yellow
 > Je cherche la maison dont la  > I’m looking for the house
porte est jaune. with a yellow door.
Dont can also refer to members of a group
J’ai beaucoup d’amis. Deux de I have a lot of friends. Two of my
mes amis sont poètes friends are poets
 > J’ai beaucoup d’amis, dont  > I have a lot of friends, two of
deux poètes. whom are poets.
.

fi
f

fi
.

"

 Certains lms sont très marrants. Some movies are very funny.
Dîner de cons est un de ces Dîner de cons is one of those
lms movies
 > Certains lms sont très  > Some movies are very funny,
marrants, dont Dîner de cons. including Dîner de cons.

À noter : After any preposition other than de, the relative pronoun is
either qui (when it’s a person) or lequel (when it’s an object). Also,
when de is not on its own, but instead part of a prepositional phrase
such as près de, the relative pronoun is lequel
fi
.

fi
fi