Relative Pronouns
Introduction
Relative pronouns are words used to attach a Clause to a Noun
or Pronoun. For more on how this works, check out Complex
Sentences. The relative pronouns are
que, qui, dont, où
preposition + lequel, laquelle, lesquels, lesquelles
ce qui, ce que, ce dont
Relative pronouns work similarly in French and English, except for
dont, which can be tricky.
Pour des raisons qui apparaîtront
plus tard...
For reasons which will become
apparent later
Le mécanisme que nous
allons essayer de décrire.
The mechanism which we will try
to describe.
L'essentiel dans le rêve, ce sont les idées dont
il se compose, et non les faits.
The main thing about dreams is the ideas of
which it is made and not the facts.
Que, qui, où
The pronouns qui, que and où
pose no problems, being the equivalents of who/which and where
(qui indicates the subject, que the object),
However, English often omits the corresponding pronoun
(The man (whom) I saw. = L'homme que j'ai vu.
All that food (which) I missed. = Toute cette nourriture que
j'ai ratée.
The town he was born in = La ville où il est né).
Dont
Dont corresponds to of which, of whom or
whose:
Quatre millions de Canadiens se font vacciner contre la grippe,
dont à peine 700 000 dans
la province natale du pionnier de la vaccination, le Dr. Armand Frappier.
(of which only 700,000)
Cela dépasse les moyens dont
dispose le psychanalyste.
It goes beyond the means at the psychoanalyst's disposal (literally:
of which the psychoanalyst disposes).
Lequel
The different forms of lequel are used for which
after a preposition:
L'oeuf sur lequel le
virus a été cultivé...
The egg on which the virus was
cultivated.
Frazer cite une superstition allemande, d'après laquelle
on ne doit pas déposer un couteau avec le tranchant de la lame
dirigé vers le haut.
Frazer quotes a German superstition, according
to which a knife should not be left with the sharp edge
of the blade upwards.
Voici donc les difficultés contre lesquelles
nous avons à lutter.
Here then are the difficulties against which
we have to struggle.
Ce qui, ce que
The combination forms ce qui, ce que and
ce dont are extremely frequent in French. They correspond
to what or which (literally that which).
C'est ce que font la plupart
des entreprises québécoises.
It's what most of the Quebec
companies are doing.
Contrairement à ce qu'on
entend souvent, ce n'est pas le froid qui cause la grippe.
Despite what we often hear it's
not cold that causes the 'flu.
On ne sait pas ce qu'ils font.
We don't know what they're doing.
Exercises
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