Relative pronouns in French

A relative pronoun connects a dependent clause (a part of a sentence that can’t stand alone) to a main clause. Take a look at the following sentence in English as an example:

'The man who is speaking is my uncle.'

Here, 'who is speaking' is the dependent clause, and 'who' is the relative pronoun that connects it to the main clause.

In French, as in English, we use different relative pronouns depending on the function of the noun in the sentence.

Meaning 'who' or 'which', we use qui when the relative pronoun is the subject of the dependent clause, as in the following examples:

Le garçon qui parle est mon frère. - 'The boy who is speaking is my brother.'

La personne qui gagne la course recevra la récompense. - 'The person who wins the race will get the reward.'

Like qui, que is used to mean 'which' or 'that', but in cases where the relative pronoun is the object of the dependent clause, as in the following examples:

Le repas que j'ai commandé n'est pas encore arrivé. - 'The food that I ordered hasn't arrived yet.'

As-tu vu l'e-mail que je t'ai envoyé ? - 'Did you see the email I sent you?'

Note that while we can sometimes omit the relative pronoun in English, as in this last example, you cannot do so in French.

The chief difference between qui and que is that qui is followed by a verb, while que is followed by a noun or subject pronoun.

We use the relative pronoun quoi ('what') when we are not referring to a specific object, as in the following examples:

Je ne sais pas quoi dire. - 'I'm not sure what to say.'

À quoi pensez-vous ? - 'What are you thinking about?'

Dont roughly translates as 'of which' or 'about which'. We use it when the verb or expression in the relative clause uses the preposition de. See the following examples:

Voici l’auteur dont je t’ai parlé. - 'Here is the author I told you about (about which I told you).'

Avez-vous le médicament dont j'ai besoin ? - 'Have you got the medicine I need? (of which I have need?)'

We use auquel and its variations when the verb or expression in the relative clause uses the preposition à, as in the following examples:

Connaissez-vous le film auquel je pense ? - 'Do you know the movie I'm thinking about? (about which I'm thinking?).'

C'est la fille à qui tu as offert le cadeau. - 'That's the girl you gave the present to (to whom you gave the present).'

Bear in mind that these relative pronouns must agree in gender and number with the noun they refer to.

Literally meaning 'the which', we use lequel, laquelle, lesquels, or lesquelles after a preposition, as in the following examples:

L’homme pour lequel elle travaille est très strict. - 'The man for whom she works is very strict.'

Les raisons pour lesquelles elle est partie sont valables. - 'The reasons for which she left are valid.'

Bear in mind that these relative pronouns must agree in gender and number with the noun they refer to.

We use the relative pronoun où to refer to a place or a moment in time.

C'est l'école où j'allais. - 'That's the school I used to go to.'

Le jour où nous nous sommes rencontrés... - 'The day when we met...'

For more on relative pronouns, be sure to check out Lessons 24 and 33 of The Complete French Course.