8.2.6

Relative Pronouns

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Qui, Que, Dont

'Qui', 'que' and 'dont' are used to refer to both people and things.

Qui - who, which, that

Qui - who, which, that

  • 'Qui' is used for the subject, the person or thing doing the action.
    • Ma sœur, qui a vingt- trois ans, habite à l'étranger.
      • My sister, who is 23, lives abroad.
  • 'Qui' is also used after prepositions (à, pour or de).
    • Elle parle avec qui?
      • Who is she talking to?
    • La femme à qui il parle.
      • The women he is speaking to.
Que - who, whom, which, that

Que - who, whom, which, that

  • 'Que' is used for the object, the person or thing having the action done to them.
    • Le bus que j'ai pris.
      • The bus that I caught.
    • Les amis que je vois le moins sont Sam et Theo.
      • The friends that I see the least are Sam and Theo.
Dont - of which, about which, whose

Dont - of which, about which, whose

  • 'Dont' is used to replace 'de' when 'de' follows a verb.
    • Parler de → L'homme dont nous avons parlé.
      • To speak about → The man about which we spoke.
  • When talking about something as part of a group.
    • Elle est propriétaire de cinq maisons dont une est à l'étranger.
      • She owns five houses, of which one is abroad.
  • 'Dont' replaces 'de' when it talks about possession.
    • C'est un auteur dont j'admire l'œuvre.
      • The author whose work I admire.

Ce qui, Ce que, Ce dont, Quoi

These are called indefinite relative pronouns. They are used in relative clauses.

Ce qui - what, which

Ce qui - what, which

  • 'Ce qui' is the subject of a sentence, it takes the 'il/elle/on' form of the verb.
    • Ce qui m'intéresse, c'est la nourriture.
      • What interests me is the food.
    • Tu sais ce qui me ferait plaisir?
      • Do you know what would please me?
    • C'est ce qui fait son charme.
      • That is what is part of his charm.
Ce que, qu' - what

Ce que, qu' - what

  • 'Ce que, qu' is used as a direct object, it comes after the subject and a verb.
  • It is used when no prepositions are needed.
    • Pour faire valoir ce que de droit.
      • For all due intents and purposes.
    • Dis-moi ce que tu en penses.
      • Tell me what you think of it.
    • Il peut dire ce qu'il veut.
      • He can say what he wants.
Ce dont - which, what

Ce dont - which, what

  • 'Ce dont' is used instead of the preposition 'de'.
    • Ce dont j'ai besoin, c'est un stylo.
      • What I need is a pen.
    • Ce dont il a peur, c'est les araignées.
      • What he is scared of is spiders.
    • J'oublie tout ce dont j'ai rêvé.
      • I forget all of what I dreamed.
Quoi - which, what

Quoi - which, what

  • 'Quoi' is used instead of any preposition that isn't 'de'.
    • J'ai regardé la télé, après quoi j'ai fait mon devoir.
      • I watched the tv, after which I did my homework.
    • Son mari ferait n'importe quoi pour lui.
      • Her husband would do anything for her.
    • Ce avec quoi je suis d'accord.
      • What I agree with.
Jump to other topics
1

Home & Abroad

1.1

Town & Rural Life

1.1.1Town1.1.2What, Which, Where?1.1.3What is There in Your Region?1.1.4Places in the Town1.1.5Things To Do
1.2

Holiday, Tourism & Directions

1.2.1Countries1.2.2Holidays1.2.3Going on Holiday1.2.4Tourism1.2.5Food1.2.6Eating Out1.2.7Opinions on Food1.2.8Directions (1/2)1.2.9Directions (2/2)1.2.10Exam-Style Questions - Holidays
1.3

Customs

1.3.1Festivals & Customs1.3.2Festivals and Customs 2
1.4

Everyday Life & Traditions

1.4.1Greetings
2

Education & Employment

2.1

School Life & Routine

2.1.1Subjects (1/2)2.1.2Subjects (2/2)2.1.3School Routine2.1.4School Life2.1.5Exam-Style Questions - School Life
2.2

School Trips, Events & Exchanges

2.2.1School Trips
2.3

Future Plans & Work

2.3.1Education Post-162.3.2Jobs (1/2)2.3.3Jobs (2/2)2.3.4Job Applications2.3.5Career2.3.6Learning a Language2.3.7Charity2.3.8Exam-Style Questions - Charity Work
3

Personal Life & Relationships

3.1

House & Home

3.1.1Home3.1.2Rooms of the House3.1.3In Your House
3.2

Daily Routine & Helping at Home

3.2.1Routine3.2.2Helping at Home
3.3

Family & Friends

3.3.1Describing Yourself3.3.2Physical Appearance3.3.3Personality3.3.4Friends3.3.5Opinions on Friends3.3.6Relationships3.3.7Family3.3.8Other Family Members3.3.9Role Model3.3.10Childhood3.3.11Exam-Style Questions - Family
4

The World Around Us

4.1

Global Issues

4.1.1The Environment (1/2)4.1.2The Environment (2/2)4.1.3Exam-Style Questions - The Environment4.1.4Addressing the Issue4.1.5Poverty & Homelessness4.1.6Social Issues4.1.7Energy
4.2

Weather

4.2.1Good Weather4.2.2Bad Weather
4.3

Travel & Transport

4.3.1Transport
4.4

The Media

4.4.1Social Media4.4.2The Internet4.4.3Exam-Style Questions - Internet
4.5

Information & Tech

4.5.1Mobile Technology
5

Social Activities, Fitness & Health

5.1

Special Occasions

5.1.1Parties
5.2

Hobbies & Interests

5.2.1In Your Free-Time5.2.2Music5.2.3Cinema5.2.4TV5.2.5Sport5.2.6Why Do You Play Sport?5.2.7Sports (1/3)5.2.8Sports (2/3)5.2.9Sports (3/3)5.2.10Exam-Style Questions - Sport
5.3

Numbers

5.3.1Numbers 1-205.3.2Numbers 21-100
5.4

Shopping & Money

5.4.1Shopping For Food5.4.2Style & Fashion5.4.3Materials5.4.4Money Matters5.4.5Exam-Style Questions - Pocket Money
5.5

Illness & Health

5.5.1Healthy living5.5.2Unhealthy living5.5.3Illness (1/2)5.5.4Illness (2/2)5.5.5Aches & Pains
5.6

Food & Drink

5.6.1Fruits5.6.2Vegetables5.6.3Other Foods5.6.4Exam-Style Questions - Fruits5.6.5Meat5.6.6Fish5.6.7Drinks & Snacks
5.7

Time

5.7.1Telling the Time5.7.2Time of the Year5.7.3A Day, The Year5.7.4Expressions: The Past5.7.5Expressions: The Present5.7.6Expressions: The Future5.7.7Time Expressions
6

Common Tenses

6.1

Present Tense

6.1.1Regular ER Verbs6.1.2Regular IR Verbs6.1.3Regular RE Verbs6.1.4Reflexive Verbs6.1.5Irregular ER Verbs (1/2)6.1.6Irregular ER Verbs (2/2)6.1.7Irregular IR Verbs (1/2)6.1.8Irregular IR Verbs (2/2)6.1.9Irregular RE Verbs (1/3)6.1.10Irregular RE Verbs (2/3)6.1.11Irregular RE Verbs (3/3)6.1.12Present Participle (1/2)6.1.13Present Participle (2/2)6.1.14Irregular Present Participles6.1.15Avoir & Etre
6.2

Perfect Tense

6.2.1Avoir (1/2)6.2.2Avoir (2/2)6.2.3Irregular Past Participles (1/2)6.2.4Irregular Past Participles (2/2)6.2.5Être ER Verbs6.2.6Être IR & RE Verbs6.2.7Irregular Être6.2.8Perfect Infinitive
6.3

Imperfect tense

6.3.1Regular ER Verbs6.3.2Regular IR Verbs6.3.3Regular RE Verbs6.3.4Irregular ER Verbs6.3.5Irregular IR Verbs6.3.6Irregular RE Verbs6.3.7Être
6.4

Imperfect vs Perfect

6.4.1Which One to Use?
6.5

Future Tense

6.5.1Regular ER Verbs6.5.2Regular IR Verbs6.5.3Regular RE Verbs6.5.4Immediate future6.5.5Irregulars (1/2)6.5.6Irregulars (2/2)
7

Advanced Tenses

7.1

Conditional Tense

7.1.1Regular ER Verbs7.1.2Regular IR Verbs7.1.3Regular IR Verbs7.1.4Irregulars (1/2)7.1.5Irregulars (2/2)
7.2

Pluperfect Tense

7.2.1Avoir (1/2)7.2.2Avoir (2/2)7.2.3Être ER7.2.4Être IR & RE7.2.5Irregular Être
7.3

Present Subjunctive

7.3.1Regular Verbs (1/2)7.3.2Regular Verbs (2/2)7.3.3Irregulars (1/2)7.3.4Irregulars (2/2)7.3.5Using the Subjunctive7.3.6Imperative
8

Extra Grammar

8.1

The Passive Voice

8.1.1Être (1/6)8.1.2Être (2/6)8.1.3Être (3/6)8.1.4Être (4/6)8.1.5Être (5/6)8.1.6Être (6/6)8.1.7Avoiding the Passive
8.2

Pronouns

8.2.1Personal Pronouns (1/2)8.2.2Personal Pronouns (2/2)8.2.3Reflexive Pronouns8.2.4Indefinite Pronouns8.2.5Emphatic Pronouns8.2.6Relative Pronouns8.2.7Ça, Cela, Celui8.2.8Demonstrative Pronouns8.2.9Possessive Pronouns
8.3

Asking Questions

8.3.1Question Words (1/2)8.3.2Question Words (2/2)
8.4

Nouns

8.4.1The, A8.4.2Some8.4.3Masculine8.4.4Feminine (1/2)8.4.5Feminine (2/2)8.4.6Plurals8.4.7Irregular Plurals
8.5

Prepositions

8.5.1Prepositions (1/3)8.5.2Prepositions (2/3)8.5.3Prepositions (3/3)8.5.4Phrases
8.6

Adverbs

8.6.1Forming an Adverb8.6.2Good, Badly, Fast
8.7

Quantifiers & Intensifiers

8.7.1A Lot, Enough, Very
8.8

Adjectives

8.8.1Agreement (1/3)8.8.2Agreement (2/3)8.8.3Agreement (3/3)8.8.4Position (1/2)8.8.5Position (2/2)8.8.6Comparative8.8.7Superlative8.8.8Good, Better, Best8.8.9Demonstrative8.8.10Indefinite
8.9

Negative

8.9.1Negatives (1/2)8.9.2Negatives (2/2)
8.10

Conjunctions

8.10.1To Make Sentences Longer8.10.2To Add Extra Information
8.11

Miscellaneous

8.11.1Abbreviations

Practice questions on Relative Pronouns

Can you answer these? Test yourself with free interactive practice on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.

  1. 1
    Which of these are NOT the meaning of 'dont'?Multiple choice
  2. 2
    'Le film, ____ j'ai vu hier, était amusant': what is the correct missing pronoun?Multiple choice
  3. 3
    Which is the correct version of this sentence?Multiple choice
  4. 4
    Which is the correct version of this sentence?Multiple choice
  5. 5
    Lucie explique à son frère ce qu'elle attend de son nouveau projet. <br><br>Quelle phrase utilise correctement 'ce que' ?Multiple choice
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Emphatic Pronouns

Ça, Cela, Celui