Relative Pronouns

-To join 2 sentences together, or relate two things to each other, relative pronouns are used.

Qui - that Que – that Dont – of what Où – when Lequel(m) / laquelle(f)/ lesquels(m.p)/ lesquelles(f.p) – which

Examples :

J’ai un ami qui te connaît. I have a friend that knows you.

-Qui relates to the subject (Who knows you? My friend)

Je sais qu’il ment. I know that he is lying.

-Que relates two ideas (Who knows he’s lying? I know)

La voiture que je t’ai donnée The car that I gave you.

-Que can also relate to the subject

-Notice that donnée is feminine, since ‘voiture’ is a feminine noun.

Que Dieu vous bénisse May god bless you

-It is also used every time in the subjunctive.

Ils connaissent l’histoire dont tu parles. They don’t know what you are talking about.

• ‘Ils connaissent l’histoire que tu parles de’ is incorrect since you can’t end a sentence with a preposition.

  -Dont is used to combine the preposition ‘de’ with a verb, and join the two sentences.

J’allais à la plage où je m’amusais beaucoup. I used to go the beach where I used to have a lot of fun.

-Où is used to relate to places and time

La maison dans laquelle elle habite est très chère. The house in which she lives in is very expensive.

• Laquelle refers to the subject and can be translated as “which” in English.

BONUS:

If the subject involves que, qui, or dont, and it isn’t known, “ce que” , “ce qui”, and “ce dont” can be used.

Tu vois ce qu’il voit? Do you see what he’s seeing?

à + lequel - auquel à + laquelle - à laquelle (remains the same) à + lesquels - auxquels à + lesquelles - auxquelles de + lequel - duquel de + laquelle - de laquelle (remains the same) de + lesquels - desquels de + lesquelles – desquelles

-These work like ‘lequel’ but with the prepositions ‘à’ and ‘de’ instead.

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