Relative pronouns refer to something previously mentioned. In French, the equivalent ofwhom/which/thatcan be que.
Learn about the French relative pronoun que
Look at these sentences using que:
La femmequejedessine.The woman whom I am drawing
Les fleursquePaulsent.The flowers which/that Paul is smelling.
Le bébé joue avec la peluchequesa mamanadore.The baby is playing with the cuddly toythat his mum loves.
Knowing when to use quiand when to use quecan be tricky for English speakers, as we often mistakenly think queonly means thator whichbut it can also mean whoor whom.
How to know when to use que (instead of qui) in French
Fortunately, there's an easy pattern to spot:
use quewhen the word that follows is (or represents) a person or thing/s, such as Cécile, je, tu, il,etc. (as opposed to quiwhen the word that follows is a verb).
In grammar jargon, queis an object pronoun - quereplaces the object of the verb.
If subjects, verbs and objects confuse you watch the cartoon video explaining them. They're easier than they sound.
Contrast this with: Qui = Who/which/that (French Relative Pronouns)
Replacing objects and people withque
Here are examples of sentences being changed so that people and objects are replaced with relative pronouns in both French and English:
Je dessine la femme -> La femme que je dessine.
I am drawing the woman -> The woman whom I am drawing.
Paul sent les fleurs -> Les fleurs que Paul sent.
Paul smells the flowers -> The flowers which/that Paul smells.
Le bébé joue avec la peluche. Sa maman adore cette peluche. -> Le bébé joue avec la peluche que sa maman adore.
The baby is playing with the cuddly toy. His mum loves this cuddly toy. -> The baby is playing with the cuddly toy that his mum loves.
Note: While the relative pronoun queis optional in English (you could say the room we rented), in French it cannot be omitted:you cannot say la chambre nous avons louée.
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Examples and resources
La femmequejedessine.The woman whom I am drawing
Je mange une pizzaquej'ai achetée en Italie.I'm eating a pizza which/that I bought in Italy.
Nous aimons la chambre d'hôtelquenousavons louée.We like the hotel room which/that we rented.
Marie a écrit une lettrequ'ellea envoyée à Paul.Marie wrote a letter which/that she sent to Paul.
Eve sort avec Cyrilqu'ellea rencontré à une fête.Eve is going out with Cyril whomshe met at a party.
Le bébé joue avec la peluchequesa mamanadore.The baby is playing with the cuddly toythat his mum loves.
Subject, verbs and objects (direct and indirect) MADE EASY!
...Lui souffle la romance,
Qu'il chantait petit enfant, oh !...Whispers to him the (romantic) song,
That he used to sing (as a) young child, oh!
Les choses que je faissont intéressantes.The things thatI doare interesting.
Mes plantes, que j'arrose tous les jours, sont très belles.My plants, which I water every day, are very beautiful.
Les fleursquePaulsent.The flowers which/that Paul is smelling.
