How to use relative pronouns in French?

Use French relative pronouns to link two sentences together that have some words in common to avoid repetition. Unlike in English, relative pronouns in French cannot be omitted. Choosing the correct relative pronoun depends on whether you’re replacing the (qui), the (que), the (dont, lequel, auquel , duquel) or an expression of time or place (où). Sometimes, you can even replace an unspecified subject or object using the demonstrative pronoun ce (ce qui, ce que, ce dont). In this post, we’ll review the differences between the relative pronouns and how to use them. Let’s take a look!

French relative pronouns are words used to replace a common element in two or more sentences to avoid repetition. Let’s start by looking at an English example:

• object

  I am reading a book.

• subject

  The book is interesting.

The word “book” is common in both examples above. Both sentences are correct, but if we want to avoid repetition and be more concise, we can combine these two sentences like this:

In the new sentence, the common element “book” appears only once, and it has been replaced by “that”: “that” is a relative pronoun in English!

In French, there are several relative pronouns: que(that, which, who), qui(that, which, who), dont(whose, of whom, which), and où(where, when). There are aso other French relative pronouns, like ce que, ce qui, ce dont, lequel, duquel, and auquel, which are used for unspecified subjects or objects or for things. Let's take a closer look at each!

Although que and qui can both be translated as "that," "which," or "who," the big difference between the relative pronouns is the part of the sentence they can replace: either the subject or object.

All of these sentences could also be combined in the reverse order: you could start with 1 and insert 2 or vice versa. Just keep in mind the role of the noun you replace with qui or que.

Using the most recent example, the noun réunion is the object of sentence 2 and therefore, you will replace it with que when you link it to sentence 1:

Use the French relative pronoun dont to say "whose," "of whom," or "of which" and to express possession when a French is used with the de.

Like “whose” in English, dont can introduce a noun which belongs to someone or something that was mentioned before. Good news, it works exactly the same in both languages!

Just like qui and que, the relative pronoun dont can also be used to link two sentences that have a noun in common in order to avoid repetition. It works a bit like que, except it is used when verbs have the preposition de. Check out our list of verbs in French followed by the preposition de! Here are a couple of examples where the de accompanying a verb becomes the relative pronoun dont:

• rêver de(to dream of)

  Je rêve d’une maison. La maison est grande.

  I dream of a house. The house is big.

  La maison dont je rêve est grande.

  The house of which I dream is big.

• avoir besoin de (to need)

  J’ai besoin d’un stylo. Le stylo est sur la table.

  I need a pen. The pen is on the table.

  Le stylo dont j’ai besoin est sur la table.

  The pen (that) I need is on the table.

The relative pronouns que, qui, and dont can also be used in combination with the demonstrative ce.

Use the relative pronouns ce, qui, and dont in combination with the French demonstrative pronoun ce to mean "the thing" or "what." These relative pronouns are used when there is no specific object or subject. Let’s see an example of each:

• Ce que is used when “what” is the object of the verb:

  object

  Ce que j’aime, c’est le bruit de la pluie.

  What I like is the sound of the rain.

• Ce qui is used when “what” is the subject of the verb:

  object

  Ce qui m'énerve dans les transports, c’est la chaleur en été.

  What annoys me in public transport is the summer heat.

• Ce dontis used when “what” is the object of a verb followed by the preposition de:

  object

  Ce dont j’ai besoin, c’est plus de temps.

  What I need is more time.

Now, let’s take a look at the French relative pronoun où!

Use the French relative pronoun où to replace places and time. When you use “where” and “when” as relative pronouns in English, you'll use où in French.

• Use où(where) as a relative pronoun to talk about places:

  Voici la ville où j’ai grandi.

  Here is the town where I grew up.

• Use où(when) as a relative pronoun to talk about times:

  C’est l'année où nous nous sommes rencontrés.

  This is the year (when) we met.

  Tip

  Although in English we often omit the relative pronoun “when” in informal speech, remember not to omit the relative pronoun in French!

  ❌ C’est l'année nous nous sommes rencontrés.

  lit. This is the year we met.

  ✅ C’est l'année où nous nous sommes rencontrés.

  This is the year when we met.

Before we wrap up, let’s review one more set of relative pronouns in French.

Lequel, duquel, and auquel are composed relative pronouns, meaning they are used — and sometimes fused with — prepositions. They only replace things and not people. They are used to replace an object preceded by one of the prepositions in the following table:

*French relative pronouns which contract with a preposition (see below):

There you have it! Let’s recap.

Let’s review the relative pronouns in French. First, some rules to remember:

• Don’t omit relative pronouns in French!

• Remember that qui and que work for both people and things.

• Learn some French verbs which need the preposition de; it will enable you to know if you need to use dont.

• Remember that you can combine the demonstrative ce with que, qui, and dont to say "what" or "the thing" about something unspecified.

To review each of the French relative pronouns, take a look at the recap table below:

That’s it for relative pronouns. Don’t forget to check out our exercises to practice French relative pronouns to put your new skills to practice!