Lesson 3 - Grammar 3 - Relative pronouns (Pronoms relatifs)
A clause is defined as any subject and verb tied. Subjects and verbs are ‘tied’ in French by verb endings. For example in the utterance ‘nous vous voyons’ (we see you), ‘nous’ and ‘voyons’ are tied by the ‘–ons’ ending. The form ‘vous’ is involved in the clause, to be sure, but not by verb-inflection.
Two clauses in French may be joined by relative pronouns. We are going to divide the study of the relative pronouns in four steps. In this grammar point, we will only consider Steps 1 and 2.
Step 1 - qui, que
The forms qui (who, which) and que (whom, which, that) may be preceded by:
a. a noun or pronoun
b. ce
- ‘qui’ is always
subject of the relative clause:
Examples/ Exemples: |
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J'ai une personne qui fera votre affaire. |
Le livre qui est sur la table est à moi. |
C'est le sien qui est déchiré. |
- ‘que’ is always
object of the relative clause:
Examples/ Exemples: |
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C'est un pays que j'aime beaucoup. |
Voulez-vous m'indiquer la somme d'argent que vous avez sur vous? |
C'est celle que je préfère. |
Step 2 - ce qui, ce que
When ‘qui’ and ‘que’ refer to some undetermined noun or pronoun, they must be preceded by ‘ce’ and can then be translated by 'what'.
Examples/ Exemples: |
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Savez-vous ce qu'il veut? |
Avez-vous vu ce qui est inscrit? |
Notice that in English the relative pronoun is often omitted, but must be used in French.