Avec qui, la ville où: people and places

People: qui after a preposition

For a person, French normally uses qui after a preposition. It does not agree and it does not fuse.

Lequel is also correct for people, just more formal: l'homme avec lequel je travaille reads as written French.

After parmi (among) and entre (between), French uses lesquels or lesquelles, even for people (parmi qui is not used, and entre qui is rare):

• les étudiants parmi lesquels je travaille - the students I work among
• les deux amis entre lesquels j'étais assis - the two friends I was sitting between

Place and time: où

Before you reach for dans lequel, ask whether the clause is about a place or a time. If it is, où is the natural choice.

For a point in time, où is the normal choice, and English speakers keep trying quand:

• le jour où je suis arrivé - the day I arrived (never le jour quand)
• le moment où tout a changé - the moment everything changed

For a stretch of time, pendant lequel also works: les vacances pendant lesquelles il a plu - the holidays during which it rained.

Où cannot replace lequel when the preposition is not about place or time: la raison pour laquelle and le livre avec lequel have no où version.

Mistakes English speakers make