French Relative Pronouns: qui, que, dont, où with Examples

A relative pronoun joins a clause to a noun: l'homme qui parle, the man who is speaking. French has four, each with its own job, and unlike English it never drops them.

• l'homme qui parle - the man who is speaking
• le livre que je lis - the book I am reading
• le livre dont je parle - the book I am talking about
• la ville où j'habite - the town where I live

qui: the subject

Qui is the subject of the clause it starts, so the next word is the verb (or a pronoun in front of the verb).

• L'homme qui parle est mon père. - The man who is speaking is my father.
• J'ai un ami qui travaille ici. - I have a friend who works here.
• Le livre qui est sur la table est à moi. - The book that is on the table is mine.

The last one is a thing, not a person: qui is about the job, not the noun. And in standard French qui never shortens before a vowel: l'ami qui arrive, never qu'arrive.

With c'est moi qui, the verb agrees with moi: C'est moi qui ai raison. - I'm the one who is right.

que: the object

Que is the object of the clause it starts, so a new subject comes next.

• Le livre que je lis est facile. - The book I am reading is easy.
• L'homme que tu as vu est mon père. - The man you saw is my father.
• Le film qu'elle regarde est long. - The film she is watching is long.

Que can be a person (l'homme que tu as vu), and it becomes qu' before a vowel.

Written French sometimes puts a noun subject after the verb: le livre que lit Marie (the book Marie is reading). It is still que: Marie is the subject, so the gap is the object.

English drops that all the time: the book I read. French never does. Le livre je lis is broken; it has to be Le livre que je lis.

Agreement after que

In the passé composé with avoir, the participle agrees with a direct object placed before it, and que puts it there. The extra letters are mostly silent, so this matters in writing.

• la maison que nous avons achetée - the house we bought
• les livres que j'ai lus - the books I read

The full rule is on the passé composé page.

dont: replacing de

Dont stands in for de + a noun. If the plain sentence would need de, the relative is dont.

The last row is English whose. After dont, French keeps ordinary statement order: le film dont j'ai oublié le titre - the film whose title I forgot.

More uses of dont, and where it gives way to duquel, are on dont in depth.

où: place and time

Où is where, and also when after a time noun. English speakers miss the second use.

• Le jour où je suis arrivé, il pleuvait. - The day I arrived, it was raining.

French says le jour où, not le jour quand, which is English word order in French clothes.

Ce qui and ce que: what

When there is no noun in front, French adds ce: ce qui and ce que mean what in the middle of a sentence. The qui / que test still decides.

• Ce qui me plaît, c'est la musique. - What I like is the music.
• Ce que je veux, c'est partir. - What I want is to leave.

Before a vowel, ce que becomes ce qu': Je ne sais pas ce qu'elle veut. - I don't know what she wants.

After a preposition: qui and lequel

After avec, sur, pour and most other prepositions, French uses qui for a person and a form of lequel for a thing.

• l'homme avec qui je travaille - the man I work with
• la table sur laquelle j'ai posé mes clés - the table I put my keys on

Que and dont never follow a preposition. The full set (auquel, duquel) is on relative pronouns after a preposition.

Common mistakes English speakers make

What to do next

1. Describe three people you know with qui: J'ai une amie qui...
2. Name three things you own with que: le livre que je lis.
3. Read dont in depth when dont feels natural.