C11G2

relative pronouns

WHAT allows you to combine two ideas together into one sentence and may be omitted in english, but cannot be omitted in french?

la femme qui parle est ma tante

the woman who is speaking is my aunt

le livre que j’ai lu était drôle

the book (that) i read was funny

les prenoms relatifs

what are qui, dont, que, and où?

qui

who, that, which

dont

that, (of) which, (of) whom, whose

que

that, which

où

where/when

t

t/f: qui may also be followed by a conjugated verb that has an object pronoun in front of it

qui

WHAT may refer to people or things and is used as the subject of a dependent clause. because WHAT acts as the subject, it is always followed by a conjugated verb.

tu vois l’homme qui voyage avec son chien?

do you see the man who is traveling with his dog?

l’agente qui a enregistré mes valises est belle

the agent who checked (in) my bags is beautiful

que, qu’

WHAT also refers to people or things and is used as the direct object of a dependent clause so WHAT is always followed by a subject (not a verb). note that WHAT becomes ANOTHER WHAT if the subject begins w/ a vowel sound.

c’est l’homme qu’elle a vu à l’hôtel!

that’s the man (that) she saw at the hotel!

j’ai lu le livre que luc m’a donné

i read that book (that) luc gave me

t

t/f: note that in the passé composé, the past participle after que agrees in number and gender w/ the direct object

la clé que claire a trouvée est pour un coffre-fort

the key that claire found is for a safety deposit box

dont

WHAT replaces “de + a noun” and can refer to people or things. some expressions that contain de include parler de, avoir besoin de, avoir peur de, and se souvenir de.

voici la femme dont tu parlais

here is the woman whom you were talking about

voici les livres dont j’ai besoin

here are the books (that) i need

dont

WHAT can also be used to refer to possessions. in this case, WHAT is followed by a definite article.

voici les gens dont la maison est grande

here are the people whose house is big

j’ai recontré une femme dont le mari est agent de bord

i met a woman whose husband is a flight attendant

où

use WHAT to refer to a place or a time.

je me rappelle le moment où il m’a dit qu’il m’aimait

i remember the moment when he told me he loved me (où)

c’est une ville où il y a beaucoup de français

it’s a city where there are lots of french people