Clauses within a sentence which modify noun phrases or pronouns are known as ‘relative clauses’. The noun phrases/pronouns in italics in the following examples are modified by relative clauses in bold:
Relative clauses are introduced by relative pronouns such as qui, que, dont, où, sur lesquels, . . . To choose the right relative pronoun you need to know the implied grammatical role played by the ‘head’ noun phrase/pronoun (those in italics above) in the relative clause.
In La clef qu’il a utilisée pour ouvrir la porte est un vieux double the noun phrase la clef is understood as the object of utiliser in the relative clause: il a utilisé la clef pour ouvrir la porte. This determines the choice of que as the linking relative pronoun. In C’est lui qui me l’a donné the pronoun lui is understood as the subject of donner in the relative clause: il me l’a donné. This determines the choice of qui as the linking relative pronoun.
Noun phrases/pronouns have a range of implied grammatical roles in the relative clause, each requiring a different form of relative pronoun:
qui is the relative pronoun used when the noun phrase or pronoun heading a relative clause is the implied subject of that relative clause, whether animate or inanimate:
NB: voilà and voici may also head subject relative clauses:
With perception verbs like voir, regarder, entendre, apercevoir, etc., a construction involving relative qui can translate an English present participle construction:
Sometimes relative qui may be used alone with the same meaning as celui qui/que, celle qui/ que, ceux qui/que, celles qui/que. Such constructions are known as ‘free’ relative clauses (see also 15.9):
que is the relative pronoun used when the noun phrase or pronoun heading the relative clause is the implied direct object of the relative clause, whether animate or inanimate:
Unlike English, the relative pronoun in French may never be omitted:
NB: The past participle agrees with feminine and plural noun phrases or pro nouns which head object relative clauses, as in:
This is because la tarte is an instance of a preceding direct object, and past participles agree with preceding direct objects (see Chapter 9.3.4).
When the noun phrase or pronoun heading a relative clause is the implied object of a preposition in that relative clause, and is furthermore animate, the normal relative pronoun to use is qui (except when the preposition is de – see 15.6 below):
| à | Le touriste à qui j'ai parlé vient du Québec (j'ai parlé au touriste) |
| The tourist I spoke to comes from Quebec | |
| en | C'est un commerçant en qui on peut avoir confiance (on peut avoir confiance en ce commerçant) |
| He's a shopkeeper in whom one can have confidence | |
| sur | L'intermédiaire sur qui on comptait s'est avéré malhonnête (on comptait sur l'intermédiaire) |
| The go-between we were counting on turned out to be dishonest | |
| par | Je recommanderais le garagiste par qui j'ai eu cette voiture (j'ai eu cette voiture par le garagiste) |
| I would recommend the garage I got this car from | |
| avec | Il n'a jamais revu le camarade avec qui il jouait quand ils étaient petits (il jouait avec ce camarade) |
| He has never again seen the friend he used to play with when they were little | |
| pour | Elle a invité son professeur, pour qui elle a beaucoup de respect, à dîner (elle a beaucoup de respect pour son professeur) |
| She has invited her teacher, for whom she has a great deal of respect, to dinner | |
| près de | Le jeune homme près de qui il est assis le reconnaît (il est assis près du jeune homme) |
| The young man next to whom he's sitting recognizes him |
NB: When objects of the prepositions parmi and entre are animate, the normal relative pronoun to use is lesquels or lesquelles (see 15.5), and not qui:
When the noun phrase or pronoun heading a relative clause is the implied object of a preposition, and is inanimate, the normal relative pronoun to use is one of the forms of lequel (except in the case of de: see 15.6).
Lequel has the following forms:
| Singular | Plural | |
| Masculine | lequel | lesquels |
| Feminine | laquelle | lesquelles |
Furthermore, the le-, la- etc. components combine with a preceding à or de to form:
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| Masculine | auquel | auxquels | duquel | desquels |
| Feminine | à laquelle | auxquelles | de laquelle | desquelles |
| à | Le texte auquel il a fait référence . . . |
| The text he referred to . . . | |
| La conférence à laquelle je vais participer . . . | |
| The conference in which I shall be taking part . . . | |
| dans | Cela illustre les contradictions dans lesquelles s'enferme la Grande- Bretagne |
| That illustrates the contradictions within which Great Britain is locked | |
| autour | Elle habite une maison autour de laquelle il y a une haie de lauriers |
| She lives in a house around which there is a laurel hedge | |
| durant | Des weekends interminables, durant lesquels je ne savais quoi faire |
| Interminable weekends during which I didn't know what to do |
NB: English ‘The reason why . . .’ is translated in French by La raison pour la quelle . . . and NOT *La raison pourquoi .. . .
The prepositions parmi and entre are followed by lesquels/lesquelles whether the implied object is animate or inanimate:
The use of lequel as a relative pronoun where the head of the relative clause is an implied subject or object is literary and extremely rare (it is also used in French legal texts). It is usually said that lequel is used in this way either to avoid ambiguity, or to avoid the repetition of qui:
laquelle is used here to make it clear that the person who had studied in Austria is the sœur, rather than the collègue – laquelle can only refer to sœur, whereas qui could refer to either sœur or collègue.
When the noun phrase or pronoun heading a relative clause is the implied object of de in that relative clause, dont is the normal relative pronoun to use, whether the object of the preposition is animate or inanimate:
The de phrase which is turned into dont may itself be the complement of another noun phrase:
When the de phrase which turns into dont is the complement of an object, dont is separated from the object, unlike in English:
NB: dont can be used to translate English ‘including’ and ‘of which’ in sentences like:
Where a de phrase is itself the complement of a prepositional phrase – as in il s’intéresse à la vie de cet écrivain – dont may not be used. Nor may dont be used after a complex preposition which ends in de such as à l’intérieur de, au bout de, auprès de, autour de, à côté de, en face de, en dehors de, au delà de, en dépit de, près de. Instead either de qui (for animates) or duquel, etc. (for both animates and inanimates) must be used. Speakers have a strong preference for using duquel etc.:
NB: duquel, etc. agrees with the head of the relative clause in gender and num ber: une voiture sur le capot de laquelle (de laquelle agrees with voiture and not capot), un blazer dans la poche duquel (duquel agrees with blazer and not poche).
où is used as a relative pronoun where the noun phrase or pronoun heading a relative clause is understood to be a place adverb in that relative clause:
Since many prepositional phrases describing a place also function as place adverbs (see Chapter 5.6.16) relative clauses involving où may be interchange able with relative clauses involving a preposition plus a form of lequel:
However, où is by far the more frequent in modern French.
où may itself be preceded by prepositions like de, par:
où is also used where the noun phrase or pronoun heading a relative clause is an implied time adverbial in that relative clause, and is definite. This use is usually translated in English by ‘when’:
Similar expressions are:
| le jour où . . . | the day when . . . |
| à l'heure où . . . | at the time (of day) when . . . |
| au temps où . . . | in the days when . . . |
| à la saison où . . . | during the season when . . . |
This use of où with definite noun phrases contrasts with the case where the head noun phrase or pronoun is indefinite. Here que is used:
In modern spoken French, que is often also used where the head is definite (rather than où):
NB: Although English uses ‘when’ in constructions like these, quand cannot be used in French:
quoi is found as a relative pronoun mainly in written French. Where the head of the relative clause is rien, quelque chose, ce or a clause, and is understood as the object of a preposition in the relative clause, quoi is used:
de quoi followed by an infinitive means ‘something’:
Ordinary relative clauses are headed by noun phrases or pronouns present in the main clause:
In ‘free’ relative clauses the head is non- specific:
When the non- specific head is understood to be animate, celui qui/que, celle qui/que, etc., are the appropriate relative pronouns, as in the above examples. When the non- specific head is understood to be inanimate, ce qui and ce que are used: ce qui where the non-specific head is understood as the subject of the relative clause; ce que where the non-specific head is under stood as the object:
Both ce qui and ce que may be preceded by tout ‘all’:
NB: ce is obligatory in these cases: NOT *. . . tout qu’ était à sa portée; NOT *. . . tout que cela a produit.
Where the non- specific head is inanimate and is understood as the object of a preposition in the relative clause, ce + preposition + quoi is used:
When ‘what’ or ‘which’ are understood as the object of de, ce dont is used:
Compare the following:
In the first sentence the relative clause qui étaient dans l’amphithéâtre modifies the noun phrase les deux ordinateurs. In the second sentence there is a ‘free relative’ where the head is non- specific. In the third sentence the relative clause modifies the whole pr eceding clause: on a volé les deux ordinateurs.
ce qui, ce que, ce dont, ce à quoi, etc. are used not only to introduce free relatives, but also to introduce relative clauses which modify preceding clauses:
NB: Where a relative clause modifies an event, qui and que alone cannot be used:
Where the verb is indirectly transitive and ends in de, two constructions may be possible: one using ce dont and one using de ce que. ce dont is used when the head word is present, de ce que is used when there is no head word. ce dont is normally rendered into English in these constructions by ‘which’; de ce que is normally rendered by ‘what’ or ‘that’. This concerns verbs such as: féliciter qn de qc, excuser qn de qc, s’inquiéter de qc, s’irriter de qc, profiter de qc, souf-frir de qc, and adjectival constructions such as être reconnaissant de qc, être stupéfait de qc.
‘whoever’, understood as the subject of a relative clause, is quiconque, and the verb in the relative clause is in the indicative:
‘whoever’, understood as the direct object of a relative clause, is qui que, and the verb in the relative clause is in the subjunctive:
NB: quel que may also mean ‘whoever’ when used with être:
‘whatever’, understood as the subject of a relative clause, is quoi qui. When it is understood as the object it is quoi que. In both cases the verb in the relative clause is in the subjunctive:
NB: quoi que, meaning ‘whatever’, should be distinguished from the conjunction quoique ‘although’, which is written as a single word.
‘whatever X’ understood as the subject of a relative clause is translated as in the following examples:
| Quel que soit le prix, je l'achèterai | Whatever the price may be, I'll buy it |
| Quelles que soient ses intentions, méfie-toi | Whatever his intentions are, don't trust him |
Note that quel and que are separate words, and that quel agrees with the noun which is the subject of the relative clause.
‘whatever X’, ‘whichever X’ understood as the object of a relative clause is quelque(s), and the verb in the relative clause is in the subjunctive:
One way of distinguishing between the ‘quelque + noun’ construction and the ‘quel que + être + noun’ construction is to see if the verb in the relative clause can be omitted in English. If it can, use quel que, if it cannot use quelque(s):
| Quel que soit le prix, je l'achèterai | Whatever the price (may be), I'll buy it |
| Quelque livre que vous choisissiez, vous | Whatever book you ('choose' cannot be omitted), |
| bùnùficierez d'un rabais | we will give you a discount |
NB: être can never be omitted from the quel que constructions in French, even though ‘be’ can be omitted in English.
‘wherever’ is où que, with the verb in the relative clause in the subjunctive:
’whenever’ is toutes les fois que, à chaque fois que, or simply quand, with the verb in the indicative:
| quelque | + adjective | + verb in the subjunctive |
| si | ||
| aussi | ||
| pour | ||
| tout | + adjective | + verb in the indicative |
NB: the verb and subject may be inverted after si and aussi as an alternative to the que construction, providing that the subject is a pronoun:
The verb in relative clauses usually takes the indicative form, but there are some kinds of relative clause where the verb is in the subjunctive.
qui que, quoi qui, quoi que, quel que, quelque, où que and si/aussi/pour are followed by a verb in the subjunctive (see 15.10 and also Chapter 11.1.12):
NB: quiconque ‘whoever’ is followed by verbs in the indicative:
Relative clauses which modify indefinite noun phrases and express a hypothetical, rather than real, state of affairs, usually have a verb in the subjunctive (see Chapter 11.1.12):
The subjunctive here suggests that she has no particular house in mind – her hypothetically ideal house would be one with a swimming pool. By contrast, a sentence like:
suggests that she knows of a particular house with a swimming pool which she would like to buy.
Where a relative clause modifies noun phrases involving le premier, le dernier, le seul or a superlative, which can be interpreted as ‘the first ever’, ‘the last one ever’, ‘the only one ever’, etc., then the verb in the relative clause is in the subjunctive (see Chapter 11.1.8):
Where the verb in the relative clause is in the indicative, however, the modified noun phrase is interpreted as just one of a set (‘the first (of a set)’, ‘the last (of a set)’, ‘the biggest (of a set)’, etc.):
When relative clauses modify indefinite noun phrases or pronouns in si clauses or in questions, or modify noun phrases in negative clauses or clauses which themselves have subjunctive verbs, the verb in the relative clause is usually in the subjunctive:
TABLE 15.A Summary of major relative clause types
| Head of of clause | Function in clause | Pronoun | Example | See section |
| l'homme | subject (± animate) | qui | l'homme qui conduit | 15.2 |
| l'autobus | direct object (± animate) | que | l'autobus que je conduis | 15.3 |
| une maladie | object of de (± animate) | dont | une maladie dont il est mort | 15.6.1 |
| une maison | same | dont | une maison dont la porte est fermée | 15.6.1 |
| une maison | same | dont | une maison dont on ferme la porte | 15.6.1 |
| le touriste | object (+ animate) of a preposition | à qui | le touriste à qui j'ai parlé | 15.4 |
| le texte | object (– animate) of a preposition | auquel | le texte auquel il fait référence | 15.5 |
| un écrivain | object (+ animate) of a preposition in a prepositional phrase | à la vie duquel | un écrivain à la vie duquel il s'intéresse | 15.6.2 |
| un blazer | object (– animate) of a preposition in a prepositional phrase | dans la poche duquel | un blazer dans la poche duquel il y a une lettre | 15.6.2 |
| la ville | place adverb | où | la ville où je vis | 15.7.1 |
| le jour | time adverb (definite) | où | le jour où elle est partie | 15.7.2 |
| un jour | time adverb (indefinite) | que | un jour que je sortais | 15.7.2 |
| rien, ce, quelque chose, clause | object of a preposition | sur quoi | rien, ce, quelque chose sur quoi on peut compter | 15.8 |
| non- specific head | subject or object (+ animate) | celui qui/que | j'ai vu celui qui est sorti | 15.9 |
| non- specific head | subject (– animate) | ce qui | je ferai ce qui me plaî;t | 15.9 |
| non- specific head | object (– animate) | ce que | je crois ce qu'elle dit | 15.9 |
| non- specific head | object of a preposition | ce preposition quoi | il se moque de ce en quoi j'ai confiance | 15.9 |