Un 11.1
One-word relative pronouns
Les pronoms relatifs 'qui' et 'que'
Relative pronouns are used to introduce more information about someone or something without the need for repetition or for another sentence. The relative pronoun takes the place of what would be the repeated instance of the someone or something. The added information is inserted into the clause it is elaborating on. The added information, along with its relative pronoun, is referred to as a relative clause, une proposition relative. The someone or something that the relative pronoun refers to is known as the antecedent, un antécédent.
e.g.
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That’s my neighbour who is very friendly. |
That’s my neighbour. My neighbour is friendly. |
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The trucks that are in front of my house are big. |
The trucks are big. The trucks are in front of my house. |
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The car that I just bought is blue. |
The car is blue. I just bought the car. |
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I didn’t understand the words that you were shouting. |
I didn’t understand the words. You were shouting the words. |
Note that the relative pronoun ‘that’ in English is sometimes optional, and that English typically uses ‘that’ to refer to most relative clause subjects that are non-animate. This is not the case in French.
The relative pronoun ‘qui’ takes the place of the subject in the relative clause. The verb in the relative clause will agree with the antecedent.
e.g.
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C’est mon voisin qui est très amical. |
C’est mon voisin. Mon voisin est très amical. |
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Les camions qui sont devant ma maison sont grands. |
Les camions sont grands. Les camions sont devant ma maison. |
The relative pronoun ‘que’ takes the place of the direct object (COD) in the relative clause. The verb in the relative clause agrees with the relative clause’s subject.
e.g.
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La voiture que je viens d’acheter est bleue. |
La voiture est bleue. Je viens d’acheter la voiture. |
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Je n’ai pas compris les mots que tu criais. |
Je n’ai pas compris les mots. Tu criais les mots. |
For tenses that involve an auxiliary and past participle, les temps composés, agreement rules need to be followed, as always. This is particularly important with subjects and direct objects (COD) that come before the past participle in a given clause. (see Unit 9 and Unit 10)
e.g.
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Mes colocataires qui sont allées au Mexique ne parlent pas espagnol. |
My roommates that went to Mexico don’t speak Spanish. |
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J’adore ces livres. La personne qui les a écrits avait beaucoup d’imagination. |
I love these books. The person that wrote them had a lot of imagination. |
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La trottinette que j’ai achetée hier est magnifique ! |
The scooter I bought yesterday is amazing. |
In informal speech, these types of agreements are sometimes skipped over, which is most noticeable for those that change the pronunciation of the past participle, but in formal contexts they are expected.
Le pronom relatif 'où'
Just like the relative pronouns ‘qui’ and ‘que’, the relative pronoun ‘où‘ is used to begin a relative clause to add more information to a sentence. For the relative pronoun ‘où‘, this added information is related to either time or place.
e.g.
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C’est l’école où j’ai étudié le français. (J’ai étudié le français à l’école) |
That’s the school where I studied French. |
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C’est le moment du film où j’ai pleuré. (J’ai pleuré au moment du film) |
That’s the moment in the film when I cried. |
The relative pronoun ‘où‘ can sometimes be preceded by a preposition while still referring to time or place.
e.g.
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C’est le village d’où je suis venu. (Je suis venu du village) |
That’s the village I came from. (..from which I came) |
Exercices
Un 11.1 - Ex. 1
Un 11.1 - Ex. 2
Un 11.1 - Ex. 3
Leçons