Pronomsrelatifssimple
Relative pronouns
Replaces a noun or pronoun, which is called the “antecedent”;
They have simple forms (qui, que, quoi, dont, où) and complex (lequel, laquelle,...).
Pronoun qui (which; who; that who)
- acts as the subject;
- may have as an antecedent
° noun:
C'est une fable qui lui plaît. It's a fable that he likes.
Voila mon chat qui se promène sur le toit. Here is my cat walking on the roof.
Regarde la maison qui Est sur ta gauche. Look at the house that is to your left.
° demonstrative or indefinite pronoun ( ceceluiquelquechose, rien,…):
Ce qui m'intéresse ne te semble pas intéressant. What interests me does not seem interesting to you.
Je le dirai à celui qui viendra. I'll tell whoever comes about this.
Il n'y voit rien qui vaille. He doesn't see anything worthwhile in it.
The antecedent, as a rule, is not expressed in proverbs and sayings:
Qui langue a à Rome va. Language will take you to Kyiv.
Qui bien commence, bien advance. A good start is half the battle.
Preposition + qui
Qui with preposition
- replaces only the name of the person;
- acts as an indirect complement:
Tu connais la jeune fille de qui je parle? Do you know the girl I'm talking about?
L'homme à qui il fallait s'adresser était absent. The person to whom one should have addressed was absent.
(which, which)
- replaces the name of a person or thing;
- has as an antecedent a noun or pronoun (demonstrative or indefinite):
Le role que je vais jouer lui déplaît. He doesn't like the role I'm going to play.
Voila sa photo que j'аi trouvée dans l'album. Here is a photograph of him that I found in the album. Ce que tu dis est drôle. What you say is funny.
Il a trouvé quelqu’un qu‘on pourrait interroger sur cette affaire. He found someone to ask about this matter.
- Que has two functions
° direct object (main function):
L'employé que vous cherchez est pris. The employee you are looking for is busy.
La rue que nous traversons n'est pas large. The street we are crossing is not wide.
° nominal part of the predicate:
Il n’est plus l’homme qu‘il a été encore hier. He is no longer the same person he was yesterday.
- has the shape qu‘ before a vowel or h mute.
✓ Quoi (what)
- replaces the name of an object or an entire sentence;
- used with prepositions as an indirect object;
- has pronouns as antecedent se, quelque chose, rien:
Je vais te dire ce à quoi je pense. I'll tell you now what I'm thinking about.
C'est ce de quoi on ne peut pas se passer. This is something you can't do without.
Il ne fait rien de quoi Il puisse avoir honte. He doesn't do anything that makes him feel ashamed.
- may have no antecedent:
Jean donne quelques coups de telephone, après quoi il sort. Jean makes several calls and then leaves.
(which)
- replaces the name of a person or thing;
- acts as an indirect object or definition with a preposition de;
Dont = de qui, de quoi, duquel, de laquelle, desquels, desquelles
- used as a supplement
° to verbs requiring the preposition de:
parler profiter avoir envie
couvrir avoir besoin avoir peur…
On m'a apporte le manuel dont j' avais besoin. They brought me the textbook I needed.
Chante la chanson dont tu m'as parlé. Sing the song you told me about!
° to adjectives:
Content ravi sûr
heureux fier responsable…
C'est le boulot dont il est responsable. This is the job for which he is responsible.
L'article dont tu es mécontent n'est pas si mauvais. The article you're unhappy with isn't that bad.
° to words with quantitative meaning (adverbs, numerals, pronouns):
beaucoup de trois plusieurs
peu de quelques-uns
Voici les problèmes dont tu as résolu plusieurs, (plusieurs de ces problèmes) Here are the problems, many of which you have solved.
Tu parles des films dont j'ai vu deux, (deux de ces films) You are talking about films, two of which I have seen.
° acts as a modifier for a noun:
C'est l'histoire dont j'ai oublié la fin. This is a story whose end I forgot.
Veux-tu m'expliker l'expression dont je ne comprends pas le sens? Explain to me an expression whose meaning I do not understand.
After dont direct word order:
dont + subject + predicate + direct object
Compare:
C'est l'article dont j'ai lu le d ébut .This is the article, the beginning which I read
Dont not used
If the relative pronoun acts as a modifier of a noun with a preposition:
C'est le savant de la dernière découverte dequi on parle beaucoup. This is a scientist about the latter
the opening of which is much talked about.
Voici les mots au sens desquels vous allez réfléchir. Here are the words whose meaning you will think about.
After prepositions:
parmi devant en face de
Je m'approche du logis en face duquel il y a un kiosque. I approach a house opposite which there is a kiosk.
Où
Où (when, where) replaces a noun in a function
Temporary circumstance (after words with a temporary meaning):
Je me rappelle bien le jour où tu es revenu de Suisse. I remember well the day you returned from Switzerland.
C'est l'heure où Les enfants se couchent. This is the hour when children go to bed.
Circumstances of the place (sometimes with prepositions de And par):
Le bureau où elle travaille est vaste. The office in which she works is spacious.
C'était la ville d'où venait mon père. This was the city where my father was from.
Relative pronouns- these are pronouns that attach a subordinate clause, moreover, one that characterizes a certain object or object mentioned in the main clause.
I post here summary table of relative pronouns in French language, however, I don’t think that it is possible to begin studying these pronouns. Rather, on the contrary, it is needed to generalize knowledge.
You should not try to learn all the relative pronouns and all the nuances at once if you are not yet familiar with them. This is usually done gradually. However, sooner or later there comes a time when all knowledge should be combined into a single system. This article and table will help you with this.
What are relative pronouns?
In Russian, the main relative pronoun is which.
For example:
He lived in a house with windows whom went out onto the road.
Here the subordinate clause “... whose windows overlooked the road” characterizes the object we are talking about - a house.
A subordinate clause that characterizes a subject or object is called relative clause.
In Russian, the pronoun is mainly used to attach relative clauses which. In a sentence, this pronoun changes according to gender, number and case, for example:
He lived in a house with windows whom went out onto the road. (windows of what? at home)
He lived in a house which to him left as a legacy parents. (left what? house)
He lived in a house which was already quite old. (here “which” is the subject).
In French There are no cases, so for different parts of the sentence - subject, object without preposition, object with preposition - different relative pronouns are used, sometimes in combination with prepositions.
Therefore, it is obvious that in order to correctly choose relative pronouns, you first need to know well.
If a relative pronoun replaces the subject, then in French the pronoun is used qui.
He sees children which playing on the street.
Il voit des enfants qui jouent dans la rue. (qui - subject)
If we replace addition without preposition, pronoun is used que.
He sees children which he knows.
Il voit les enfants qu 'il connaît. (que is an addition without a preposition: il connnaît les enfants).
If we replace addition with preposition, the choice of relative pronoun depends on the preposition.
In addition, when replacing such add-ons important, animated is it, that is, are we talking about a person, or about the subject ( inanimate).
Is it true, In French, animate objects can be replaced in the same way as inanimate ones.. But in practice, you can find both options, so let’s consider them.
For the animate:
when replacing we use the construction “ preposition + qui»
He sees children with whom he played yesterday.
Il voit les enfants avec qui il a joué hier. (il a joué avec les enfants)
For the inanimate:
When replacing, the construction “ preposition + a relative pronoun that we choose depending on the gender and number of the noun we are replacing.”
| husband. genus | wives genus | |
| level |
laquelle |
|
| pl. h. | lesquels | lesquelles |
He bought books without which can't work.
Il a achete des livres sans lesquels il ne peut pas travailler. (il ne peut pas travailler sans les livres)
M. r. pl. h.
He bought things without which can't work.
Il a achete les choses sans lesquelles il ne peut pas travailler. (il ne peut pas travailler sans ces choses)
wives r. pl. h.
If we replace addition with the preposition à, then everything happens the same way as with other prepositions. However, relative pronouns for inanimate ones merge with the preposition à, . The following forms are used:
| husband. genus | wives genus | |
| auquel |
à laquelle |
|
| pl. h. | auxquels | auxquelles |
For example:
C'est mon ami à qui j'ai raconté cette histoire. (raconter à qn)
C'est le probleme auquel je pense. (penser à qch)
When replacing additions with the preposition de relative pronoun is used dont for animate and inanimate.
Voici le livre dont
Here's the book about which I told you.
Voici la personne dont je vous ai parlé. (parler de…)
Here's a man about which I told vakm.
However in some cases it is impossible to use a pronoun dont.
Firstly, when the preposition de included in a compound preposition, for example: le long de, au milieu de, près de, à côté de…
In this case, for the animate we use the design de + qui, and for inanimate the following forms:
| husband. genus | wives genus | |
| duquel |
de laquelle |
|
| pl. h. | desquels | desquelles |
For example:
Qui est cette femme pres de qui tu es assis?
Regarde cette maison pres de laquelle il y a un jardin!
The second case when it is impossible to use a pronoun dont- This when the object depends on a noun that is already used with a preposition.
For example, if we want to connect the following phrases:
He thinks about the problem. Scientists are working to solve this problem
it turns out like this:
He thinks about the problem and comes up with a solution. which scientists are working.
That is, the complement (problems), which we replaced with a relative pronoun which, refers to the word “decision”, which is used with the preposition “over”. In this case, you cannot change the object to the pronoun dont.
Il pense au problem à la solution duquel travaillent les scientifiques.
This is some basic information about relative pronouns.
Pronouns in French replace the subject, that is, the noun in a sentence. In our speech we cannot do without pronouns; if we do not use them in conversation, we often end up with a tautology.
There are several types of pronouns in French: lespronoms, and each of these types plays its own role, and therefore is very important for language and speech. Our task is to discuss each type of French pronouns.
Personal pronouns
Personal pronounsLes pronoms personnels atones. Personal pronouns are verbs and are divided into two categories:
Pronouns – subject: Je- I , tu – You , il – He , elle – she , nous We , vous You , ils – They (m.r.),elles – they (female)
- Je veuxvoirmonami. - I want to see my friend.
- Tu es très fatigué. - YouVerytired.
- Nous sommes heureux de vous voir. - Wehappyyousee.
Pronouns – direct objects: Me – me , te – you , le – his , la – her , nous us , vous you , les – their .
- Je te- IyouI see.
- Jean nous a accompagne jusqu’à la porte. – Jeanspentustodoors.
- Je les aime beaucoup. - ItheirVeryI love.
Independent stressed pronouns
Les pronoms personnels toniques. Such pronouns highlight the subject, direct or indirect object expressed by a noun or a verb unstressed pronoun.
Moi- I, toi- You, lui- He, elle- she, nous- We, vous- You, eux– they (m.r.), elles– they (female)
- Je pars pour Paris et toi tu restes ici. - II'm leavingVParis, AYoustayHere.
- Pierre, lui, nous rejoindra plus tard. – Pierresamewill joinTouslater.
- On leur donne ce livre, à eux. - Thisbookgivethem.
Possessive pronouns
Les pronoms possessifs. Possessive pronouns indicate that an object belongs to someone. These pronouns are divided into two types:
Possessive pronouns: Mon – my , ma - my , ton – your , ta – yours , son - his , sa – her , notre - our , votre - your , leurs – their .
- Mon cahier est propre. - Mynotebookclean.
- Donnez-moi votre- Giveto meyouraddress.
- Leurs amis sont très aimables. - TheirFriendsVerykindly.
Absolute possessive pronouns: Le mien – my , la mienne – my , le tien – your , la tienne – yours , le sien – his , la sienne – her , le nô tre – our , la nô tre – our , le vô tre – your , la vô tre – yours , le leur – their , la leur – them (f.r.). (In plural ending is added – s).
Absolute pronouns help give concise and comprehensive answers. For example:
- Où est votre jupe? La mienne Est dans la garderobe. - Whereyoursskirt? Mine is in the wardrobe.
- A qui est ce cahier? C'estle no tre . - Whose notebook is this? This is ours.
- C'est ton stylo. Le sien est sur la table. - Thisyourspen. It's on the table.
Demonstrative pronouns
Les pronoms démonstratifs. These pronouns are used without nouns.
Simple demonstrative pronouns: celui – That , celle – that , ce- That , ceux – those , cells - those (female)
- Regardez ces livres et choisissez celui Qui vous plaira. Check out these books and choose the one you like.
Complex demonstrative pronouns: celui-ci – the one here / celui-là – the one there , celle-ci – she's here , celle-là – there , ceci – then here , cela – then there , ç a – This , ceux-ci – those here , ceux-là – those there , cells-ci – those here , cells-là – those there
- Quelle robe préférez-vous? Celle-ci ou celle-la? - WhichdressYouprefer? This or that?
Interrogative pronouns
Les pronoms interrogatifs. Interrogative pronouns help ask questions about the ownership of an object.
Simple interrogative pronouns: Qui – who, which , que – what, which , quoi – What, quiest-cequi – Who , quiest-ceque – What , qu'est-cequi – What , qu'est-ceque- What
- Qui entre? - Who enters?
- Qu'est-ce qui t'empê che de parler avec lui? - WhatyouinterferestalkWithhim?
Complex interrogative pronouns: Level – which , laquelle – which , lesquels – which , lesquelles – which
- Lequel de ces stylos est à vous? – Whichfromthesepensyours?
Relative pronouns
Les pronoms relatifs. Relative pronouns connect two simple sentences, one of which is main, and the second is dependent, as part of a complex.
Relative pronouns Simple relative pronouns: Qui – who, which , que – what, which , quoi – What , dont – which , où – where, where
- Le livre dont on parle n'est pas si intéressant. – The book they are talking about is not that interesting.
- Le personnage principal qui réfléchit beaucoup, est mon caractère préféré.- Main character, who thinks a lot, is my favorite character.
Complex relative pronouns (with prepositions à, avec, sur, sans, pour, contre, vers): Level – which , laquelle – which , lesquels – which , lesquelles – which
- La maison vers laquelle nous nous dirigeons, est très belle. - House, Toto whomWeheading, VeryBeautiful.
Indefinite pronouns
There are a lot of indefinite pronouns in the French language.
Here they are: Quelqu'un- someone, quelqu'une- someone, quelques-uns- someone, quelques-unes- someone, tout- all, everything, personne- nobody, rien- Nothing, l'autre- another, lesautres- other, tel- such, telle- such, quiconque– some, quelquechose- something, certains- some, some, certaines- some, plusieurs- some, aucun- no, no one, aucune- none, no one, chacun- every, chacune– each, nul- none, null– none.
Indefinite pronouns - Quelqu' un demesamism'aracontecettehistoire. – One of my friends told me this story.
- Je veux te dire quelque chose. - IWantyousay something.
Friends, this is all we wanted to tell you on the topic of “pronouns in French”. We will look at each type of pronoun in more detail in our subsequent sections. As you can see, pronouns in French are very diverse, and each has its own function in the language.
Pronouns...
In the case of French pronouns, these tricky words can suck a lot of blood - in some cases it is extremely difficult to remember which pronoun replaces what, and in what order the pronouns follow each other within the same sentence. How to understand all these “he”, “us”, “to her”, “for them” in French?
In this article we have compiled a clear, concise and full instructions about how to get rid of repeated nouns in a sentence and, with the help of pronouns, give your speech a truly French idiomaticity.
- Unstressed personal pronouns
Personal pronouns always agree in gender and number with the person or thing they replace in the sentence. These pronouns may look small and insignificant, but they instantly add completeness and conciseness to your sentence structure and show that you understand how a phrase is constructed in French according to the laws of the language.
1) Personal pronouns replacing the subjectYou came across these pronouns right away in your first French lesson, because without them it is impossible to form a single sentence, and the form of the conjugated verb depends on them. So, pronouns that take the place of subjects in a sentence:
1 l. units h. - je/j'- I
2 l. units h. - tu- You
3 l. units h. - il/elle/on- he/she
1 l. pl. h. - nous- We
2 l. pl. h. - vous- you, you
3 l. pl. h. - ils/elles- They
Jacquesétait en retard. - Ilétait en retard. ( Jacques I'm late. - He late).
2) Pronouns replacing direct objects
Je t'aime! Tu m'aimes! - I love you! you love me!
We got off to a good start, right? These two phrases are known to 99% of everyone who cares about French, but we still have to figure out the fact that they contain pronouns that replace the direct object.
So, first of all, let's look at all the pronouns in this group:
1 l. units h. - me/m'- me
2 l. units h. - te/t'- you
3 l. units h. - le/la/l’- his/her
1 l. pl. h. - nous us
2 l. pl. h. - vous- you
1 l. pl. h. - les- their
We remind you that truncated forms of pronouns (j’, m’, t’, l’) are placed when the following word begins with a vowel or silent “h”.
Je mange le gâteau. - Je le mange. (I eat cake. - I his I eat.)
Tu aimes les films français. -Tu les aimes.(You love French films. - You their love.)
Attention: a pronoun always agrees in gender and number with the noun it replaces. Yes, you have to keep an extra eye on this, but that’s how French is.
3) Pronouns replacing the indirect object
1 l. units h. - me/m'- to me
2 l. units h. - te/t'- you
3 l. units h. - lui- to him/her
1 l. pl. h. - nous- us
2 l. pl. h. - vous- to you
2 l. pl. h. - leur- to them
As you can see, these pronouns are similar to those that replace a direct object, but they perform a different function - they replace a noun in a sentence that is used with a preposition.
Attention: The pronoun system differs in 3L forms. units tsp and 3 l. pl. h.: direct objects are replaced by le/la/les, indirect objects - on lui/leur.
Examples to see this in practice:
Je demande à ma mère.- Je lui demande. (I ask my mother. - I ask her).
Je donne le cadeau aux enfants. -Je le leur donne. (I give a gift to children. - I give his them.)
Don't worry about the two pronouns in a row in the last sentence just yet—there's a great life hack at the end of this article on how to remember the correct order of pronouns in a sentence.
How do you know when to use one pronoun and when to use another? Look for an excuse. If a noun is preceded by a preposition, it is definitely an indirect object.
4) Personal stressed pronouns
It is quite possible that the first French word in your life there was a stressed pronoun - you could, for example, in response to the question “Qui est là?” answer “Moi!”
These pronouns serve different functions and are used in large quantities designs. Most often they appear in a sentence when it is necessary to place logical emphasis on the subject:
1 l. units h. - moi
2 l. units h. - toi
3 l. units h. - lui/elle/soi
1 l. pl. h. - nous
2 l. pl. h. - vous
3 l. pl. h. - eux/elles
There are a total of 11 ways to use stressed pronouns in a sentence, let’s look at the most common ones:
- After C'est or Ce sont.
C'est toi Qui laves la salle de bain. - You are cleaning the bathroom. - When a sentence has several subjects - a noun and a pronoun or two pronouns.
Michel et moi avons fait du shopping. - Michelle and I went shopping. - When a question is asked.
Je suis content, et toi? - I'm happy, and you? - After prepositions.
chez lui, sans elle- at his home, without her - In comparative designs.
Nous sommes plus rapides qu’ eux. - We are faster than them. - When indicating ownership.
Cette tarte est à elle. - This pie belongs to her.
That's it, you can get out of the way and move on to the most interesting part.
5) Reflexive pronouns
Let's finish the conversation about personal pronouns with reflexive pronouns and the verbs with which they are used. To everyone who speaks Russian as a native language, reflexive verbs seem redundant and illogical. But in French they are common, and if you forget about the reflexive particle, you can completely distort the meaning of the entire sentence.
Me, te, se, nous, vous, se- reflexive pronouns that are part of reflexive verbs:
se laver - to wash oneself
se casser - break (some part of the body)
s' habiller - to dress
Pronouns change in person and number when conjugating verbs:
Je me love.
Tu te loves.
Il se love.
Nous nous lavons.
Vous vous lavez.
Ils se lavent.
Probably, for the first time you can feel like a complete idiot, saying out loud nous nous lavons, but reflexive pronouns always agree with the subject in gender and number, and in some cases there is such a funny coincidence in forms.
- Impersonal pronouns
6) Impersonal pronouns acting as subjects
Ce, il- analogues of the impersonal “it” in English. In general, they are interchangeable, but ce more often used in informal communication.
Examples:
Il est possible que… - It is possible that…
C'est moi. - It's me.
Il est nouveau. - This is new.
C'est fini! - It's finished!
7) Relative pronouns
These pronouns act as a link between the main and subordinate clauses in a complex sentence. There are only 5 relative pronouns, each with its own precisely limited sphere of use.
The pronoun replaces the direct object in a subordinate clause. In terms of function and use, it can be compared with “that” in English; their fundamental difference is that the English “that” can often be omitted in a sentence, while the French “que” must necessarily be present in the sentence. Compare for yourself:
Où est la chose que j'ai achetée hier? - Where is the thing I bought yesterday?
The pronoun replaces the subject in subordinate clause and in some cases resembles the English “who”:
Je voudrais un prof qui ne donne pas de devoirs. - I would like to study with a teacher who does not assign homework.
However, the pronoun qui can also refer to inanimate objects:
Cependant, le prof donne des devoirs qui nous aident à apprendre. - However, the teacher gives us homework that helps us study.
In the last example qui refers to a noun devoirs(homework).
- Lequel/Laquelle/Lesquels/Lesquelles
These beautiful and melodious pronouns replace indirect objects with a preposition.
Attention: if a noun denotes a person, you must use the combination “preposition + qui».
French level in some cases it may be similar to the English “which”:
Je n'ai pas lu la letter à laquelle tu as répondu. - I did not read the letter to which you replied.
- Dont
For indirect objects with preposition de French has a separate pronoun dont, which can be compared to the English “whose” or “that”.
It is often used in sentences with a prepositional verb, such as parler de(talk about something) avoir besoin de(need something) or avoir peur de(to be afraid of something).
For example:
Le pronom dont j'ai peur! - Preposition, whom I'm afraid!
This pronoun indicates a place in space and often coincides in use with the English “where”:
C'est là où j'ai mangé hier. - This is where I ate yesterday.
It's interesting that the pronoun où may also indicate a circumstance of time:
Mercredi, c'est le jour où je pars. - Wednesday is the day I leave.
8) Adverbial pronouns
Luckily for us, French, which is generous with pronouns, in this case limited itself to only two - y And en.
Y à + noun, while en replaces a noun in combination de + noun.
These pronouns are extremely important and are used in virtually every phrase. You might already remember some stable phrases that contain these pronouns: Il y a...(analogous to the English “there is”) or J' en ai un(I have [one]). Let's see where else they live.
Let's start with examples:
Je voudrais aller à Paris. -Je voudrais y aller. (I would like to go to Paris. - I would like to go there.)
Il pense à l'été dernier. -Il y pense. (He thinks about last summer. - He thinks about it.)
This pronoun can also replace an entire sentence, which is introduced using a preposition à :
Je pence à ce que j'ai lu. -J' y pense. (I think about what I read. - I think about it.)
Attention: At this stage, it’s easy to get confused with pronouns. Y used instead of a noun in combination à + inanimate noun. Don't confuse it with level, which is used as an allied word, or with lui/leur, which replace the indirect object expressed by an animate noun denoting a person.
Again, examples first:
Ma mère prepare des pâtes. -Ma mere en prepare. (Mom is preparing pasta).
Pronoun en can also act as a substitute for a noun in the combination “numeral/adverb of quantity + noun”:
Il a beaucoup de bonbons. -Il en a beaucoup. (He has a lot of sweets. - He has their many.)
Elle a deux livres.-Elle en a deux. - She has two books. - She has their two.
Attention: pronoun en should always be used if we're talking about about the quantity of something. Yes, you can't say * J'ai un.In this form it will at best be regarded as the beginning of a sentence J'ai un...livre. To say “I have only one,” you need to insert a pronoun en: J'en ai un.
9) Indefinite pronouns
autres- other
chacun, chacune- everyone, every
certain, certaine- some, some
plusieurs- many, numerous
quelqu'un- anyone
tout- All
tous, totes- All
Attention: Majority indefinite pronouns combined with a verb in the 3 l form. units h.
LIFE HACK!
As promised, we show you a way to correctly place pronouns in a sentence. Do you know the French children's song "Frère Jacques"? Whenever you think about where to put le, and where - lui, hum to the tune of the song:
me, te, nous, vous
me, te, nous, vous
le, la, les
le, la, les
lui, leur
lui, leur
y
en
y
en
Now you can easily produce seemingly furious speeds like “ Je le lui ai donne"!
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