Sunday, October 20, 2019
French Indefinite Relative Pronouns
French Indefinite Relative Pronouns Just as in English, a relative pronoun links a relative clause to a main clause. This is true for both relative pronouns and indefinite relative pronouns. The difference is that regular relative pronouns have a specific antecedent, but indefinite relative pronouns do not. If you dont understand relative pronouns, I highly recommend that you go back to that lesson before studying this one. There are four* French indefinite relative pronouns; each form is used only in a particular structure, as summarized here. Note that theres no one-to-one equivalent for these words - depending on context, the English translation may be what or which: Subject ce qui  what Direct object ce que/qu  what Object of de** ce dont  which, what Object of a preposition** quoi  which, what *Theres a fifth indefinite relative pronoun, quiconque, but it is rare and complicated, so I address it in a separate lesson. **Remember that French verbs often require different prepositions than English verbs, so you really need to be careful with ce dont and quoi - its not always obvious which one is correct. When there is no preposition, of course, you use ce que. Note that when the pronoun tout is used with indefinite relative pronouns, it changes the meaning to everything or all. Ce qui serves as the subject of a relative clause and takes the il form of the verb.    Ce qui mintà ©resse, cest la langue.What interests me is language.    Sais-tu ce qui lui plaà ®t?Do you know what pleases him?    Cest ce qui me dà ©range.Thats what bothers me.    Tout ce qui brille nest pas or.All that glitters is not gold. Ce que is used as the indefinite direct object in a relative clause.    Ce que je veux, cest à ªtre trilingue.What I want is to be trilingual.    Sais-tu ce que Pierre a fait ?Do you know what Pierre did?    Cest ce que je dà ©teste.Thats what I hate.    Tout ce quil à ©crit est amusant.Everything he writes is funny. Ce dont is used as the object of the preposition de.    Ce dont jai besoin, cest un bon dico.What I need is a good dictionary.    Sais-tu ce dont Luc parle ?Do you know what Pierre is talking about?    Cest ce dont je me souviens.Thats what I remember.    Jai tout ce dont jai envie.I have everything I want. Quoi is the object of any preposition except de.    Sais-tu quoi il pense ?Do you know what hes thinking about?    Jai à ©tudià ©, aprà ¨s quoi jai lu.I studied, after which I read.    Avec quoi à ©crit-il ?What is he writing with?    Ce quoi je mattends, cest une invitation.***What Im waiting for is an invitation.    Cest ce quoi Chantal rà ªve.***Thats what Chantal dreams about. ***When quoi is at the beginning of a clause or follows cest, the word ce is placed in front of it (ce quoi).
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