Compound Relative Pronouns in French

Overview

Compound relative pronouns are the forms used when a relative clause requires a preposition. While qui, que, ou, and dont handle most situations, some prepositions (sur, avec, pour, dans, sans, etc.) require the compound forms: lequel, laquelle, lesquels, and lesquelles. At the B2 level, mastering these pronouns lets you build complex, precise sentences.

This topic also introduces ce qui, ce que, and ce dont -- relative pronouns that refer to abstract ideas or entire clauses rather than specific nouns. These are extremely common in French and allow you to say things like "what interests me" or "what I need."

Together, compound relative pronouns and the ce qui/ce que/ce dont forms complete the French relative pronoun system, giving you the tools to express virtually any relative clause construction.

How It Works

Compound relative pronouns: lequel and its forms

	Masculine	Feminine
Singular	lequel	laquelle
Plural	lesquels	lesquelles

Contractions with a and de

Preposition	Masculine sg.	Feminine sg.	Masculine pl.	Feminine pl.
a +	auquel	a laquelle	auxquels	auxquelles
de +	duquel	de laquelle	desquels	desquelles

When to use lequel vs qui

After a preposition, use lequel for things and either lequel or qui for people:

Referent	Pronoun	Example
Thing	preposition + lequel	la table sur laquelle j'ecris
Person	preposition + qui (preferred)	l'ami avec qui je sors
Person	preposition + lequel (also correct)	l'ami avec lequel je sors

Ce qui, ce que, ce dont -- abstract relative pronouns

Pronoun	Function	Example	Translation
ce qui	Subject	Ce qui m'interesse...	What interests me...
ce que	Direct object	Ce que je veux...	What I want...
ce dont	de-phrase	Ce dont j'ai besoin...	What I need...
ce a quoi	a-phrase	Ce a quoi je pense...	What I'm thinking about...

These refer to ideas, situations, or unnamed things -- not specific nouns.

Examples in Context

French	English	Note
La table sur laquelle j'ecris.	The table on which I write.	Preposition + laquelle
L'ami auquel je pense.	The friend I'm thinking about.	Contraction: a + lequel
Ce qui m'interesse...	What interests me...	Abstract subject
Ce dont j'ai besoin.	What I need.	Abstract de-phrase
La raison pour laquelle il est parti.	The reason he left.	pour + laquelle
Les outils avec lesquels je travaille.	The tools I work with.	avec + lesquels
Ce que tu dis est vrai.	What you're saying is true.	Abstract direct object
La maison dans laquelle il habite.	The house in which he lives.	dans + laquelle
Ce a quoi je m'attendais.	What I expected.	s'attendre a
Les conditions sans lesquelles...	The conditions without which...	sans + lesquelles
C'est ce dont je parlais.	That's what I was talking about.	parler de
Voila ce qui s'est passe.	Here's what happened.	ce qui as subject

Common Mistakes

Using que instead of ce que for abstract references

• Wrong: Que tu dis est interessant.
• Right: Ce que tu dis est interessant.
• Why: When referring to an abstract idea (not a specific noun), you need ce que, not just que. Ce que means "what" in the sense of "the thing that."

Forgetting to contract lequel with a or de

• Wrong: l'ami a lequel je pense
• Right: l'ami auquel je pense
• Why: A + lequel contracts to auquel (and similarly for other forms). De + lequel contracts to duquel. Only the feminine singular forms (a laquelle, de laquelle) do not contract.

Using dont where a compound pronoun is needed

• Wrong: la table dont j'ecris sur (trying to use dont for sur)
• Right: la table sur laquelle j'ecris
• Why: Dont only replaces de + noun. For other prepositions (sur, avec, pour, dans, sans, etc.), you must use the appropriate compound relative pronoun.

Confusing ce qui and ce que

• Wrong: Ce que m'interesse. (ce que as subject)
• Right: Ce qui m'interesse.
• Why: Ce qui is the subject (it does the action), ce que is the object (it receives the action). Ask: is the abstract thing doing something (ce qui) or being done to (ce que)?

Usage Notes

In practice, there are some important tendencies in modern French:

• For people, qui is preferred after prepositions: l'ami avec qui je parle is more natural than l'ami avec lequel je parle, though both are correct.
• For things, lequel is necessary: la raison pour laquelle (not la raison pour qui).
• Ce qui/ce que/ce dont are extremely frequent in everyday spoken French: Tu sais ce que je veux dire? (You know what I mean?) C'est ce qui est bien. (That's what's good.)
• In formal writing, lequel forms are preferred even for people, and they can add precision about gender and number.
• Tout ce qui/tout ce que means "everything that/all that": Tout ce que tu veux. (Everything you want.)

The compound forms can feel heavy in spoken French, so speakers sometimes restructure sentences to avoid them. But in writing and formal speech, they are essential for precision and elegance.

Practice Tips

1. Practice substituting nouns with the appropriate compound pronoun. Start with a sentence like J'ecris sur cette table and transform it into la table sur laquelle j'ecris. Repeat with different prepositions.
2. Drill ce qui vs ce que by completing sentences: Ce qui est important, c'est... Ce que je prefere, c'est... Ce dont j'ai envie, c'est... This builds the reflexes for choosing the right form.
3. Learn common expressions that use compound relatives: la raison pour laquelle, la maniere dont (the way in which), ce a quoi je pense. These set phrases make the grammar feel more natural.

Related Concepts

• Relative Pronouns: ou, dont -- the simpler relative pronouns for place, time, and de-phrases
• Emphasis Structures -- constructions like c'est...qui/que that often use relative pronouns