French Relative Pronouns

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Published February 10, 2022 • Updated June 8, 2026 — By French teacher David Issokson, teaching French online since 2014

French relative pronouns connect two parts of a sentence and help avoid repetition. The five main French relative pronouns are qui, que, dont, où, and lequel. This guide explains the rules for when to use each one.

✅ Relative pronouns summary
✅ Qui vs. que
✅ Dont
✅ Où
✅ Lequel
✅ Indefinite relative pronouns

French Relative Pronouns – Qui, que, dont, où and lequel explained

French Relative Pronouns Summary

This chart summarizes the five main French relative pronouns and their most common uses. Refer to it whenever you’re unsure which pronoun to choose.

Pronoun	Main Use	English Equivalent
qui	Subject	who, which, that
que	Direct object	whom, which, that
dont	Replaces de	whose, of which, that
où	Place or time	where, when
lequel	After a preposition	which, whom

Qui vs. Que

The most important distinction is between qui and que.

qui + verb
que + subject pronoun or noun

La femme qui parle est française.
The woman who is speaking is French.

La femme que je connais est française.
The woman that I know is French.

Le film qui commence à 20h00 est populaire.
The movie that starts at 8:00 PM is popular.

Le film que nous regardons est excellent.
The movie that we are watching is excellent.

👉 Qui relative pronoun audio example »
👉 Que relative pronoun audio example »

Dont

Use dont when the verb or expression normally requires the preposition de.

Common expressions include:

avoir besoin de (to need)
parler de (to talk about)
se souvenir de (to remember)
rêver de (to dream about)

Voilà la voiture dont j’ai besoin.
There’s the car I need.

Le professeur dont tu parles est sympathique.
The teacher you’re talking about is friendly.

L’homme dont le fils habite à Paris est médecin.
The man whose son lives in Paris is a doctor.

👉 Dont audio examples »

Où

Use où for places and times.

C’est la maison où j’habite.
It’s the house where I live.

Je me souviens du jour où nous nous sommes rencontrés.
I remember the day when we met.

Lequel

The relative pronoun lequel means “which” and is used after prepositions.

avec (with)
pour (for)
sur (on, over)
dans (in)
sans (without)
contre (against)

Forms of lequel

Masculine	Feminine
lequel	laquelle
lesquels	lesquelles

Voici l’ordinateur avec lequel je travaille.
Here’s the computer that I work with.

C’est la maison dans laquelle j’habite.
It’s the house in which I live.

When referring to people, qui is often used instead of lequel.

C’est l’homme pour qui je travaille.
He’s the man I work for.

Contractions with lequel

Form	Contraction	English Meaning
auquel	à + lequel	to which
auxquels	à + lesquels	to which
à laquelle	à + laquelle	to which
auxquelles	à + lesquelles	to which
duquel	de + lequel	of which, from which
desquels	de + lesquels	of which, from which
de laquelle	de + laquelle	of which, from which
desquelles	de + lesquelles	of which, from which

L’examen auquel j’ai réussi était difficile.
The exam that I passed was difficult.

Indefinite Relative Pronouns

Indefinite relative pronouns are used when the antecedent is unknown. These forms generally translate as “what”.

Ce qui

Use ce qui when it functions as the subject of the verb.

Je comprends ce qui est important.
I understand what’s important.

Ce que

Use ce que when it functions as the direct object of the verb.

Je ne comprends pas ce que tu dis.
I don’t understand what you’re saying.

Ce dont

Use ce dont when the verb requires de.

Je sais ce dont tu as besoin.
I know what you need.

Ce à quoi

Use ce à quoi when the verb requires à.

Je sais ce à quoi tu penses.
I know what you’re thinking about.

Relative Pronouns Summary Chart

Pronoun	Function
qui	Subject
que	Direct object
dont	Replaces de
où	Place or time
lequel	Object of a preposition

➞ Subject? Use qui.
➞ Direct object? Use que.
➞ Verb requires de? Use dont.
➞ Refers to a place or time? Use où.
➞ Follows a preposition? Use lequel.

📚 French pronouns

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David Issokson Founder & French Teacher at FrenchLearner.com

David Issokson is the founder of FrenchLearner.com, where he’s been helping students master French through vocabulary, grammar, and cultural lessons since 2012.

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