Les pronoms relatifs composés
Compound relative pronouns
Compound relative pronouns
To sound natural at B1, you need to join two ideas into one smooth sentence instead of speaking in short fragments. Simple relatives like qui and que are not enough when the relative pronoun follows a preposition (such as avec, pour, dans, sur). In that case French uses a compound relative pronoun: lequel and its family. This lesson shows you how to link ideas the way examiners expect in everyday and administrative situations.
Associez chaque pronom relatif composé à son sens.
Match each compound relative pronoun to its meaning.
- laquelle
- auquel
- duquel
- auxquelles
- lesquels
- desquelles
Choisissez le bon pronom relatif composé.
Choose the correct compound relative pronoun.
The four forms of lequel
Lequel agrees in gender and number with the noun it replaces. The four basic forms are lequel (masculine singular), laquelle (feminine singular), lesquels (masculine plural) and lesquelles (feminine plural). You use them after a preposition, usually for things rather than people: le dossier dans lequel..., la réunion pendant laquelle...
| lequel | which / whom (masc. sing.) |
| laquelle | which / whom (fem. sing.) |
| lesquels | which / whom (masc. plural) |
| lesquelles | which / whom (fem. plural) |
| auquel | to which (à + lequel) |
| à laquelle | to which (à + laquelle) |
| auxquels | to which (à + lesquels) |
| auxquelles | to which (à + lesquelles) |
| duquel | of/from which (de + lequel) |
| de laquelle | of/from which (de + laquelle) |
| desquels | of/from which (de + lesquels) |
| desquelles | of/from which (de + lesquelles) |
| grâce auquel | thanks to which |
| au sujet duquel | about which |
Quelle phrase utilise correctement la contraction ?
Which sentence uses the contraction correctly?
Complétez avec le bon pronom relatif composé.
Complete with the right compound relative pronoun.
La réunion ____ nous avons assisté a duré deux heures.
Contractions with à and de
When the preposition à comes before lequel, the two words contract, exactly like à + le = au. So à + lequel = auquel, à + lesquels = auxquels, à + lesquelles = auxquelles. But à + laquelle stays separate: à laquelle. The same logic applies to de: de + lequel = duquel, de + lesquels = desquels, de + lesquelles = desquelles, while de laquelle stays separate. These de forms appear mostly after compound prepositions like à côté de, près de, au cours de.
Complétez avec la bonne forme contractée.
Complete with the right contracted form.
Le concours ____ je participe aura lieu en mai.
Complétez avec un relatif composé en de après la préposition composée.
Complete with a de-based compound relative after the compound preposition.
La banque à côté ____ je travaille a fermé.
In context
Remettez les mots dans l'ordre pour former une phrase correcte.
Put the words in order to form a correct sentence.
Remettez les mots dans l'ordre pour former une phrase correcte.
Put the words in order to form a correct sentence.
People: qui or lequel?
After a preposition, when you talk about a person, you normally use qui: la femme avec qui je travaille. Lequel for people is possible but sounds formal and is mostly kept for clarity or in writing. For things, however, you must use lequel, never qui: le bureau dans lequel je travaille (not dans qui).
Écoutez et tapez exactement ce que vous entendez.
Listen and type exactly what you hear.
Écoutez et tapez exactement ce que vous entendez.
Listen and type exactly what you hear.
Listen
Traduisez en français.
Translate into French.
The office in which I work is small.
Traduisez en français.
Translate into French.
These are the questions to which I have no answer.