French relative clauses: identifying people, things and places
You can name an object and describe it; now add a short clue to say which one you mean. After the noun, use qui for the subject of the added clause, que for its direct object, or où for the place. Each example contains just one such clause.
Recover familiar words
La personne = the person; la chaise = the chair; le livre = the book; la cuisine = the kitchen. Grande means big with a feminine noun, as in la chaise; le and la identify a known thing. Je prends = I take, je mange = I eat, je travaille = I work; ici = here; c'est = that's. You may already say je la prends (I take it): la then replaces the object. Here we keep the noun and add information about it.
Who or what does it: qui
Listen to the two descriptions. La personne travaille ici means the person works here; qui takes the place of la personne inside the added clause. In la chaise qui est grande, the chair has the quality grande, so qui also works for a thing: it does not mean only 'who'. Do not add another subject such as elle after qui in these examples. Qui stays qui before est.
nom + qui + verbe
C'est la personne qui travaille ici.
C'est la chaise qui est grande.
What someone takes: que
Je prends le livre means I take the book. To identify that book, put que after le livre and keep je as the subject: le livre que je prends. Do not repeat the book as le after que: say que je prends, not que je le prends. Que becomes qu' before a vowel sound here: qu'Anne prend; prend is Anne's form of prendre. French keeps que here even when English can omit 'that': the book I'm taking.
nom + que / qu’ + sujet + verbe
C'est le livre que je prends.
C'est la chaise que je prends.
C'est la chaise qu'Anne prend.
Where it happens: où
La cuisine où je mange is the kitchen where I eat; la cuisine où je travaille is the kitchen where I work. Où links the place to what happens there; je is still the subject of mange or travaille. Keep the accent: où means where, while ou without it means or. This où adds information after a place name; it is not a question.
lieu + où + sujet + verbe
C'est la cuisine où je mange.
C'est la cuisine où je travaille.
Recognize dont for now
Parler de means talk about; je parle means I talk. C'est le livre dont je parle means that's the book I'm talking about: dont supplies the link with de. Recognize the meaning when you hear it; you do not need to build sentences with dont in this lesson.
C'est le livre dont je parle.
Your turn: identify three things
Imagine two people, two books and two kitchens. Without looking at the examples, identify the person who works here, the book you are taking and the kitchen where you eat, starting with c'est. Choose qui, que or où, then check and listen to the three answers below. In World, you can also choose two familiar objects or places and give one short clue about one of them; an imagined situation works too.
C'est la personne qui travaille ici.
C'est le livre que je prends.
C'est la cuisine où je mange.
One short clue after the noun
Choose by the job inside the added clause, not by person versus thing: qui is its subject, que its direct object, où its place. Keep an expressed subject such as je after que and où in these models. Start with one short clause; you do not need a chain of clauses to identify an object.