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Viewing Que and Qui: Relative Pronouns in Spoken and Written FrenchQue and Qui: Relative Pronouns in Spoken and Written French
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By Myriam Birch When talking, writing, or translating, French and English have their own specific rules, which one should understand to be able to communicate well. Terms Clause: A unit of sentence structure which contains a verb, and usually also a subject. Relative Clause: A clause that defines or gives information about somebody or something. These typically begin with relative pronouns (who/whom/whose/which/that). Object: A word or group of words that receives or is affected by the action of a verb: - She took the apple. Subject: A word, phrase, etc. that performs the action of the verb: - She took the apple. - The apple is nice. Pronoun: Any word that is used in the place of a noun (he, she, I, etc., but also me, who, these etc.) Relative Pronoun: A pronoun referring to a noun in another (preceding) clause. 'Que' and 'qui' are relative pronouns used to introduce relative clauses the way that 'which'/'that' and 'who'/'whom' do in English, but their respective grammatical usages follow different rules. Like 'which' and 'that', 'que' and 'qui' have the same meaning, but while 'which' and 'that' are more or less grammatically interchangeable in English (except if the relative clause is independent, in which case 'which' must be used) 'que' and 'qui' are not in French. Qui 'Qui' is only used if it refers back to the direct subject of the sentence: - La lettre qui est sur la table. - The letter that/which is on the table. Here 'qui' is referring to 'letter' as the subject of the verb 'to be'. - L'evenement qui a change le monde. - The event that/which changed the world. 'Qui' refers to 'event', which is the thing doing the action of changing. Que 'Que', on the other hand, is only used if it refers back to the object of a sentence: - C'est la lettre que j'ecris. - It's the letter that/which I am writing. 'Que' refers to 'letter', which is being written (and is therefore the receipt point of the verb). - Je veux la pomme que tu as achetee. - I want the apple that/which you bought. Here 'que' refers to 'apple', which is the object of the verb 'to buy'. Elided 'e' of Que A noteworthy peculiarity is that with 'que', the 'e' is elided (omitted/contracted) and replaced by an apostrophe when the first letter of the following word is a vowel. This isn't so with 'qui': - La tarte qu'elle a sortie du four. - The tart that/which she took out of the oven. - La tarte qui est cuite. - The tart that/which is cooked. 'Qui'/'Que' versus 'Who'/'Whom' The other significant difference in the usage of 'que' and 'qui' is that, unlike English, French does not distinguish between animate and inanimate objects (people and things) in the use of relative pronouns. While 'que' and 'qui' can be used to refer to people, in English 'who' or 'whom' are used exclusively for this: - L'homme qui parlait. - The man who was speaking. - Les enfants auxquels j'enseigne. - The children whom I teach. ('Auxquels' is a plural variation of 'que' in French. The singular form of 'auxquels' is 'à qui' - 'to whom'. Observe the root 'que' in 'auxquels'.) One cannot say: - The man which/that was speaking. - The children which/that I teach. 'Who'/'Qui' versus 'Whom'/'Que' However, while English does not distinguish between the object or subject of the sentence when using 'that' and 'which', it does when referring to people. 'Who', of course, is used when referring to the subject, and 'whom' when referring to the object of the sentence: - This is the man who entered the room. - C'est l'homme qui est entre dans la salle. 'Who' here refers to 'man', and 'man' performs the action of 'entering' (and is hence the subject), whereas: - This is the man whom I saw. - C'est l'homme que j'ai vu. 'Whom' here refers to 'man', and he is the object (receiver) of the verb 'to see'. Note: 'qui' as an interrogative pronoun also means 'who': - C'est qui? (or, more correctly in French: 'Qui est-ce?') - Who is it? And lastly, unlike English where this can occasionally be done, the relative pronoun in French can never be omitted: - C'est la pomme je veux. doesn't make any sense in French (the correct structure is 'C'est la pomme que je veux'), whereas: - This is the apple I want. is perfectly acceptable in English. When in doubt with French - use a good grammar textbook and dictionary. If still unsure when translating or writing, ask a native-speaking person. Translation services exist that can help you for important business projects and give you confidence that it is done right for your customers and your own satisfaction. About the Author: Myriam Birch (M.A. Oxford) is a freelance writer, editor, proofreader, and translator. In the last two years, she has been writing and doing quality control for Tectrad, a specialized translation services agency. Communicate and sell to foreign customers with professional technical translation of your materials and brochures. Article Source: A Language Guide - http://www.a-language-guide.com |
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