Short sentences sound choppy: J'ai vu un film. Tu m'avais parlé de ce film. Il était génial. Relative pronouns weld them together: J'ai vu le film dont tu m'avais parlé, et il était génial (I saw the film you had told me about, and it was great). In Grade 9 you learned qui and que. Grade 10 writing — opinion pieces, stories, reports — needs two more: dont and où. They matter because English hides the structure. English drops that (the film I saw), leaves prepositions dangling at the end (the film you told me about), and uses when after time words (the day when I arrived). French does none of these things, so you need a reliable way to pick the right word.
| Grade 9 recap | Its job in the clause | What follows it | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| qui | the subject (who, that, which) | a verb | Le garçon qui parle avec Marie est mon frère. (The boy who is talking with Marie is my brother.) |
| que / qu' | the direct object (whom, that, which) | a subject + a verb | Le gâteau que tu as fait est délicieux. (The cake you made is delicious.) |
Dont: replacing de + a noun
| Where the de comes from | Two sentences | Joined with dont | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| a verb: parler de | Voici le livre. Je parle de ce livre. | Voici le livre dont je parle. | Here's the book I'm talking about. |
| an expression: avoir besoin de | L'ordinateur coûte cher. J'ai besoin de cet ordinateur. | L'ordinateur dont j'ai besoin coûte cher. | The computer I need is expensive. |
| an adjective: fier de | C'est un projet. Je suis fière de ce projet. | C'est un projet dont je suis fière. | It's a project I'm proud of. |
| possession (whose) | J'ai une amie. Le père de cette amie est pilote. | J'ai une amie dont le père est pilote. | I have a friend whose father is a pilot. |
| a verb in the plus-que-parfait | J'ai vu le film. Tu m'avais parlé de ce film. | J'ai vu le film dont tu m'avais parlé. | I saw the film you had told me about. |
Où: for places and for times
- la ville où je suis née — the city where I was born
- le café où nous travaillons — the café where we work
- la maison où elle habite — the house she lives in
- le pays d'où vient sa famille — the country his family comes from
- le jour où je suis arrivé — the day (when) I arrived
- l'année où ils ont déménagé — the year they moved
- le moment où le téléphone a sonné — the moment the phone rang
- l'été où j'ai appris à nager — the summer I learned to swim
- Rebuild the second clause as a full sentence and find what the noun was doing in it.
- Was it the subject (nothing before the verb)? → qui. L'élève qui arrive...
- Was it the direct object (the clause already has its own subject)? → que / qu'. Le film que j'ai vu...
- Was it introduced by de (parler de, avoir besoin de, fier de) or does it mean whose? → dont. Le livre dont je parle...
- Is it a place or a time (where / when)? → où. Le jour où... la ville où...
Translation: Last summer I went to Caraquet, New Brunswick, the small town where my grandmother grew up. It's a region she often talks about and that is very important to our family. On August 15, the day when Acadians celebrate their national holiday, we walked in the Tintamarre, a big parade where everyone makes noise with pots and pans and instruments. The photos I took are on my blog. My cousin, whose father plays the violin, introduced me to friends who speak with a wonderful Acadian accent. It's a trip I will always remember. Each choice has a reason: où for a place (la ville, un défilé) and a time (le jour); dont for parler de, se souvenir de and whose father; qui as the subject of est and parlent; and que as the direct object of j'ai prises — which is why prises agrees with les photos.