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Lesson 2 of 5Structures précises: Relatives, Adverbs and Participles
Unit 4 · Lesson 2 of 5

Lequel after a Preposition, and Où for Time and Place

What to do when a relative clause needs a preposition: avec lequel, pour laquelle, par lesquels, sur lesquelles for things, avec qui for people, and où for both place and time (le jour où). Why standard French does not leave the preposition at the end the way English does, and a review of dont.

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Key things to remember

  1. 1French does not strand prepositions: move the preposition to the front of the relative clause. the pen I write with → le stylo avec lequel j'écris.
  2. 2Things after a preposition: lequel, laquelle, lesquels, lesquelles, agreeing with the noun before them.
  3. 3People after a preposition: usually qui (avec qui, pour qui, à qui); after parmi (and usually entre), use lesquels / lesquelles.
  4. 4à + lequel → auquel, auxquels, auxquelles (but à laquelle); de + lequel → duquel, desquels, desquelles (but de laquelle), used after compound prepositions like près de.
  5. 5Où = where and when after a noun of time: le jour où, l'année où, au moment où. Never le jour quand.
  6. 6Dont replaces a plain de + noun: un voyage dont je me souviendrai (se souvenir de).

English is relaxed about prepositions. You can say the pen I write with, the friend I went with or the reason I'm here for, leaving with or for dangling at the end. Standard French does not do this. The preposition has to travel to the front of the relative clause, and it needs a pronoun right after it: le stylo avec lequel j'écris (the pen with which I write), l'amie avec qui je suis partie (the friend with whom I left), la raison pour laquelle je suis ici (the reason for which I am here). English has the same structure in formal writing (with which, for whom), so if you mentally rewrite the English into that formal version first, the French falls into place. This lesson gives you the pronouns for that slot: lequel and its forms for things, qui for people, and où for places and moments in time. It is the grammar behind descriptions like the road we went through, the day we left, the town where it all started.

SingularPlural
Masculinelequel: le stylo avec lequel j'écris (the pen I write with)lesquels: les outils sans lesquels on ne peut rien faire (the tools without which you can't do anything)
Femininelaquelle: la raison pour laquelle je suis venu (the reason I came)lesquelles: les tables sur lesquelles on a mangé (the tables we ate on)
Lequel is the definite article glued to quel, so both halves agree with the noun the clause describes: le + quel, la + quelle, les + quels, les + quelles.
Agree with the noun before, not with the subject after
The form of lequel comes from the noun it refers back to (its antecedent), never from the subject of the clause. La route par laquelle on était passés (the road we had gone through): laquelle is feminine singular because route is, even though the subject on is plural in meaning. Les raisons pour lesquelles il a démissionné (the reasons he resigned): feminine plural, because of raisons.
Preposition + relative pronoun: look at the noun beforeavec, pour, sur, dans, sans … + ?the noun is a person→ qui (usually)l'amie avec qui je parsthe friend I'm leaving withthe noun is a thing→ lequel (grid below)la raison pour laquellethe reason whythe noun is a place or a time→ oùle jour où il neigeaitthe day it was snowingsingularpluralmasculinefemininelequelle stylo avec lequellesquelsles outils sans lesquelslaquellela route par laquellelesquellesles tables sur lesquellesagrees with thenoun before it,not with thesubject after itÀ and de contract, as in au, aux, du, des; the feminine singular never doesà +auquel à laquelle auxquels auxquellesde +duquel de laquelle desquels desquellesle concours auquel j'ai participéle parc près duquel j'habitede + lequel follows compound prepositions (près de, à côté de); a plain de takes dont
Fig 1The four forms of lequel by gender and number, the choice after a preposition between qui for people, a form of lequel for things, and où for places and times, and the contractions of lequel with à and de.

People: qui after a preposition

For a person, French normally uses qui after the preposition: la fille avec qui je travaille (the girl I work with), le voisin à qui j'ai prêté ma tondeuse (the neighbour I lent my lawnmower to), les gens pour qui on organise la collecte (the people we're organising the fundraiser for). A form of lequel is also correct for people (la fille avec laquelle je travaille), but it sounds more formal. For things, qui is not possible after a preposition: la table sur qui is wrong; say la table sur laquelle. One notable exception for people: after parmi (among), and usually after entre (between), French uses lesquels / lesquelles, not qui: les candidats parmi lesquels il faut choisir (the candidates among whom we must choose).

APerson: preposition + qui
  • le collègue avec qui je covoiture — the co-worker I carpool with
  • l'amie chez qui j'ai dormi — the friend whose place I slept at
  • la personne à qui tu as écrit — the person you wrote to
BThing: preposition + lequel
  • la voiture dans laquelle on a fait le trajet — the car we made the trip in
  • le projet pour lequel j'ai reçu une bourse — the project I received a scholarship for
  • les boîtes dans lesquelles on a mis les livres — the boxes we put the books in

À and de glue onto lequel

PrepositionMasc. sing.Fem. sing.Masc. pluralFem. pluralExample
àauquelà laquelleauxquelsauxquellesle concours auquel j'ai participé (the contest I took part in)
de (in compound prepositions)duquelde laquelledesquelsdesquellesle parc près duquel j'habite (the park I live near)
À and de contract with le and les inside lequel exactly as they do with the article: au, aux, du, des. The feminine singular never contracts: à laquelle, de laquelle.
When to use dont and when to use duquel
When de stands alone after the verb or noun (parler de, avoir besoin de, se souvenir de, l'auteur de), you can usually use dont: le voyage dont je me souviens (the trip I remember). When de is the last word of a longer preposition such as près de, à côté de, au bout de, en face de, au cours de, dont is not possible and you need duquel / de laquelle / desquels / desquelles: l'école à côté de laquelle il y a un aréna (the school next to which there is an arena). For a person in that position, de qui also works: la fille à côté de qui je suis assis (the girl I sit next to).

Où: for places and for moments

Où is the relative pronoun for a place (la ville où je suis né, the city where I was born) and, surprisingly for English speakers, for a time: le jour où nous sommes partis (the day we left), l'année où j'ai commencé le secondaire (the year I started high school), au moment où le téléphone a sonné (at the moment the phone rang). English says when or nothing at all, but French does not use quand here: le jour quand is a classic anglophone error. For a place, où can also replace dans lequel or sur lequel: la maison où j'habite = la maison dans laquelle j'habite. And d'où means from where: le village d'où vient ma grand-mère (the village my grandmother comes from).

  • Léa : Tu te rappelles le jour où nous sommes partis et où il neigeait ? — Do you remember the day we left and it was snowing?
  • Samir : Ah oui, c'est un voyage dont je me souviendrai toute ma vie ! — Oh yes, it's a trip I'll remember my whole life!
  • Léa : La route par laquelle on était passés était bloquée par la neige. — The road we had taken was blocked by snow.
  • Samir : Et le motel dans lequel on a dormi n'avait pas de chauffage ! — And the motel we slept in had no heating!
  • Léa : On a dû attendre que le chasse-neige arrive, ce qui a pris plus d'une demi-journée. — We had to wait for the snowplough to arrive, which took more than half a day.
  • Samir : C'est l'hiver pendant lequel j'ai appris la patience. — That's the winter I learned patience.
Loading interactive…
Decode what the shared noun does in the second sentence and follow the decision chart to qui, que, dont, où or a form of lequel, then watch lequel agree and contract after each preposition.
Do not drop the preposition
Because English can drop or strand its preposition, learners often write le stylo que j'écris avec or l'ami que je suis sorti avec. Neither is standard French (you may hear this pattern in very casual Québec speech, but avoid it when you write or speak formally). Find the preposition hidden at the end of the English, move it to the front, and add the right pronoun: le stylo avec lequel j'écris, l'ami avec qui je suis sorti.
Lequel also asks which one
Outside relative clauses, lequel is a question word meaning which one: J'ai deux billets. Lequel veux-tu ? (I have two tickets. Which one do you want?) Laquelle de ces vestes préfères-tu ? (Which of these jackets do you prefer?) Same forms, same agreement with the noun.

Worked examples

Reveal one step at a time and try to beat it to the next line.

Example 1
Translate: This is the reason I changed schools.
Example 2
Join with a relative pronoun: J'ai rencontré une auteure. J'ai fait mon projet sur cette auteure.
Example 3
Translate: I'll never forget the day we arrived in Moncton.
Example 4
Choose between dont and a form of duquel: (a) le lac __ nous avons parlé (b) le lac au bord __ nous avons campé.

Where marks get lost

  • Stranding the preposition English-style: la chaise que je suis assis sur. Move it forward: la chaise sur laquelle je suis assis (the chair I'm sitting on).
  • Using quand after a noun of time: le jour quand je suis né. French uses où: le jour où je suis né (the day I was born).
  • Making lequel agree with the subject instead of the noun: la boîte dans lequel il a mis… Boîte is feminine: dans laquelle.
  • Using qui for a thing after a preposition: le sac dans qui j'ai mis mes clés. For things, use a form of lequel: le sac dans lequel…
  • Forgetting the contraction: le film à lequel je pense. À + lequel → auquel: le film auquel je pense (the film I'm thinking of).

Flashcards 8

the four forms of lequel
the reason why / for which
the person I work with
the day we left
+ 4 more

Practice

1
Complete: Voici la clé sans __ je ne peux pas entrer. (Here is the key without which I can't get in.)
2
Fill in the blank with a form of lequel: Ce sont les outils avec __ mon grand-père construisait des canots.
3
the summer I learned to swim — choose the correct translation.
4
Write the contracted form: le concours __ j'ai participé (participer à; concours is masculine singular).
5
Which sentence is correct?
6
Match each noun phrase to the pronoun that completes it.
la ville __ je suis née
le film __ tout le monde parle
l'amie chez __ j'ai dormi
les raisons pour __ il est parti
le pont sous __ on passe
7
Translate the missing words: la maison __ j'ai grandi (the house I grew up in). Give the one-word answer.
8
the restaurant across from which we parked — which is correct?
9
Put the steps for translating the tools we can't work without in order.
  1. 1Write: les outils sans lesquels on ne peut pas travailler
  2. 2Agree with outils (masculine plural): lesquels
  3. 3Decide what follows sans: tools are things, not people, so use a form of lequel
  4. 4Rewrite the English formally: the tools without which we can't work
  5. 5Identify the preposition: without = sans

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