Read a formal letter, a film review or a news editorial in French and you will meet sentences like C'est la raison pour laquelle je ne viendrai pas (That is the reason why I will not come) and Voici les journaux auxquels je suis abonné (Here are the newspapers I subscribe to). In Grade 11 you learned that French moves the preposition to the front of a relative clause and follows it with lequel for things. At Grade 12 the difficulty is no longer the idea; it is spotting the preposition. English often hides it (the meeting I attended, the challenges we face), while French verbs carry it openly (assister à, faire face à). Once you can see it, you need the right one of twelve forms. This lesson gives you that, plus the formal uses of lequel for people, quoi when there is no noun, and the question Lequel… ?
| Alone (after most prepositions) | à + lequel | de + lequel (after a compound preposition) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| masculine singular | lequel | auquel | duquel |
| feminine singular | laquelle | à laquelle | de laquelle |
| masculine plural | lesquels | auxquels | desquels |
| feminine plural | lesquelles | auxquelles | desquelles |
The à-verbs: where auquel hides
The trap is that English translates many à-verbs with no preposition, or with a different one: to attend = assister à, to face = faire face à, to take part in = participer à, to think about = penser à. If you translate word for word you will write la réunion que j'ai assistée, which is wrong because assister needs à. Always rebuild the clause as a full French sentence first (j'ai assisté à la réunion), and the preposition shows itself.
| French verb | Relative clause | English |
|---|---|---|
| être abonné à | les journaux auxquels je suis abonné | the newspapers I subscribe to |
| participer à | le projet auquel je participe | the project I'm taking part in |
| assister à | la conférence à laquelle nous avons assisté | the lecture we attended |
| faire face à | les défis auxquels la région fait face | the challenges the region is facing |
| penser à / réfléchir à | la solution à laquelle j'ai pensé | the solution I thought of |
| s'intéresser à | les enjeux auxquels je m'intéresse | the issues I'm interested in |
| s'habituer à | le climat auquel je me suis habitué | the climate I got used to |
| tenir à | le chandail auquel je tiens le plus | the sweater I care about most |
| s'attendre à | le résultat auquel on s'attendait | the result we expected |
| grâce à (compound) | la bourse grâce à laquelle j'ai pu étudier | the scholarship thanks to which I was able to study |
- la conseillère à qui j'ai écrit — the advisor I wrote to
- les amis avec qui je pars à Gaspé — the friends I'm going to Gaspé with
- l'entraîneur grâce à qui j'ai progressé — the coach thanks to whom I improved
- la conseillère à laquelle j'ai écrit — same meaning, more formal
- les candidats parmi lesquels on choisira — the candidates among whom we will choose (parmi: lesquels, not qui)
- J'ai rencontré le frère de ma voisine, laquelle habite à Sudbury. — I met my neighbour's brother; she (the neighbour) lives in Sudbury.
The last example shows a formal use you will see in reports and legal or news writing: lequel as a subject after a comma, chosen because its gender points to the right noun. Qui habite à Sudbury could describe the brother or the neighbour; laquelle can only mean the neighbour. In everyday speech and writing, plain qui is the normal subject pronoun; use subject lequel only when it removes a real ambiguity. For things, modern French does not use qui after a preposition (only literary writing does, for a personified thing): la bourse grâce à laquelle, not grâce à qui.
Lequel in questions: which one?
| Question | English | Why this form |
|---|---|---|
| Lequel des personnages trouves-tu le plus convaincant ? | Which of the characters do you find most convincing? | personnage: masculine singular |
| Laquelle des possibilités te semble la plus réaliste ? | Which of the options seems most realistic to you? | possibilité: feminine singular |
| Auquel de ces programmes t'es-tu inscrit ? | Which of these programs did you sign up for? | s'inscrire à + programme |
| Duquel parles-tu ? | Which one are you talking about? | parler de + a masculine noun |
| Avec lesquelles de tes amies pars-tu ? | Which of your friends are you leaving with? | avec + amies: feminine plural |
| Ces romans, lesquels as-tu lus ? | These novels, which ones have you read? | lesquels is a direct object before avoir, so lus agrees |
In context: an application for a summer immersion program
- Je vous écris au sujet du programme d'immersion auquel je souhaite participer cet été. — I am writing about the immersion program I wish to take part in this summer.
- C'est un programme auquel je pense depuis deux ans, et la raison pour laquelle il m'attire est simple. — It's a program I have been thinking about for two years, and the reason it appeals to me is simple.
- Les activités culturelles auxquelles j'ai assisté à Ottawa m'ont donné envie de vivre en français. — The cultural events I attended in Ottawa made me want to live in French.
- Ce à quoi je tiens le plus, c'est de parler français tous les jours. — What matters most to me is speaking French every day.
- Je joins une lettre de ma conseillère, grâce à qui j'ai découvert ce programme. — I am enclosing a letter from my advisor, thanks to whom I discovered this program.