Relative pronouns — qui · que · où

In one line

qui stands in for the subject, que for the object, and où for a place or a time.

The forms on this page

The table

The three-second test

A verb follows → qui. A subject follows → que.

The English instinct here is wrong in a specific way, and knowing which way saves a lot of errors. English chooses between who and which according to whether the thing is a person or an object. French does not care about that at all. qui is not "who" and que is not "which" — qui is the subject form and que is the object form, for people and things alike.

English	French	Why
the man who is coming	l'homme qui arrive	subject
the man whom I know	l'homme que je connais	object
the book which is here	le livre qui est ici	subject — still qui
the book which I'm reading	le livre que je lis	object — still que

The English pair that does map is who / whom — the one distinction English has almost abandoned. If you can say "whom", use que; if only "who" works, use qui.

How you join two sentences

And one thing English lets you do that French does not: leave it out. "The book I'm reading", "the man I know" — English deletes the object relative entirely. French never deletes it. Le livre je lis is not a sentence; it must be Le livre que je lis. Whenever your English sentence has no relative word at all, French needs que.

Exceptions

Examples

Common mistakes

The two English habits to unlearn