LESSON XVIII
Relative pronouns. — Whom as object of preposition. — Which (that) as object of preposition. — What (that which). — Whose. — Irregular verbs fuir, hair, coudre, croire, valoir
69. Relative pronouns. — We learned in Section 38 that the relative pronouns who, whom, that, which (referring to persons or things) are expressed in French by qui, as subject of verb, and by que, as object of verb. The remaining case will now be taken up, — the case of the relative as object of a preposition.
a.* Whom as object of preposition. The relative pronoun whom as object of a preposition is usually qui. However, the forms lequel, laquelle, lesquels, lesquelles are used on account of their inflection to indicate the exact antecedent in case there should be ambiguity if qui were employed. (Notice that the contracted forms auquel, auxquels, auxquelles are used when the preposition à is employed, and that duquel, desquels, desquelles are used when the preposition is de.
La femme pour qui il travaille est The woman for whom he is workma. tante. ing is my aunt.
La mère de mon ami à laquelle j'ai The mother of my friend to whom
écrit vient d'arriver. I wrote has just arrived.
La femme de qui je parle est ma The woman about whom I am
sœur.1 speaking is my sister.
1 The preposition de + relative pronoun, as above indicated, may be and generally is replaced by the special form dont, of whom, of which: La femme dont (de qui) je parle est The woman about whom I am speak-
ma sœur. ing is my sister.
Le livre dont (duquel) vous parlez. The book that you speak about.
b. Which (that) as object of preposition. The relative which (that) as object of a preposition is lequel, laquelle, etc.
La plume avec laquelle vous écrivez. The pen with which you are writing. Le livre duquel vous parlez.1 The book that you speak about.
La ville dans laquelle vous demeurez.2 The city in which you are living.
c. What (that which). The relative pronoun what, i.e., that which, is expressed by ce (+ qui, if subject, + que, if object, + dont, of which, of whom).3
Je sais ce que vous faites. / know what you are doing.
Il sait ce qui a eu lieu hier. He knows what took place yesterday.
Il achète ce dont il a besoin. He buys what he needs (has need of).
d. Whose. The relative pronoun whose (of whom, of which) is generally expressed by dont. (Notice Section 69, a, note 1, for remarks on the use of this word as a substitute for other forms of the relative pronoun.)
L'homme dont le fils est ici. The man whose son is here.
L'église dont les fenêtres sont bri- The church (he windows of which sees. are broken.
Note. Dont cannot be used when a preposition precedes whose. The inflected forms lequel, laquelle, etc., are required in that case.
La femme au fils de laquelle je parle The woman to whose son I am est ma maîtresse d'école. speaking is my school-teacher.
70. Irregular verbs. — Study the irregular verbs fuir, to flee; haïr, to hate; coudre, to sew; croire, to believe, think; valoir, to be worths
1 See last note on preceding page.
2 The adverb où generally replaces dans (à, sur, etc.) + relative pronoun. Hence, the above sentence is generally written : La ville où vous demeurez.
3 After a preposition, if the antecedent is not definite, quoi is used : C'est à quoi je pensais. That is what I was thinking of.
4 The impersonal expression valoir mieux, to be better, requires the subjunctive or infinitive.
Il vaut mieux que vous fassiez ceci. It is better that you do this.
EXERCISE
(a) 1. Our neighbor sold the dog that made all that noise last night. 2. The pen is worth what you paid for it. 3. I knew that he would not do it. 4. The next day he bought what his wife needed. 5. The boys whom I called are my nephews. 6. We arrived at a city the streets of which were paved with bricks. 7. I like what is good and I hate what is bad. 8. Tell him what your father did this morning. 9. She ought to eat what is good for her health. 10. The robbers fled as soon as we arrived.
(b) 11. I know what she will sing to-night. 12. The lady who visited us is my French teacher. 13. The man for whom he is working is a doctor.1 14. Can she do what I did yesterday? 15. I met the gentleman to whose son I am giving lessons. 16. She now sews as well as her mother. 17. I know what I need. Have you too much of it ? 18. What would you do if he fled? 19. Let us give him what he needs and then he will go away. 20. The village in which he is working is very small ; so he cannot have a good time.
(c) 21. The stone that struck me was very large. 22. The teacher will know what you did this morning. 23. I shall send what I wish. 24. Do you know what hurt her hand ? 25. He wanted to flee, but he fell and broke his arm. 26. Then whom will you believe if he is wrong? 27. The pen that I bought yesterday is already broken. 28. I know the man whose son was killed in the war. 29. The child with whom you are playing is my cousin. 30. I remember the song that she sang last evening.
(d) 31. What2 did you give him this morning? 32. He always hated that man. 33. The lady of whom I spoke is dead.
1 Remember that the indefinite article is omitted before unmodified names of professions.
Il est médecin ; je suis avocat. He is a doctor; I am a lawyer.
2 How much (money).
34. He made use of the books that he needed. 35. When I was young I believed that the earth was flat. 36. I lost the pencil with which you wrote the letter. 37. The house is worth what you paid for it. 38. I don't like the story about which you were talking. 39. That house will be worth much money next year. 40. She would not believe what he had said.
