Download Campus Unité 11 – quelques precisions grammaticales

Campus Unité 12 – quelques précisions grammaticales
Relative Pronouns
As you know, a pronoun is a part of speech that can take the place of a noun and function
like a noun in a sentence. It is a way to refer back to something or someone already
mentioned, without repeating the name of the person or thing. If you had to always say
things like “I saw Jared today; Jared was in a good mood because Jared gets to go on
vacation in a few short weeks” it would become tiresome. It is easier and more effective
to say “…he was in a good mood because he gets to go on vacation…”
The purpose of relative pronouns, in particular, is to link two sentences, or clauses. Thus
it is similar to a conjunction (and, or, but), but unlike a conjunction it replaces a noun.
For now, you should know the following 4 relative pronouns in French:
qui
que
où
dont
=
=
=
=
who, that, which
whom, that, which
when, where
of which, of whom, whose
1. Qui and que
Note that BOTH QUI AND QUE REFER TO BOTH PEOPLE AND THINGS.
Do not assume that a person can be replaced by qui and a thing by que. The important
thing to determine when choosing between the two is whether the noun being replaced is
subject or object of the verb in the sentence. So let’s review the difference between a
subject and an object:
a subject does the verb and an object has the verb done to it/him/her.
For example:
1. Antoine adore Anaïs.
2. Anaïs adore Antoine.
In sentence 1, Anaïs is the object because she is being adored, while in sentence 2 she is
the subject, the one doing the adoring. Likewise, Antoine is the subject in sentence 1 and
becomes the object in sentence 2.
1. Anaïs est une femme. Antoine adore Anaïs. 
Anaïs est la femme qu’Antoine adore.*
2. Anaïs est une femme. Anaïs adore Antoine. 
Anaïs est la femme qui adore Antoine.
Note that when Anaïs is the object of the sentence (1), she is replaced by que. When she
is the subject of the sentence (2), she is replaced by qui.
The part of the sentence begun by a relative pronoun is called a relative clause, or une
proposition relative.
* que becomes qu’ in front of a vowel or a mute ‘h’.
qui always remains qui
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2. Que
When the direct object referred to by que is feminine or plural and is in a sentence
written in the passé compose, the past participle must agree in gender and/or number with
that object. There is no accord with qui, où, or dont.
For example:
-Ceci est une maison. Jacques a construit cette maison.
becomes
C’est la maison que Jacques a construite.
-Truismes et Attentat sont des livres amusants. J’ai lu ces livres.
becomes
Truismes et Attentat sont des livres amusants que j’ai lus.
-Anaïs et Clarika sont des chanteuses. Hier nous avons écouté ces chanteuses.
becomes
Anaïs et Clarika sont des chanteuses que nous avons écoutées hier.
3. Où
We know où as an adverb or conjunction that means “where.” As a relative pronoun, it
can mean either “where” or “when” (although sometimes in English we use “that”). It is
used to refer to specific places, dates, and times.
New York est la ville où je suis né.
1988 est l’année où je suis né.
Le lundi 5 septembre est le jour où je suis né.
Voici le café où j’ai rencontré ma copine.
4. Dont
This relative pronoun refers to either places or things that are the object of the preposition
de in the relative clause.
J’ai deux frères. Je parle souvent de mes frères.
J’ai deux frères dont je parle souvent.
I have two brothers of whom I often speak.
Il a un chien. Les enfants ont peur de ce chien.
Il a un chien dont les enfants ont peur.
He has a dog that the children are afraid of [‘of which the children have fear’].
Dont is frequently used to show possession, and translates into English as “whose.”
Cette femme habite à Paris. Je connais la fille de cette femme.
Cette femme, dont je connais la fille, habite à Paris.
That woman, whose daughter I know, lives in Paris.
L’homme a été très reconnaissant. Elle a trouvé le passeport de cet homme.
L’homme dont elle a trouvé le passeport a été très reconnaissant.
The man whose passport she found was very grateful.
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5. Choosing a relative pronoun
Say you have two sentences that are overly simple and you wish to make one, more
elegant sentence out of them. Look at the second sentence, which will become the
proposition relative.
1) First, note which noun is repeated in the second sentence; this noun can be
replaced by a relative pronoun.
2) Then, determine whether the noun is a subject or object of the verb, or if it
is instead a place or time.
3) If the noun is a subject, you will link the two sentences with qui.
4) If the noun is a place or a time, you will link the sentences with où.
5) If the noun is an object, is it a direct object – with no preposition between
it and the verb – or is it the object of the preposition de?
6) If it is a direct object, use que. If the finished sentence is in the passé
composé, check to see if the object is feminine and/or plural. If so, make
the accord with the past participle.
7) If the noun is object of the preposition de, then use the pronoun dont.
Here are some examples.
 J’ai acheté une carte postale. La carte postale montre une vue de Paris.
Carte postale appears in both sentences, so you are going to replace the second one. The
verb is montrer, which means to show. Is the postcard showing or being shown? Both
are possible, but in this case the card is ‘showing’ the picture that is on it, so it is the
subject of the verb. Therefore:
J’ai acheté une carte postale qui montre une vue de Paris.
 J’ai acheté une carte postale. Je vais envoyer cette carte postale à ma mère.
Carte postale again appears in both sentences. The verb in the second sentence is
envoyer, which means to send. Is the postcard sending or being sent? The latter, so it is
an object. There is no preposition between “envoyer” and “cette carte postale,” so it is a
direct object and you will use que. Hence:
J’ai acheté une carte postale que je vais envoyer à ma mère.
 Paris est une ville importante. Les Français sont fiers de cette ville.
Here we are going to replace the second instance of ville. Notice that in the second
sentence the word is preceded by an expression using the preposition de, so we can
replace the words de cette ville with the pronoun dont.
Paris est une ville importante dont les Français sont fiers.
Paris is a city of which the French are proud.
Remember some other common expressions that use de are:
avoir besoin de qqch
parler de qqch
être content de qqch
avoir envie de qqch
se souvenir de qqch
être satisfait de qqch
 C’était un jour mémorable. J’ai rencontré mon mari ce jour-là.
The noun being replaced is an expression of time, so we know we can replace it with où.
C’était le jour où j’ai rencontré mon mari.
See Campus p. 165 for using relative pronouns to present and define things.
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Le faire causatif
You can use the verb faire + an infinitive to describe an action that someone else does for
you. For example, if someone says
“Aïssatou prépare le dîner”
that means that Aïssatou is making the meal herself. If someone says
“Aïssatou fait préparer le dîner”
that means that she has asked someone else to do it for her.
You can use the preposition par (by) to indicate who is doing the work:
Aïssatou fait préparer le dîner par ses filles. =
Les filles cuisinent le repas pour leur mère.
We often use the faire causatif when talking about domestic tasks, or getting one’s hair
cut and the like: sometimes we may cut our own hair, but we are more likely to se faire
couper les cheveux par un coiffeur. In the same vein, we do not generally repair our
own washing machine, but instead faire réparer la machine à laver par un réparateur.
Some people build their own houses, but for many others ils font construire une
maison.
If you are fortunate enough to have a maid or servants around the house, you can say:
« Moi, je fais faire la cuisine par mon chef personnel, et lui il fait faire la vaisselle par son
assistant. J’ai Doris la domestique qui vient deux fois par semaine ; je lui fais passer
l’aspirateur et laver le linge. Je peux quand même arroser les plantes moi-même. »
“I have my personal chef do the cooking, and he has his assistant wash the dishes. Doris,
the maid, comes in twice a week; I have her vacuum and do the laundry. I can at least
water the plants myself.”
Note that, if a sentence with the faire causatif contains one object, it is a direct object.
If there are two objects, the thing is direct and the person is indirect.
Some infinitives can take both direct and indirect objects, so when there is a possible dual
meaning the indirect object can be replaced by par.
Vocabulaire à apprendre
Les émotions – pp. 160-61
Voyager – pp. 162-63
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