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Relative pronouns refer to something previously mentioned. In French, the equivalent of what/which can be ce qui.
Learn about the French relative pronoun ce qui
These examples show how ce qui (what/which) is used:
When to use ce qui instead of ce que
The pattern to spot is that we use ce qui when the next word is a verb or an object or reflexive pronoun (for example: me, te, se, lui, le, la, nous, vous, leur, les).
Note that ce qui never becomes ce qu' in front of a vowel or a mute h.
Contrast with these sentences where ce que is used - notice the words immediately following
Read more about Ce que (vs ce qui) = what/which (French Relative Pronouns)
When to use ce qui or ce que versus qui or que ?
In cases where ce qui / ce que would also be translated by which in English, you need to ask yourself: What is que/qui/ce que/ce qui referring to?
If it refers to a noun (expressed before), then you will use que/qui.
If it refers to the whole part of the sentence, the whole idea, then it will be ce que/ce qui.
Here qui refers to flowers.
Here ce qui refers to the whole fact that I use aloe vera every day, not just to aloe vera.
ATTENTION: Case of quoi
Quoi will be used when what is followed by an infinitive = what to do, what to think:
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