Ce que / Ce qui instead of Que or Qui alone.

Bonjour Kate, We don't currently have a lesson that specifically addresses when to use French relative pronouns (que / qui) vs when to use indefinite relative pronouns (ce que / ce qui). The difference is straightforward: you need relative pronouns when there is an antecedent - something specific that the pronoun refers back to: J'ai mangé du pain. Le pain que j'ai mangé était bon. You need indefinite relative pronouns when there is no antecedent, when the thing is unknown or unspecified: Ce que j'ai mangé était bon. I hope this helps! :-)

Thanks so much for the reply. Yes that seems clear. Will now try to apply it!

Bonjour Kate ! That's a very interesting question indeed! Let's point out first that we're talking about the relative pronouns here, which are used to introduce a new information in a sentence (as opposed to question words like "what?"). Once you know this, the separation is quite simple: "qui/que" can mean "who/which/that ..." whereas "ce qui/ce que" mean "what ...". e.g. La fille que je regarde. (The girl whom[m]/that I'm watching.) e.g. Je fais ce que je veux. (I do what I want.) Precision: in cases where "ce qui / ce que" would also be translated by "which" in English, you need to ask yourself: What does "que/qui/ce que/ce qui" is 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". e.g. Les gens que je rencontre ... (The people which I meet...) Here "que" refers to "people" e.g. J'aime les bananes, ce que tu trouves fascinant. (I love bananas, which you find fascinating.) Here "ce que" refers to the whole fact that I love bananas, not just to the bananas. I hope that’s helpful!