Why in this lesson "Whom" relating to a person is qui rather than que as in all other lessons! Completely lost!

Nick B2Kwiziq community member

Why in this lesson "Whom" relating to a person is qui rather than que as in all other lessons! Completely lost!

Asked 1 year ago
ChrisC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

Whether you use qui or que (as relative pronouns) depends on two rules:

1) Use qui if you are referring to the subject or if there is a preposition directly preceding it.
2) Use que referring to the direct object (COD).

Examples are:

C'est le gars qui m'a parlé hier. -- That's the guy who spoke to me yesterday.
C'est le gars à qui j'ai parlé hier. -- That's the guy with whom I spoke yesterday.
C'est le gars que j'ai rencontré hier. -- That's the guy (whom) I met yesterday.

JimC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Bonjour Nick,

Agreed, it can be tricky and frustrating.

"How to use qui (instead of que) in French

There's an easy pattern to spot when deciding between qui and que to say who, that or which:

Use qui when the following word is a verb or reflexive /object pronoun (e.g. me, te, se, lui, le, la, nous, vous, leur, les, etc), and use que if the following word is a noun (thing or person).

In grammar jargon, we use qui when it's the subject of the verb, and que when it's the object of the verb."

The above has been copied and pasted from a lesson specifically on this point that is causing you some grief.

Hope that it will help

Bonne continuation,

Jim

Nick asked:View original

Why in this lesson "Whom" relating to a person is qui rather than que as in all other lessons! Completely lost!

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