How French works
If the word / phrase being replaced by a relative pronoun is introduced by de, the rules expressed in 33:7 above can still theoretically be applied. However, in practice French speakers contract both de qui and duquel to dont.
Note that this applies only when the de is used as a self-standing preposition (as in parler de qch, être satisfait de qch), and not when it is part of a longer phrase containing another preposition (such as à côté de qch, avec l’aide de qch - see section 2 below) :
La femme dont tu parlait ...
The woman you were talking about ...
but
La femme à côté de qui j'étais assis ...
[and not *La femme à côté dont...]
The woman next to whom I was sitting ...
Dont replaces the following types of complement introduced by de:
For example être le professeur de quelqu’un / le fondateur de quelque chose:
La fille dont il est le professeur paraît très douée
[i.e. il est le professeur de la fille]
The girl whose tutor he is seems very gifted
La société dont il était le fondateur est devenue très grande
[i.e. il était le fondateur de la société]
The company of which he was the founder has grown very big
Note that dont expresses possession in the same way as the English relative pronoun whose:
Pierre, dont j'ai acheté la voiture, est mon meilleur ami
[i.e. j'ai acheté la voiture de Pierre]
Pierre, whose car I bought, is my best friend
La maison, dont les murs sont en brique rouge, est très chère
[i.e. les murs de la maison sont en brique rouge]
The house, whose walls / the walls of which are made of red brick, is very expensive
For example parler de quelque chose:
La façon condescendante dont il vous a parlé
[i.e. il vous a parlé d'une façon condescendante]
The condescending way in which he spoke to you
For example être satisfait de quelque chose:
Le repas dont nous n’étions pas satisfaits
[i.e. nous n’étions pas satisfaits du repas]
The meal we weren’t satisfied with
The relative pronoun dont is always the first word of the relative clause . This contrasts with the English of which used to express possession, which is preceded by the thing possessed:
La société dont le nom m'échappe pour le moment...
The company the name of which name escapes me for the moment...
Note also that nouns with which dont is used to indicate possession are always preceded by the definite article , whilst in an equivalent English clause involving whose no article is used. English learners of French often wrongly add a possessive adjective :
La femme dont le nom m'échappe pour le moment...
[and not *dont son]
The woman whose name escapes me for the moment...
Dont is sometimes used without a verb with the sense of "including":
Il y a 43 membres du gouvernement dont 12 femmes
There are 43 members of the Government, of which 12 are women / including 12 women
These are used when the word / phrase being replaced is preceded by de which is part of a longer phrase containing a preposition :
De qui is used for people:
L’homme avec l'aide de qui j’ai trouvé les documents...
The man with whose help I found the documents...
La femme près de qui j’étais assis...
The woman next to whom I was sitting...
Duquel and derivatives are used for things (note that de laquelle is always two words):
La montagne sur les pistes de laquelle il y a toujours beaucoup de neige...
The mountain on whose slopes there is always plenty of snow...
La maison près de laquelle l’incident a eu lieu
The house near to which the incident took place
Où can be used to express various ideas of time and place where auquel or dans lequel would otherwise be used:
La ville où l'on m'a envoyé
The town to which I have been sent
A l'époque où je l'ai connu
At the time (that or when) I knew him
NB - If used as a relative pronoun , the English word when is never translated by quand:
On the day when I was supposed to take my exam
Le jour où j'étais censé passer mon examen
This contrasts with when used as a conjunction introducing an adverbial clause , in which case quand is used:
In 1993, when the Single Market came into force, there were many changes in Europe
En 1993, quand le Marché Unique est entré en vigueur, il y a eu beaucoup de changements en Europe
The difference is that when used as a relative pronoun refers back to a specific word, whilst when used as a conjunction introducing an adverbial clause refers back to an idea.
Où can also be used with par, de, là and partout:
Partout où elle va il l'accompagne
Everywhere she goes he goes with her
Là où j'habite il y a plein d'espaces vertes
Where I live there are lots of green spaces
C'est possible de prendre la route par où nous sommes passés?
Is it possible to take the road that we came by?
The pronoun lequel agrees with its antecedent :
La raison pour laquelle j'ai démissionné
The reason (why) I resigned
Note that whilst in English it is acceptable to say the reason why, in French this must always be rendered by la raison pour laquelle. The remaining pronouns have an invariable form, but all adjectives or participles in the relative clause must agree if the circumstances require it:
La chambre qui m'était destinée
The bedroom that was meant for me
La voiture que j’ai achetée est très rapide
The car (that) I bought is very fast
Furthermore, the verb in the relative clause must agree in number and person :
Vous qui avez de l'argent
You who have money
This occurs in a so-called called "free" relative clause , that is where the antecedent is non-specific:
Elle vient de me dire ce qui s'est passé
She's just told me what happened
A en croire ce que disent les journaux, il est très ambitieux
If we are to believe what the papers say, he's very ambitious
Dis moi ce dont tu as besoin / ce à quoi tu penses
Tell me what you need / are thinking of
This is also used within the structure ce + relative pronoun [...] + c'est as a means of bringing an idea to the forefront of the sentence. This is sometimes called extraction (see 56:1):
Ce qui me gêne, c'est qu'on ne m'a rien dit
What annoys me is that no-one told me anything
Ce qu'il me faut / Ce dont j'ai besoin / Ce à quoi je pense, c'est ...
What I need / What I'm thinking of is ...
"Free" relative clauses are also used in questions expressed in reported speech (see 44:3.2.4) and with tout (see 35:7.1).
Ce is also used to refer to the idea contained within the preceding clause rather than to a specific noun :
Il m'a dit de m'en aller, ce qui n'était pas gentille de sa part
He told me to go away, which wasn't very kind of him
Il m'a dit de m'en aller, ce que je trouve bizarre
He told me to go away, which I find strange
Il m'a dit de m'en aller, ce à quoi je ne m'attendais pas
He told me to go away, which I wasn't expecting