How French works
In English relative pronouns are words like who or which when they refer back to someone or something already mentioned in the same sentence:
The man who lives next door…
The book which is on the table…
The equivalents in French are qui and que. However, there is an important difference in the way these words are used in French. You use qui not when you want to say who, but when the word you’re referring back to (like the man and the book in the above examples) is the subject of the verb coming after the qui:
L’homme qui habite à côté…
The man who lives next door…
Le livre qui est sur la table…
The book which is on the table…
In the two examples to the left it is possible in English to miss out the who or which, hence the brackets around them. It is important to remember that que is never omitted in French – you cannot say: L’homme j’ai vu… or Le livre j’ai acheté….
Similarly, you use que not when you want to say which, but when the word you’re referring back to is the direct object of the verb coming after the que:
L’homme que j’ai vu…
The man (who) I saw…
Le livre que j’ai acheté…
The book (which) I bought…
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