Ces idées dont ils se moquent maintenant étaient les siennes il y a cinq ans.
These ideas he mocks now were his five years ago.
Son dernier livre est celui dont il est le plus fier.
His latest book is the one he’s most proud of.
La ville, dont elle est maire depuis quelque temps, va fêter ses 200 ans.
The town, which she’s been mayor of for some time, is about to celebrate its 200th anniversary.
C’est une ville dont la beauté vous coupe le souffle.
It’s a town whose beauty takes your breath away.
Il y a une femme, dont j’ignore le nom, qui veut absolument te parler.
There’s a woman, whose name I don’t know, who really wants to talk to you.
Note
Note that dont is not used when it is part
of a longer phrase containing another
preposition
, such as à
côtédeqch:
La femme à
côté de qui j'étais assise ...
[and not *à côté dont j'étais assise ... ]
The woman next to whom I was sitting ...
2 The structure of dont
clauses
2.1Dont first word of clause
Dont is always the first
word of the
relative clause
. This contrasts with the English ofwhich 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
escapes me for the moment ...
Ces idées dont ils se moquent maintenant étaient les siennes il y a cinq ans.
These ideas he mocks now were his five years ago.
Son dernier livre est celui dont il est le plus fier.
His latest book is the one he’s most proud of.
La ville, dont elle est maire depuis quelque temps, va fêter ses 200 ans.
The town, which she’s been mayor of for some time, is about to celebrate its 200th anniversary.
C’est une ville dont la beauté vous coupe le souffle.
It’s a town whose beauty takes your breath away.
Il y a une femme, dont j’ignore le nom, qui veut absolument te parler.
There’s a woman, whose name I don’t know, who really wants to talk to you.
2.2 Used with le, la rather than son, sa
The
nouns
with which dont is used to indicate possession
are always preceded by le,
la or les, whilst in equivalent
English clauses 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 nom
m'échappe pour le moment] ...
The woman whose name escapes me for the moment ...
