Les médecins n’ont toujours pas identifié la maladie dont il est mort.
The doctors still haven’t identified the illness he died from.
C’est un livre dont l’importance est indiscutable.
It’s a book whose importance is undeniable.
Les douleurs dont elle souffre l’empêche de sortir.
The pains she suffers from prevent her from going out.
Nos voisins ont un chien dont nos enfants ont très peur.
Our neighbours have a dog our children are very frightened of.
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 ...
Les médecins n’ont toujours pas identifié la maladie dont il est mort.
The doctors still haven’t identified the illness he died from.
C’est un livre dont l’importance est indiscutable.
It’s a book whose importance is undeniable.
Les douleurs dont elle souffre l’empêche de sortir.
The pains she suffers from prevent her from going out.
Nos voisins ont un chien dont nos enfants ont très peur.
Our neighbours have a dog our children are very frightened of.
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 ...
