Aide Memoire Qui vs Que vs Dont vs Où

This aide memoire will assist you in determining when qui, que, dont, quand, and où are used.  This will provide a precursor to other exercises using dont, où, and other words.

Both Qui and Que can be translated as that, which, or who which makes them very confusing.  Dont and où add another layer of confusion.  This aide memoire will highlight the key tricks and points needed to understand these concepts on the exams.  It will not go into detail as this is not a master’s degree in French, but intended to help you to maximize your points on the test as quickly as possible.  Learning these rules will garner 1-3 points on the grammar exam and show a C and E level of speaking on the oral exam.

Qui

Qui is most often seen as “who”.  Il écoute le chef qui parle./He listens to the boss who speaks.

Qui also appears as “which” or “that” to replace a subject.  Example:  La boîte est lourde./The box is heavy.  Je soulève la boîte./I am lifting the box.  Je soulève la boîte qui est lourde./I am lifting the box which is heavy.  Note in this example that a verb (est) follows qui and la boîte is the noun.  This is a major difference between qui and que usage.

The formula here is:

Qui = noun + qui + verb

La boîte qui est lourde

Caution…

Words like le, la, les, leur, me, te, etc. that appear in front of verbs can inject themselves in front of the verb in the qui construction as well.  This does not negate the formula above.

Que

Que links an object (see example) into one phrase using “that” or “which”.  Example:  Je lis un livre./I read a book.  Le livre est en anglais./The book is in English.  Le livre que je lis est en anglais./The book that I read is in English.  Note in this example that je follows que, not est.

Here is the formula used in the example :

Que = noun + que + subject + verb

Le livre que je lis

Que is also used in certain expressions and subjunctive uses and expressions.  These are found in the vocabulary list.  See the list for details.

Dont

Dont is related to the other words in this aide memoire but with a particular purpose.  Dont is most often used to replace “where,” “by which,” or “of which,” with a verb or expression that uses “de”.  An easy to remember example is “avoir besoin de”.   Example: J’ai besoin du livre./I need the book.  If we swap the phrase around we get: The book which I need./ Le livre dont j’ai besoin or “the book of which I have need”—sounds like old English.  Where we use “de” and we need to say “of which”, “which”, “that”, or “where”, we use dont.

Example: Où se tiendra la réunion dont vous avez parlé./Where will the meeting of which you spoke be held.  Here we see Où relating to the physical location of the meeting and dont being used to replace “of which”.

Here is the formula:

Dont = verb/expression with de meaning which/that/where

Dont can also be used to state “whose” as in “L’auteur dont j’ai lu l’article./The author whose article I read.”

Où and Quand

Où is most often used for “where” and used for places and times.  It can be used for “when” and “that” on occasion.  Example: Le restaurant où nous nous retrouverons se trouve dans le vieux quartier./ The restaurant where we will meet up is in the old district.

Où can also be used for a moment in time such as the vocabulary expression: au moment où/at the moment when.

Où vs Quand.  Both can mean “when” but they are different.  Où is used to connect ideas in a phrase.  Example: Lundi est le jour où je vais nager/ Monday is the day I go swimming or …the day when I go swimming.  In this case, où is in the middle.  Quand doesn’t connect phrases together the same way, it is used to ask questions and is often found at the beginning of a phrase in this capacity.  Example: Quand comptez-vous aller nager?/ When do you plan to go swimming?  and Quand je vais nager, je vais avec mon ami/ When I go swimming, I go with my friend.

However, quand can be found in the middle of a phrase as what is called a subordinating conjunction—something that connects two phrases or clauses where one phrase can’t stand on its own.  For example : Normalement, cela a lieu quand il se dégage une idée claire./Normally, this takes place when a clear idea emerges.  The phrase: “Normalement, cela a lieu” seems incomplete without the rest of the idea hence quand is used.

Quand is also used to indicate “once”. Example:  Once you have gone we will clean the house./ Quand vous serez parti, nous nettoierons la maison.

A quick test is to insert où and quand in the phrase and see which makes more sense.

Lorsque can be substituted for quand and is also on the vocabulary list.

Cautions…

1. Ou (or) and Où (where) are different based on the accent.
2. Quand can appear in the middle of a phrase. However, the English equivalent will typically flip the phrase around and put “when” at the beginning of the phrase.  For example: Quand la cloche sonne, Cendrillon doit partir./When the bell chimes, Cinderella needs to leave.