Copy of Week 16 Day 3: Compound Relative Pronouns and Vocabulary About Birds
Today we will be learning about two things: compound relative pronouns and vocabulary related to birds.
In a previous lesson, we learned about the four relative pronouns: “qui, que, dont, où.” Today we will talk some more about this topic.
Listen to Week 16 Day 3 Track 1
- Qui is a subject pronoun.
- Que is an object pronoun.
- Dont replaces the structure “de + noun".
- Où replaces a place or a moment in time.
However, what if the element (to be replaced by the relative pronoun) is introduced by a different preposition and not “de”?
Let’s see an example:
Listen to Week 16 Day 3 Track 2
- IBM est une grande entreprise. Je travaille pour IBM. (IBM is a big company. I work for IBM.)
Here in the second sentence, “IBM” acts as an object, but is introduced by the preposition “pour.” If you try to link it with “que”:
IBM est une grande entreprise pour que je travaille.
Sorry, but that’s not correct! Here’s the one you should use:
- IBM est une grande entreprise pour laquelle je travaille.
So, in such a case, you will need to use compound relative pronouns:
Listen to Week 16 Day 3 Track 3
- lequel (masculine, singular)
- laquelle (feminine, singular)
- lesquels (masculine, plural)
- lesquelles (feminine, plural)
You can see in the case of the example above, you should keep the preposition when you link the sentence.
Speaking Practice 1
Listen to Week 16 Day 3 Track 4
- Il y a une table dans la cuisine. J’ai posé mon sac sur cette table.
There is a table in the kitchen. I put my bag on this table.
- Il y a une table dans la cuisine sur laquelle j’ai posé mon sac.
- Things get a little bit more complex with the preposition “à”.
→ First, the spelling has changed:
Listen to Week 16 Day 3 Track 5
à lequel | → | auquel |
à lesquels | → | auxquels |
à lesquelles | → | auxquelles |
(“à laquelle” doesn’t change)
- Then, if “à” is used to introduce a place, you will use “où” instead (see previous lesson)
Listen to Week 16 Day 3 Track 6
Il a trouvé le lycée Montebello. Il va faire ses études au lycée Montebello.
Il a trouvé le lycée Montebello où il va faire ses études.
- You need to be careful with the composed pronouns They usually replace things:
Listen to Week 16 Day 3 Track 7
- C’est le logiciel avec lequel je travaille. (This is the software I’m working with.)
- C’est le professeur à qui / auquel je pense toujours. (It is the teacher who I always think about.)
- Voici le collègue avec qui / avec lequel je travaille. (Here is the colleague with whom I work.)
Speaking Practice 2
Dialogue:
To really know a language, you need to not only be able to communicate at work or in the street, but you also need the vocabulary to talk about real life and about the environment around you. Today, we will focus on natural science by discussing different type of birds.
- First of all, the French word for “bird” is “oiseau,” and its plural form uses an x instead of an s (review the lesson on plurals to understand why).
Here are some vocabulary words:
Fait amusant : Certaines personnes apprennent le vocabulaire plus rapidement avec la traduction dans leur langue d’origine, tandis que d’autres préfèrent les images. Tout dépend si vous êtes en mode cerveau gauche dominant (vous comprenez mieux avec le texte et la logique) ou cerveau droit dominant (vous comprenez mieux avec les images). C’est tout au moins ce que certains pensent.
Speaking Practice 3
Dialogue
A Quick Recap of this Lesson-
Un petit résumé de la leçon
- lequel (masculine, singular)
- laquelle (feminine, singular)
- lesquels (masculine, plural)
- lesquelles (feminine, plural)
Sharpen Your Knowledge with Exercises
Exercise 1
Fill in the gaps with the right relative pronoun
Exercise 2
Answer the questions about the dialogue:
Exercise 3
Fill in the gaps using the following words: avec qui – laquelle – auxquels – lequel – à qui
Exercise 4
Exercise 5
Exercise 6
Answer the questions about the dialogue: