Indefinite Relative Pronouns

Pronoms relatifs indéfinis

French indefinite relative pronouns
Share / Tweet / Pin Me!

Indefinite relative pronouns are connectors: they link relative clauses to main clauses and, unlike normal relative pronouns, do not not have a specific antecedent.

Characteristics of indefinite relative pronouns

  1. Connect relative and main clauses
  2. Can be subjects, direct objects, or objects of a preposition
  3. Are impersonal and therefore invariable
  4. Are required

 If any of the above grammatical concepts are unclear to you, please study those lessons before reading this one.

French indefinite relative pronouns

There are five French indefinite relative pronouns:

Pronoun   Function   English equivalents
ce dont   object of preposition de   what, that
ce que   direct object   what, that
ce qui   subject   what, that
(ce) __ quoi   object of any other preposition   what, that
quiconque   subject or object   anyone who, whoever

The first four are the most important and, confusingly, all have the same English equivalents. So which pronoun to use depends solely on the grammatical structure of the sentence. Click the links in the table above for detailed lessons.

 Relative Pronouns Quizzes

Think you’ve got it? Test yourself on French relative pronouns with these fill-in-the-blanks exercises:

Note: You must be logged into your Progress with Lawless French account to take these tests. If you don’t have one, sign up – it’s free!

 Related lessons

 Share / Tweet / Pin Me!

French indefinite relative pronouns

Questions about French?

 Visit the Progress with Lawless French Q+A forum to get help from native French speakers and fellow learners.

More Lawless French

 Subscribe to my twice-weekly newsletter.

Support Lawless French

  This free website is created with love and a great deal of work.

If you love it, please consider making a one-time or monthly donation.

Your support is entirely optional but tremendously appreciated.

Leave a Reply