Qui, que, dont
Using 鈥榪ui鈥 to join two sentences together
Qui 鈥 means who if referring back to a person in the sentence:
la femme qui habite l脿-bas est tr猫s sympa 鈥 the lady who lives over there is very friendly
Qui can also mean which if referring back to a thing or place:
l鈥檋么tel bleu qui est au bord de la mer est ferm茅 - the blue hotel, which is by the sea, is closed
It is used to replace the subject of the sentence, for example:
- I have a bike + my bike is blue 鈫 I have a bike which is blue
- j鈥檃i un v茅lo + mon v茅lo est bleu 鈫 j鈥檃i un v茅lo qui est bleu
Using 鈥榪ue鈥 to join two sentences
Que 鈥 means that or which when referring back to an object in a sentence. For example:
- c鈥檈st le groupe que tu as vu au concert - it鈥檚 the band that you saw at the concert
(You is the subject of the sentence 鈥 ie the person doing the verb you saw. The band is the object, ie: what you saw.)
When que is used before a noun starting with a vowel it is shortened to 辩耻鈥, for example:
- he ate the cake + the cake was delicious 鈫 the cake that he ate was delicious
(He is eating 鈥 so he is the subject, the cake is the object, ie what he ate) 鈫 le g芒teau 辩耻鈥il a mang茅 茅tait d茅licieux
Using 鈥榙ont鈥 to join two sentences
Dont 鈥 means whose, of which, of whom, about whom, about which, from which.
It is used a lot to refer back to things you have been talking about, for example:
- c鈥檈st de la m猫re de Pauline dont elle parle - it鈥檚 Pauline鈥檚 mum she鈥檚 talking about
- c鈥檈st l鈥櫭﹎ission dont tout le monde parle - it鈥檚 the programme everyone is talking about