Doubt in qui/que

ShreyA1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Doubt in qui/que

Bonjour Cécile,

In the sentence- 

"Les profs qui nous  accompagnent sont très sympas."

Madame,

Is it correct to use "que/qui" as qui is either followed by a verb or a reflexive pronoun. And que is followed by a noun or subject pronoun.

Here nous is a subject pronoun,then why 'qui' is used?

Merci d'avance.

Asked 5 years ago
CécileKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Hi Varsha,

You cannot say that 'qui' or 'que' replace any pronouns. They are link words to connect clauses.

Qui is used for subject pronouns and Que is used for object pronouns.

In the sentence you use :

Les profs que j'ai rencontrés sont très sympas The teachers (that) I met are very friendly.

It has to be 'que' because you will never have, qui je , (you will have 'qui me') and that is why I changed the pronoun from you to them as 'vous' and 'nous' can be both object and subject pronouns, which can create confusion.

If you look at my answer to Arndís in the same lesson, I give some 'rules of thumb' to avoid these (common) mistakes. The rules apply to 'ce qui' and 'ce que' too.

You could say-  "J'ai rencontré des profs très sympas" I met really friendly teachers

But it is slightly different to the one using a relative pronoun.

Hope this helps!

ChrisC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Qui replaces the subject in the relative clause. Therefore it is qui and not que. Que replaces the direct object. Incidentally, nous is the direct object.

Les profts, qui nous accompagnent sont très sympas.
Les profs, que j'ai rencontrés, sont très sympas.

ShreyA1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
Still unable to understand 
CécileKwiziq team member

Hi Varsha,

In that sentence -

Les profs (subject) qui (relative pronounaccompagnent (verb) nous (direct object pronoun) ....

Nous is  an object pronoun but as it is placed before the verb it looks like a subject pronoun.

If we change the pronoun from us to them -

Les profs qui les accompagnent sont très sympas. ( les = them) 

would that sentence make it clearer ?

ShreyA1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
So qui is correct or que?
CécileKwiziq team member
qui is correct...
ShreyA1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Bonjour Madame,

After re-reading the text I have come to the following conclusion-

1.Qui replaces the subject of the sentence (as in the sentence suggested by me)

2.Que replaces the object of the sentence 

(Les profs que j'ai rencontrés, sont très sympas)which means

The professors whom I recognised are very kind.

(Here whom is the pronoun replacing professors used in the sense of an object )

The real sentence would have been-

J'ai rencontrés les très sympas profs.

Am I correct? Please verify.

Merci d'avance.

ChrisC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
Yes, that's absolutely correct. Qui-->subject, que-->direct object.
ShreyA1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Merci Chris.

Just want Madame Cécile to verify too.

I would be really grateful 

ShreyA1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Merci Madame Cécile 

The confusing topic is now on my tips ; well clear.

Doubt in qui/que

Bonjour Cécile,

In the sentence- 

"Les profs qui nous  accompagnent sont très sympas."

Madame,

Is it correct to use "que/qui" as qui is either followed by a verb or a reflexive pronoun. And que is followed by a noun or subject pronoun.

Here nous is a subject pronoun,then why 'qui' is used?

Merci d'avance.

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