How do you know when to use que/qui instead of ce que/qui
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Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
28/01/16
Bonjour Helena,
That's a very interesting question indeed!
Let's point out first that we're talking about the relative pronouns here, which are used to introduce a new information in a sentence (as opposed to question words like "what?").
Once you know this, the separation is quite simple: "qui/que" can mean "who/which/that ..." whereas "ce qui/ce que" mean "what ...".
Je fais ce que je veux. (I do what I want.)
I hope that's helpful!

Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
28/01/16
If it refers to a noun (expressed before), then you will use "que/qui".
If it refers to the whole part of the sentence, the whole idea, then it will be "ce que/ce qui".
-> Here "que" refers to "people"
-> Here "ce que" refers to the whole fact that I love bananas, not just to the bananas
:)
Helena
Kwiziq community member
29/01/16

Ron
Kwiziq community member
10/04/17
Kevin
Kwiziq community member
7/06/18

Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
13/06/18
Bonjour Ron !
In the case you pointed out, I agree that if what was found fascinating was only the bananas, you could use que, as follows :
ATTENTION, as it would mean something slightly different here:
I love the bananas that you find fascinating.
Bonne journée !
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Helena
Kwiziq community member
28 January 2016
6 replies
How do you know when to use que/qui instead of ce que/qui
This question relates to:
French lesson "Ce que (vs ce qui) = what, which (relative pronouns)"