It would be helpful if the lesson contrasted qui and ce qui. Thank you, K
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Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
It would be helpful if the lesson contrasted qui and ce qui. Thank you, K
This question relates to:French lesson "Qui = Who/which/that (French Relative Pronouns)"
Asked 6 years ago
GruffNative French expert teacher in Kwiziq
Hi K - if you click on the pronom relatif links in the lesson you''ll see all the lessons we have on that topic, including ce qui and ce que.
Chris W. Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
In a nutshell: you use "qui" (=which/what) as the subject of a subordinate clause to refer to a noun in the main clause. If there is no clear target in the main clause to which "qui" can refer, you use "ce qui" (=that which).
1) Ce qui m'interesse, c'est la musique. -- What interests me is music.
2) La musique, qui m'interesse, est le jazz. -- The music, which interests, me is jazz.
In the first example the "what" has no clear target in the main clause, hence "ce qui" is used in French. In the second example, "qui" refers directly to "music" and therefore you can use it by itself.
Greetings, -- Chris (not a native speaker).
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