These examples show how ce que is used:
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.
Mes plantes, que j'arrose tous les jours, sont très belles.
My plants, which I water every day, are very beautiful.
Here que refers to plants.
Here ce que refers to the whole fact that I love bananas, not just to the bananas.
ATTENTION: Case of quoi
Quoi will be used when what is followed by an infinitive = "what to do, what to think...":
Tu ne devineras jamais ce que Paul a fait!
You will never guess what Paul did!
Je fais ce que je veux.
I do what I want.
J'aime les bananes, ce que tu trouves fascinant.
I love bananas, which you find fascinating.
Tu ne comprends pas ce que je t'explique.
You don't understand what I'm explaining to you.
Il croit ce que la télé lui raconte.
He believes what the TV tells him.
Lise pense à ce qu'il lui a dit.
Lise thinks about what he told her.
Also, do the following sentences have the same meaning? Which sentence is incorrect? Why?
On fait du sport régulièrement, ce qui est important.
C'est important qu'on fasse du sport régulièrement.
C'est important ce qu'on fasse du sport régulièrement.
Thank you
Hi Joan,
The last sentence is wrong you could say -
Ce qui est important, c'est qu'on fasse du sport régulièrement.
Bonne continuation!
The last sentence is wrong, because you need the relative clause que instead of the the relative pronoun ce que. This can sometimes confuse students because que can have different functions in the structure of a sentence.
On fait du sport régulièrement, ce qui est important. -- Ce qui is the subject of the clause.
C'est important qu'on fasse du sport régulièrement. -- que is the conjunction starting the clause.
Also, do the following sentences have the same meaning? Which sentence is incorrect? Why?
On fait du sport régulièrement, ce qui est important.
C'est important qu'on fasse du sport régulièrement.
C'est important ce qu'on fasse du sport régulièrement.
Thank you
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"Fais attention à tout ce qui se passe." - why here uses "ce qui"? Isn't it refer to "tout" which should use "qui"?
You need "ce qui" to refer to a thing (what) and "qui" by itself to refer to a person (who).
"Fais attention à tout ce qui se passe." - why here uses "ce qui"? Isn't it refer to "tout" which should use "qui"?
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Ce qui is normally followed by a verb or an indirect object pronoun (me, te, lui, nous, vous, leur, se). I assume the latter one is what you mean.
Tu sais bien ce qui me plaît.
Ce qui s'est passé?
Ne vois-tu pas ce qui a changé? (This is with a verb following)
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When I did a test, I answered one wrong because the correct answer was;
Nous ne savons pas ce qui tu fais
Could you please explain this?
When I did a test, I answered one wrong because the correct answer was;
Nous ne savons pas ce qui tu fais
Could you please explain this?
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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 ...".
I hope that's helpful!
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 :
Bonne journée !
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