French grammar - Who and that - the object relative pronoun que

Who and that - the object relative pronoun que

The object pronoun que means 'what' or 'that' and refers to a direct object. Unlike the subject relative pronoun qui, it cannot be the subject of a verb.

-- In English it is like the 'what' in 'You want what?' and not 'What is making that noise?'.

As an object pronoun que can only refer to things and not people. We use qui to refer to people.

Que can also serve as the object relative pronoun that refers to a direct object in a sentence or clause.

-- This is equivalent to the 'that' in the sentence 'The apple that I want'. The 'that' is the subject of the verb 'to want' – a pronoun referring to 'the apple'.

As an object relative pronoun que can refer to both people or things - singular or plural.

Unlike qui, que does not contract to qu' if it proceeds a vowel or mute h.

Examples:
	Que veux-tu ? What do you (familiar) want? The indefinite pronoun que is the object
	Qu'avez-vous dans le sac ? What do you (formal) have in the bag?
	La pomme que je veux. The apple that I want. As a relative pronoun que is the object of the second clause - que je veux
	Les pommes vertes que je veux. The green apples that I want. The relative pronoun que refers to a plural object
	Voici la glace que vous voulez. Here is the ice cream that you (formal) want.
	Le livre que vous voulez est intéressant. The book that you (formal) want is interesting.
	Les fruits qu'ils ont - ils sont délicieux. The fruits that they have - they are delicious.
	Les pommes que j'ai à la maison sont très aigres. The apples that I have at home are very sour.
	Il y a un trou dans le papier que vous avez dans votre sac. There is a hole in the paper that you (formal) have in your bag.
	Voici les papiers que vous voulez. Here are the papers that you (formal) want.
	Il y a des documents dans le bureau qu'ils veulent. There are some documents in the office that they want.
	Y a-t-il des livres dans cette boîte que vous voulez ? Are there any books in this box that you (formal) want?
	Sont-ce les clés qu'ils veulent ? Are these the keys that they want?
	Les timbres qu'elle a dans ce livre sont rares. The stamps she has in that book are rare. timbre (m) means 'postage stamp' rare (adj) means 'rare'