Relative pronoun "que" - direct object

To understand que, you first need to know what a direct object is. A direct object is the person or thing that receives the action of a verb. If you say "I eat the apple," the apple is the direct object. In French, when we want to combine two sentences that share the same object, we use que. For example: "C'est un film" (It is a movie) and "Je regarde le film" (I am watching the movie). To combine them, we identify the shared object: "le film." In the second part, "le film" is the object of "regarde." We swap it for que. Now we get: "C'est le film que je regarde." Notice how que sits right after the noun it describes. It tells the listener, "Hey, I'm about to give you more info about this thing!" It is like a grammar traffic light. It signals that a description is coming up next.

1. 1Creating a sentence with que follows a very logical path. Follow these steps to build your own:
2. 2Start with your main sentence: C'est le livre (It is the book).
3. 3Identify the second sentence: Tu lis le livre (You are reading the book).
4. 4Find the repeating noun: le livre.
5. 5Replace the noun in the second sentence with que.
6. 6Place que immediately after the noun in the first sentence.
7. 7Follow que with your subject and verb: C'est le livre que tu lis.
8. 8There is one crucial spelling rule to remember. If the next word starts with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u) or a silent 'h', que becomes qu'. For example: Le gâteau qu'il mange (The cake that he eats). This is called elision. It helps the language sound musical and avoids a clunky "uh-ee" sound.

You use que whenever the noun you are describing is the object of the following action. This happens in almost every daily scenario:

• Ordering Food: "Le plat que je commande est végétarien" (The dish I am ordering is vegetarian).
• Asking Directions: "La rue que vous cherchez est à gauche" (The street you are looking for is on the left).
• Job Interviews: "Les compétences que j'ai sont utiles" (The skills I have are useful).
• Talking about Friends: "L'ami que je visite habite à Paris" (The friend I am visiting lives in Paris).

In English, we often drop the word "that." We might say "The book I'm reading." In French, you cannot do this. You must always include que. It is the structural steel of your sentence. If you leave it out, the sentence will collapse!

Do not use que if the noun you are describing is the subject of the next verb. If the noun is doing the action, you need qui. For example, in "The man who is singing," the man is doing the singing. You would use qui. But in "The man that I see," I am doing the seeing, and the man is the object. That is when you use que. Also, don't use que for locations or times if you mean "where" or "when"—that is the job for où. Finally, don't use que if you need a preposition like "with" or "for." Que is strictly for direct objects. It is a specialist, not a generalist.

The biggest mistake is forgetting the apostrophe. Writing que il instead of qu'il is a classic beginner move. Even native speakers might slip up in a fast text message, but in writing, it is a must. Another common error is using qui when you mean que. A quick trick: que is almost always followed by a subject (like je, tu, Marie). Qui is almost always followed by a verb. If you see a verb right after the gap, que is probably the wrong choice. Also, remember that que does not change for masculine or feminine nouns. It stays the same whether you are talking about a garçon or a fille. It is very loyal like that.

It is easy to confuse que with qui. Think of qui as "Who/Which" (the actor) and que as "That/Whom" (the acted-upon).

• Qui + Verb: L'homme qui parle (The man who speaks).
• Que + Subject: L'homme que je connais (The man that I know).

Another contrast is with ce que. You use ce que when there is no specific noun before it. For example: "I know what you are eating" becomes "Je sais ce que tu manges." Use que when you have a specific noun like "the apple" or "the bread."