Relative pronouns: où in French

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Relative pronouns: où

Relative pronouns (qui, que, où, dont, lequel) are used to refer to subjects that have been previously mentioned.

J’aime beaucoup cette ville. Victor ne connaît pas cette ville.

J’aime beaucoup cette ville que Victor ne connaît pas. (QUE = cette ville)

I love this town. Victor doesn’t know this town.

I love this town that Victor doesn’t know.

J’aime beaucoup cette ville. J’ai grandi dans cette ville.

J’aime beaucoup cette ville où j’ai grandi. (OÙ = dans cette ville)

I love this town. I grew up in this town.

I love this town where I grew up.

Où means ‘where’. When used as a relative pronoun, où often means ‘where’ as well. Officially it replaces a ‘place’: dans le jardin (in the garden), à la piscine (at the swimming pool), chez moi (at mine), etc.

Victor adore ce quartier. Dans ce quartier, les gens sont très sympathiques.

Victor adore ce quartier où les gens sont très sympathiques. (OÙ = dans ce quartier)

Victor loves this neighbourhood. In this neighbourhood, the people are very nice.

Victor loves this neighbourhood where the people are very nice.

Le restaurant où on se retrouvera s’appelle Chez Victor. (OÙ = au restaurant) The restaurant where we’ll meet up is called ‘Chez Victor’.
Je vais chez mes parents où le frigidaire est toujours plein ! (OÙ = chez mes parents) I’m going to my parents where the fridge is always full!

As a relative pronoun, où is also used in the following prepositional phrases:

• par où with the verbs passer par, entrer par, sortir par, aller par, etc.
• jusqu’où with the verbs aller jusqu’à, emmener jusqu’à, etc.
• d’où with the verbs venir de, sortir de, etc.

C’est le chemin par où je passe tous les matins. It’s the path (which) I take every morning.
Paris ? C’est la ville d’où je viens. Paris? It’s the town where I come from.
J’irai jusqu’où ce cheval me mènera. I will go wherever this horse will take me.

It’s important to note that où can refer to a moment in time. Most notably this occurs in these expressions: le jour où, le moment où, l’année où, etc. French students may want to use quand instead, but this is grammatically incorrect.

Le jour où j’ai rencontré Victor, c’était un samedi. The day (that) I met Victor was a Saturday.
Novembre est un mois où il pleut beaucoup. November is a month when it rains a lot.

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