390. Agreement. The adjectival forms agree like ordinary adjectives; the variable pronominal forms agree in gender, not necessarily in number, with the nouns for which they stand; qui? assumes the number of the noun or pronoun referred to:

Quels livres avez-vous?
Quelles sont vos raisons?

Laquelle des dames est venue?
Qui sonne? Qui sont-elles?

Which (what) books have you?
What are your reasons?
Which of the ladies has come?
Who rings? Who are they?

391. Quel?, Lequel?. The adjective quel? = 'which?", 'what?', and the pronoun lequel? = 'which (one) ?", 'what (one)?', refer either to persons or things, and stand both in direct and indirect questions:

Quels livres avez-vous?
Dites-moi quel livre il a.
Desquels avez-vous besoin?
Dites-moi lesquels vous avez.
Quelle dame est arrivée ?
Je ne sais pas laquelle.
Quelles sont vos raisons?
Quel homme est-ce là?

Auquel des hommes parle-t-il ?

Which (what) books have you?
Tell me which (what) book he has.
Which (ones) do you need?
Tell me which (ones) you have.
Which (what) lady has come?
I do not know which (one).
What are your reasons?

What (what kind of) man is that?
To which of the men does he speak?

a. Quel! in exclamations sometimes='what a!', 'what!':

Quel héros ! Quels héros !

Quelle belle scène !

What a hero! What heroes!
What a beautiful scene!

b. Quel? as predicative adjective often replaces qui ?='who?':

Quels sont ces gens-là?

Sais-tu quelle est cette dame?

Who are those people? (or what

kind of people are those?)

Do you know who that lady is?

NOTE.-A pleonastic de is commonly used before alternatives after quel?, lequel? and other interrogatives, probably caused by case attraction with des deux, often present in such expressions: 'Quel (des deux) est le plus habile, de cet homme-ci ou de celui-là?'; 'Laquelle est la plus illustre, d'Athènes ou de Rome?'

392. Qui?. 1. The pronoun qui? 'who?', 'whom?', is regularly used of persons only, and stands in both direct and indirect questions:

Qui frappe? Qui est là?

De qui (à qui) parle-t-il ?
Qui avez-vous vu?
Qui êtes-vous ?

Dites-moi qui est venu.

Who is knocking? Who is there?
Of whom (to whom) is he speaking?
Whom did you see?

Who are you?

Tell me who has come?

a. Qui? is sometimes used, though rarely and not necessarily, as subject to a transitive verb in the sense of what?':

Qui vous amène de si bonne heure? What brings you so early?

b. Qui?, predicatively, is often replaced, especially when feminine or plural, by quel? :

Quelle est cette dame?

Quels sont-ils ?

Who is that lady? (What 1. is that?).
Who are they?

=

2. Whose?', denoting ownership simply à qui?; otherwise generally de qui?, sometimes quel?, but never 'dont':

À qui est cette maison-là?

De qui êtes-vous fils?

Quelle maison a été brûlée ?

Whose house is that?

Whose son are you?

Whose (what) house was burnt?

NOTE.-Compare with this the idiom c'est à qui: 'C'était à qui finirait le premier,' 'It was a strife as to who would finish first.'

393. Que?, Quoi?.

The form que?='what?' is conjunctive, while quoi?='what?' is disjunctive; their uses in detail are:

1. Que? stands regularly as direct object or as predicate, and in direct question only:

a. Que?, alternatively with quoi?, may stand with an infinitive in

indirect question:

Je ne sais que (quoi) dire.

I know not what to say.

b. Que? and que! sometimes have adverbial force:

Que ne m'avez-vous dit cela?

Que vous êtes heureux !

Que d'argent perdu !

Why did you not tell me that?

How happy you are!

What a quantity of money lost!

2. What?' as subject of a verb is regularly qu'est-ce qui ? :

Qu'est-ce qui fait ce bruit?

What is making that noise?

a. The form que? may stand as subject to a few intransitive verbs, mostly such as may also be impersonal, but never as subject to a

transitive verb:

Que sert de pleurer ?

Que vous en semble?

Qu'est-ce?

What is the use of crying?

What do you think of it?
What is it?

3. Quoi? is used absolutely, i.e., with ellipsis of the verb,

a. In cases of special emphasis quoi? may be direct object :

Je reçois quoi?-Des lettres.

I receive what?-Letters.

b. With an infinitive, que ?, or more emphatically, quoi? is used :

Que (quoi) faire?

Je ne sais que (quoi) répondre.

What is one to do?

I know not what to answer.

394. Interrogative Locutions. The use of interrogative phrases formed with est-ce, etc., instead of the simple forms is very frequent (cf. §§392-3):

THE RELATIVE PRONOUN.

395.

Relative Pronouns.

qui, who, which, that; whom (after a preposition).

que, whom, which, that.

dont, whose, of whom, of which, etc.

où, in which, into which, at which, to which, etc.

lequel, m. s.

laquelle, f. s.

}

lesquels, m. pl. who, whom, which, that.
lesquelles, f. pl.

quoi, what, which.

Obs.: For qu', see §19.

396. Agreement. A relative pronoun, whether variable or invariable in form, is of the gender, number and person of its antecedent :

Moi qui étais (vous qui étiez) là.
Les lettres que j'ai apportées.
Moi qui suis son ami(e).
Dieux (vous) qui m'exaucez!
C'est nous qui l'avons dit.
Je suis celui qui l'ai dit.

I who was (you who were) there.
The letters which I have brought.
I who am his friend (m. or f.).
(Ye) gods who hear me !

It is we who have said it.

I am the one who has said it.

a. When the antecedent is a predicate noun, or an adjective as such, the relative may agree in person either with this noun or with the subject of the sentence:

Nous sommes deux moines qui We are two monks who are travvoyageons (voyagent).

Je suis le seul qui l'aie (ait) dit.

elling.

I am the only one who has said it.

b. The relative after un+a plural is either singular or plural, usually according to the sense :

C'est un de mes (des) procès qui It is one of my (of the) law-suits m'a (m'ont) ruiné. which has (have) ruined me.

397. Qui, Que. Both qui and que refer to antecedents, of either gender or number, denoting persons or things; their uses in detail are:

1. Qui='who,' 'which,' 'that,' serves as subject; qui= 'whom,' of persons only, or things personified, may also be

a. Qui, without antecedent, sometimes=celui qui (ceux qui, etc.), or, when repeated, = les uns... les autres :

2. Que='whom,' 'which,' 'that,' serves regularly as direct