Many students have stumbled upon the peculiar French relative pronoun “dont”. It behaves a bit differently than the relative pronouns qui and que, and it requires more background knowledge than other relative pronouns.
Keep on reading to go past your beginner’s mistakes.
French Relative Pronouns
- Qui
- Que
- Où
- Dont
Relative Pronoun – DONT
Dont is a relative pronoun that shows possession and replaces an object introduced with the preposition “de”. It replaces the preposition de + a person/thing. Many French students make mistakes because using the pronoun Dont, requires you to know which verbs go with the preposition “de”.
Verbs that can be used with the relative pronoun dont are (parler de, se méfier de, avoir besoin de, être content de, etc.). As you can see, they all require a preposition “de” afterward.
Voici la fille dont je t’ai parlé.
Here’s the girl I’ve been talking about.
There are several possible translations for dont, depending on the context:
- from which
- from whom
- including
- of which
- of whom
- that
- whose
- with
As we know, the preposition de expresses the possession, and dont keeps conveying the same meaning.
In the case
- the thing possessed is a person, dont is equivalent to”whose”
- the thing possessed is inanimate, the best translation is often “with.”
Je connais un homme. La femme de cet homme est enseignante. 
Je connais un homme dont la femme est enseignante.
I know a man. This man’s wife is a teacher. I know a man whose wife is a teacher.
Je cherche une maison. La porte de la maison est verte. Je cherche la maison dont la porte est green.
I’m looking for a house. The house’s door is green. I’m looking for a house with a green door.
Dont has the function of an object in a relative clause.
Often Confused Couple : Dont or Où
There are two big differences between these relative pronouns. So, let’s examine them.
Dont suggests possession, while Où indicates the place.
J’ai beaucoup d’amis. Deux de mes amis sont poètes. J’ai beaucoup d’amis, dont deux artistes
I have a lot of friends. Two of my friends are poets. I have a lot of friends, two of whom are artists.
Je me rappelle le jour où nouse se sommes rencontrés pour la première fois.
I remember the day (when) we met for the first time.
The next big difference is that dont refers to both persons or things, while Où refers to where, when, which, or that, depending on how it is used.
Voici la maison où je suis né.
Here’s the house where l was born.
Understanding French Pronoun DONT
By the end of this article, you figured out the relative pronoun dont, actually isn’t that difficult at all. All that you need to know is that :
- it represents possession
- it replaces the verb + preposition de
It’s now your turn to start using dont with confidence.
Why don’t you test your knowledge with an easy exercise?