Correctly using dont in French is one of the skills that will make you sound more fluent in the language. However, dont is often considered one of the trickiest French relative pronouns. What’s more, given that the French relative pronouns don’t really have direct English translations, you won’t be able to rely much on English to figure out the correct use of dont in French.

With this in mind, we offer you this post to demonstrate how and when to use dont in French. Read on for simple grammatical explanations, with multiple examples to help you catch the various meanings of this essential pronom relatif. Let’s get started!

When to use Dont in French

Dont is one of the five French relative pronouns, along with qui, que, où, and lequel. Relative pronouns are used to avoid repetition of the subject, and to connect the main clause of a sentence with the relative clause. For a deeper look at this point of French grammar, take a look at our introductory post on French relative pronouns before diving into the details of dont in French.

The relative pronoun dont is used to indicate possession; it replaces the French preposition de along with the noun. It can refer both to people and objects. By using dont, the person speaking can add extra information about the person or the thing they are referring to.

Here’s a first example to understand how dont replaces de:

• Voilà la soirée. Tout le monde parle de cette soirée. – There’s the party. Everybody is talking about this party.

To connect these two sentences and avoid the repetition of the subject, which in this case is “la soirée,” we use the relative pronoun dont to replace both de and the noun:

• Voilà la soirée dont tout le monde parle. – There’s the party that everybody is talking about.

Here’s another example, this time referring to a person:

• Using de + noun to indicate possession: J’habite avec Martin. J’ai toujours apprécié la personnalité de Martin. – I live with Martin. I’ve always appreciated Martin’s personality.

• Using dont to replace de and the noun: J’habite avec Martin, dont j’ai toujours apprecié la personnalité. – I live with Martin, whose personality I’ve always appreciated.

How to translate Dont in English

Relative pronouns in French and in English have rather different functions, and as a result, depending on the context, dont can have multiple translations in English.

Here are the various potential translations of dont in English. Remember that dont replaces both the noun and the preposition de, whereas in English the preposition isn’t normally integrated into a single-word translation (as is often the case with whom):

• Whose
• Whom
• Who
• Which
• Of whom
• From whom
• Of which
• From which
• With
• That
• Including

Generally, when dont refers to a person, it is usually translated into English by whose, whom, of whom, from whom, or who.

Likewise, when dont refers to an object, it is most likely translated by that, with, whose, of which, or from which.

In certain contexts where we’re referring to one individual from among a list, whether for people or objects, dont can be translated into English as including.

Quite frequently, dont is not translated into English at all. This is because relative pronouns are often optional in English, which is never the case in French.

How to use dont in French: Examples

As we’ve seen, dont in French connects two parts of a sentence: the main clause and the relative clause. Like all relative pronouns except “lequel,” dont is invariable, which means it does not change form to agree in number and gender with the noun.

The purpose of dont is to refer to the noun and give additional information about it. Note that the English translations in the following examples may be a bit awkward, as their main purpose is to demonstrate how to use dont in French.

• Tu peux poser tes affaires dans la pièce dont la porte est ouverte. – You can leave your stuff in the room whose door is open.

• L’époque dont il parle n’a plus rien à voir avec aujourd’hui – The era [that] he is talking about has nothing to do with nowadays.

• La jeune femme dont j’ai pris la main est ma fiancée. – The young lady whose hand I took is my fiancée.

• Je me rappelle la manière dont ils nous ont accueillis : c’était grandiose ! – I remember the way they welcomed us: it was amazing!

• La chose dont je suis la plus fière dans ma vie, c’est la construction de cet hôpital. – The thing [about which] I’m most proud of in my life is building this hospital.

Used to indicate possession, dont replaces the French preposition de, acting as a substitute for de + qui and de + quoi. In the following examples, we’ll put grammatically-incorrect formulations in parentheses so you can better understand how dont replaces them:

• Voici la personne dont (de qui) je t’ai parlé. – Here’s the person [that] I told you about.

• Nous passons devant la maison dont (de que) nous avons conçu le plan. – We’re passing in front of the house for which we designed the plan.

• Sur cette photo, tu peux voir l’équipe dont (de quoi) je fais partie. – In that photo, you can see the team which I’m part of.

Verbs and adjectives commonly used with Dont

Dont is frequently used with specific verbs and adjectives, particularly those which are commonly followed by de. In English, these same verbs are also generally used with the prepositions about or of. Dont replaces both the noun and the preposition.

With this in mind, some verbs that regularly trigger the use of dont in French are parler de (to speak of, to speak about), and rêver de (to dream of, to dream about), for example.

• Le livre dont il parle est intitulé “1984.” – The book that he’s talking about is called “1984.” – The book, about which he is talking, is called “1984.”

• Ils ont enfin fait le voyage dont il rêvent depuis des années – They finally took the trip that they have been dreaming of for years. – They finally took the trip, about which they have been dreaming for years.

This is particularly true for verb constructions built around the verbs avoir and être, such as avoir peur de (to be scared of), avoir l’habitude de (to be used to), avoir conscience de (be aware of), avoir besoin de (to need, to have a need for), and so on. We cover many such expressions using avoir and a preposition in our post on avoir expressions.

• C’est des insectes dont sa fille a le plus peur. – It’s insects that her daughter is most afraid of.

• J’ai de nombreux blocages dont j’ai pris conscience avec le temps. – I have many mental blocks that I became aware of with time.

• Avant de commencer à préparer le repas, j’ai envoyé mon mari au marché chercher les ingrédients dont j’avais besoin. – Before starting to prepare the meal, I sent my husband to the market to get the ingredients that I was in need of.

Likewise, most adjectives that are commonly used with the French preposition de will also use dont. It’s the case, for instance, with expressions like être heureux de (to be happy about), être satisfait de (to be satisfied with), être fier de (to be proud of), être responsable de (to be responsible for), and many others.

• Il n’y a rien dont je sois plus heureux que la sortie de mon livre ! – There’s nothing that makes me happier than the release of my book! – There’s nothing about which I am happier than the release of my book!

• N’oublie pas de surveiller les enfants dont tu es responsable pendant la sortie scolaire. – Don’t forget to watch over the kids for whom you are responsible for during the school trip.

Dont used to mean Including

In some cases, dont is used to indicate that the person or the object mentioned in the relative clause is part of the larger ensemble described by the main clause. In this scenario, dont can act as a translation of the English word including:

• J’ai vu plusieurs films cette semaine, dont le dernier James Bond. – I saw several movies this week, including the latest James Bond.

• Cette mesure concerne plusieurs communes, dont la nôtre. – This measure affects several municipalities, including ours.

Advanced: Common improper uses of Dont in French

Let’s dive into some pretty specialized cases to see a few common mistakes made by many native French speakers. While the grammatical rule isn’t that complicated, many of these incorrect expressions have become so familiar in the spoken language that it’s hard to figure out how to use dont correctly.

In principle, dont shouldn’t be associated with the French preposition de in the same sentence. Indeed, we’ve seen earlier that dont replaces both the noun and de, so having both is a repetition. Here’s an example:

• Incorrect: C’est de cela dont il s’agit.

• Correct: C’est cela dont il s’agit. – That’s what it is about.

Likewise, dont shouldn’t be associated with another relative pronoun either, such as que or qui.

Once again, dont would be a repetition of de given that it acts as the equivalent of de qui or de que. Here are some examples:

• Incorrect: C’est d’argent dont il a besoin.

• Incorrect: C’est de cela dont je veux parler.

Instead, these sentences are built with the other relative pronoun, que:

• Correct: C’est d’argent qu’il a besoin. – It is money that he needs.

• Correct: C’est de cela que je veux parler. – This is what I want to talk about.

Conclusion

Dont in French is essential to mark possession in a multi-clause sentence, easily allowing the speaker to give extra information about the noun that dont refers back to.

While the grammatical rules are not too complex, grasping the full meaning of dont in French may take a while. One of the main challenges regarding the use of dont in French is that it doesn’t have a direct translation in English.

In this post we made a point of including a multitude of examples. This way, you can increase your familiarity with this French relative pronoun and get the hang of knowing when and how to use dont in French!