Lequel is one of the five French relative pronouns, these little words that help us make more complex sentences in French. Lequel in French has a close meaning to which in English, as it refers to an inanimate indirect object to give extra information about it. Lequel is often considered a difficult pronoun to master because it has many variations.

The various forms of lequel depend on the gender (masculine or feminine) and the number (singular or plural) of the noun it replaces, but also on the preposition that it follows. Indeed, with the prepositions de and à, lequel changes to duquel and auquel, which must then also change to agree in gender and number. This may all sound confusing at first, but rest assured, it’s pretty straightforward!

In this post, we’ll go step by step to demonstrate how and when to use lequel in French. First, we’ll go through the four basic forms of lequel: lequel, laquelle, lesquels, and lesquelles. Then, we’ll see how to use auquel and its variants when used with the preposition à. We’ll finish up by checking the various forms of duquel used with the preposition de. All this with multiple examples to help you catch the correct use of lequel in French!

How to translate Lequel in English

One of the difficulties of learning lequel and other French relative pronouns is that most of the time, they do not have a fixed translation. Lequel in English can be translated in various ways, depending on the context. Most of the time, it will be translated to which, including of which, to which, for which, with which, without which, and sometimes to that. But the only way to figure out exactly when in French to use lequel vs auquel vs duquel is to understand the grammatical rules behind these different lequel forms.

When to use Lequel in French

If you’re already familiar with French relative pronouns, you’ll recognize lequel as one of the five pronoms relatifs along with qui, que, où, and dont. Relative pronouns are used to link a relative clause with the main clause in a sentence by avoiding the repetition of the subject. If this is new to you, have a look at our introductory post on French relative pronouns to help you better understand this post’s explanations on how to use lequel in French.

The purpose of the relative pronoun lequel is to replace the inanimate object of a preposition and give extra information about it. Thus, lequel always follows a French preposition. The most commonly used are de (of), à (to), pour (for), sur (on), and avec (with), although lequel is also sometimes used with contre (against), dans (in), vers (toward), pendant (during), selon (according to), and many others.

Here are a few examples of lequel in French. Please note that their English translations may sometimes be awkward, as the main purpose here is to demonstrate when and how to use lequel in French.

• le lit dans lequel j’ai dormi – the bed in which I slept

• le bureau sur lequel est posé une lampe – the desk on which there is a lamp

• le travail pour lequel j’ai été payé en retard – the work for which I have been paid late

You’ve probably noticed that in all these examples, lequel replaces a singular masculine noun. That’s because if the noun is plural or feminine, a variant of lequel should be used. Indeed, in contrast to the other French relative pronouns, lequel agrees in gender and number with the noun it replaces, which means that it has four basic forms:

Here are some examples where we see the other variants of lequel that replace plural and feminine nouns:

• Voici les journaux dans lesquels j’ai publié des articles. – These are the newspapers in which I have published articles. (les journaux: masculine plural)

• Ce sont des produits pour lesquels la demande est forte. – They are products for which the demand is high. (des produits: masculine plural)

• Je ne sais pas laquelle de ces robes choisir. – I don’t know which one of these dresses to choose. (ces robes: feminine plural)

• C’est aussi l’idée à laquelle j’ai pensé. – It’s also the idea [that] I had in mind. (l’idée: feminine singular)

• Voici les sculptures pour lesquelles elle a remporté un prix. – Here are the sculptures for which she won a prize. (les sculptures: feminine plural)

• Il possède des compétences uniques sans lesquelles il n’aurait pas fait la différence. – He has unique skills, without which he wouldn’t have stood out. (compétences: feminine plural)

Other forms of Lequel: Auquel and Duquel

In addition to these four basic forms, lequel has several contracted forms when following the French prepositions à and de. These variations follow the same contraction rules as definite articles: they occur when a preposition combines with an article to create a compound article. Let’s see how it works when lequel is contracted with the prepositions à and de.

À + Lequel: Auquel and variations

To understand how lequel becomes auquel, let’s first consider that lequel is formed by le + quel. The same goes for laquelle (la + quelle), lesquels (les + quels), and lesquelles (les + quelles). And in French, when the preposition à is followed by the article le, the two words contract to become au. Likewise, in the plural form, à followed by les becomes aux.

That’s how lequel, when followed by le, becomes auquel instead of saying “à lequel.” And because lequel agrees in gender and number with the noun, it has two other variations: auxquels (à lesquels) and auxquelles (à lesquelles). The singular feminine doesn’t change and remains à laquelle.

Here are some examples of how to use auquel in French and its variants:

• J’ai apporté le livre auquel (à + lequel) tu as pensé. – I brought the book [that] you thought about.

• Elle a fini deuxième de la compétition à laquelle (à + laquelle) elle a participé. – She ended up second in the competition in which she participated.

• Ce ne sont pas les exercices auxquels (à + lesquels) je suis habitué. – These aren’t the exercises that I’m used to.

• Il faut s’en tenir aux idées auxquelles (à + lesquelles) on avait pensé avant de partir. – We must stick to the ideas that we had thought of before we left.

De + Lequel: Duquel and variations

Duquel is another variation of lequel that appears when it’s contracted with the French preposition de. Just as de + le becomes du, de + lequel becomes duquel, along with other variants according to the noun’s gender and number.

Let’s see a few examples with duquel and its variants:

• L’organisme auprès duquel (de + lequel) il a fait une demande n’a pas encore répondu. – The organization to which he made a request has not yet responded.

• Il va à l’école à côté de laquelle se trouve un immense parc. – He goes to the school next to which is a huge park.

• Ce sont les restaurants au sujet desquels (de + lesquels) il n’arrête pas de parler. – These are the restaurants [that] he keeps talking about.

• Les maisons, en face desquelles (de + lesquelles) a été construit cet immeuble, ont perdu de leur valeur. – The houses, in front of which this building has been built, have lost their value.

Lequel vs Qui in French

There is a common mistake made by native French speakers themselves, in which lequel and its variants are used when the relative pronoun refers to a person. Yet, as we’ve seen at the beginning of this post, this pronom relatif should be used in place of objects only, not people. Instead, when the object of the preposition is a person, it is preferable to use the relative pronoun qui in place of lequel. Here are some examples:

• Incorrect: le patron pour lequel j’ai travaillé pendant 10 ans – the boss for which I worked for 10 years

• Correct: le patron pour qui j’ai travaillé pendant 10 ans – the boss for whom I worked for 10 years.

• Incorrect: l’ami avec lequel j’ai voyagé en Allemagne – the friend with which I travelled to Germany.

• Correct: l’ami avec qui j’ai voyagé en Allemagne – the friend with whom I travelled to Germany

In these two examples, both sentences could sound correct to the ear of a French person, yet, only the one with qui is grammatically correct. You can check out our post on French relative pronouns to have more examples using qui.

Other uses of Lequel and its basic variants

While the main focus of this post so far has been to introduce the French relative pronoun lequel, it’s important to note that lequel and its basic variants (laquelle, lesquels, lesquelles), can have other grammatical usages. Indeed, they are frequently used as an interrogative pronoun to form questions, and they can also be used in place of où to refer to places.

Lequel as an interrogative pronoun

Lequel is commonly used as an interrogative pronoun, similarly to many other French question words. When forming a question, lequel and its three other basic variants are used to refer back to the object(s) previously mentioned, just as it does as a relative pronoun. In English, it can be translated to which one(s), though you often drop the one(s) and just ask which.

• Lequel de ces maillots de bain préfères-tu ? – Which one of these bathing suits do you prefer?

• Laquelle de ces voitures possède-t-il ? – Which one of these cars does he own?

• Lesquels de ces films avez-vous déjà regardé ? – Which [ones] of these movies have you watched before?

• Lesquelles de ces chansons aimez-vous le plus ? – Which [ones] of these songs do you like the most ?

Lequel as an alternative to Où

Interestingly, lequel can also be used in place of another French relative pronoun: où. Où is used to refer to places, and lequel and its variations can also be used to refer to places. In these cases, lequel will be accompanied by the prepositions dans (in) or sur (on).

• Voici la ville dans laquelle il vit. / Voici la ville où il vit. – Here’s the city in which he lives. / Here’s the city where he lives.

• Ma tante nous a donné le canapé sur lequel vous êtes assis. / Ma tante nous offert le canapé où vous êtes assis. – My aunt gave us the couch on which you’re sitting. / My aunt gave us the couch where you’re sitting.

With lequel, other prepositions serve to describe the location more precisely than où: sous (under), devant (in front), derrière (behind), vers (toward), and entre (behind).

• C’est la maison sous laquelle ils avaient construit un abri. – It’s the house under which they had built a shelter.

• Ils ont planté une haie derrière laquelle il n’y a aucune visibilité. – They planted a hedge, behind which there is no visibility.

Conclusion

Lequel in French is a very common relative pronoun used to refer to inanimate indirect objects. Since lequel replaces both the preposition and the noun, in English it is usually translated to which, of which, in which, or some other combination of preposition + which. You’ll encounter it more often in formal language, though it appears regularly enough when forming complex sentences in everyday life.

The major difficulty of lequel, but also one of its most interesting aspects, is that it agrees in number and gender with the noun, becoming laquelle, lesquels, and lesquelles. Furthermore, it also has contracted forms when used with the prepositions à and de, with their further variants of auquel and duquel based on gender and number.

The key to knowing how and when to use lequel in French is to understand the grammatical rules first, while getting the hang of it through numerous examples such as the ones we offered in this post!