You probably already know that a simple accent can make a great difference in French: Où is the perfect example. Où and ou in French are used to convey very different meanings. Written with a grave accent, où is one of the five French relative pronouns. It can be the equivalent of where in French, but also mean when in other contexts. Ou, on the other hand, is a French conjunction that links two comparative clauses, just like or in English.

Follow us on today’s lesson to find out the various meanings of où in French. First, we’ll see how to use où as a relative pronoun to introduce locations (where) and time frames (when). We’ll also give you some examples of où as a question word or interrogative adverb. And finally, we’ll see the differences between ou vs où, in other words how to use ou as a French coordinating conjunction.

Où as a French Relative Pronoun

Along with qui, que, dont, and lequel, où is one of the five French relative pronouns, or pronoms relatifs. It’s a relatively easy one to understand as it usually translates to where or when in English, and sometimes to which or that. It’s also invariable, which means it doesn’t have variants based on the gender and number of the noun (like with the relative pronoun lequel).

As a reminder, les pronoms relatifs are used to connect the main clause and the relative clause of a sentence without repeating the subject. In contrast to English, relative pronouns can never be omitted in French. Check out our introductory post on French relative pronouns if you’re not yet familiar with this topic of French grammar, as it will help you understand better how to use où.

As a pronom relatif, où is used when the relative clause indicates places (where) or time frames (when). In other words, the two clauses linked by où are related by either space or time. In the next two subsections, let’s look at the relative pronoun où for each of these uses.

• 2020, c’est l’année où nous avons vécu notre premier confinement. – 2020 is the year when we first experienced quarantine.

• C’était l’époque où la cigarette était autorisée à l’intérieur. – It was the time when smoking inside was allowed.

Où in French: Where

Compared with the other relative pronouns, où is pretty straightforward since it usually translates into English with just one of two words. When used to introduce a relative clause that indicates a location, où translates to where. It thus replaces the place to avoid the repetition of that noun. Let’s see it with a few examples:

• Marseille est la ville où j’ai fait mes études. – Marseille is the city where I studied.

• Elle va toujours dans le parc où se trouve un kiosque. – She always go the park where there is a kiosk.

• On se retrouve au café où on s’était vu la dernière fois. – Let’s meet at the cafe where we saw each other last time.

• Va chercher des biscuits dans le placard où on range les courses. – Go grab some cookies in the closet where we store the groceries.

• La ville où j’ai grandi se situe à 100 kilomètres de Paris. – The city where I grew up is located 100 kilometers away from Paris.

• C’est le café où ils se sont rencontrés. – This is the cafe where they met.

As a relative pronoun, où is often used with French prepositions, in particular, with de (contracted as d’où), with jusque (as jusqu’où), and as par où:

• La région d’où il vient est réputée pour ses vins. – The region where he comes from is famous for its wines.

• Je me demande jusqu’où mène ce chemin. – I wonder where this path goes [to].

• J’ai tellement de travail que je ne sais pas par où commencer – I have so much work that I don’t know where to begin.

Note that when indicating a place, où can be used in similar contexts to another French relative pronoun: lequel. In that case, lequel (and its variants based on the gender and number of the noun it replaces) is used with a French preposition of place such as dans (in), and sur (on). We can choose to use lequel rather than où when we want to be more specific with the location or to have a more formal tone. Let’s see a few comparisons of où vs lequel:

• C’est la maison où j’ai grandi. / C’est la maison dans laquelle j’ai grandi. – It’s the house where I grew up. / It’s the house in which I grew up.

• Ils dînent au restaurant où travaille ton ami. / Ils dînent au restaurant dans lequel travaille ton ami – They’re having dinner at the restaurant where your friend works. / They’re having dinner at the restaurant in which your friend works.

To go more in-depth on the uses of this French relative pronoun, check out our dedicated article about how and when to use lequel in French.

Où in French: When

Used as a relative pronoun, the other meaning of où in French is when: it serves to indicate a moment in time. In English, it can sometimes also be translated by that or in which.

• Le jour où il a remporté ce trophée, il est devenu fou de joie ! – The day [when] he won this trophy, he was overwhelmed with joy!

• Le mois de l’année où il fait le plus chaud est le mois d’août. – The month of the year when it’s hottest is the month of August.

• Le mercredi, c’était le jour où il allait faire ses courses. – Wednesday was the day when he would do his grocery shopping.

• C’était le moment où j’ai compris qu’il était temps de partir. – It was the moment [when] I understood it was time to leave.

Où can be a tricky one for French students who tend to use quand (which also means when) in place of the relative pronoun où. However, quand is only grammatically correct if used as a subordinating conjunction or an interrogative adverb. If you need a relative pronoun to connect two clauses linked by a time frame, you must use où.

Où as a Question Word

When not used as a relative pronoun, où in French also commonly serves as an interrogative adverb, better known as a question word. French question words are used to specify the type of information requested. In the case of où, it is used to ask questions related to location, the same way where does in English.

• Où l’avez-vous vu pour la dernière fois ? – Where did you see him for the last time?

• Où est-ce que tu as acheté ta robe ? – Where did you buy your dress?

• Où as-tu rangé tes crayons? – Where did you put your pencils?

In addition to our post where we introduce all the question words in French, we also recommend our post on est-ce que for a lesson on how to form questions in French.

Ou in French: a Coordinating Conjunction

Où and ou in French are two different words with different meanings but the same pronunciation, making them homophones. Ou, written without a grave accent, is one of the French conjunctions. It serves the same purpose as or in English, meaning that it connects two (or more) comparative clauses.

• On peut s’asseoir en terrasse ou à l’intérieur. – We can sit on the terrace or inside.

• Selon la météo, ils iront au parc ou au cinéma. – Depending on the weather, they will go to the park or to the cinema.

• Tu veux un verre de vin ou un jus de fruit ? – Do you want a glass of wine or fruit juice?

Ou can practically always be replaced by ou bien to make sentences sound a bit more formal. Ou bien still translates as or, while it may also become or else or otherwise.

• Vous préférez vous asseoir côté fenêtre ou bien côté couloir ? – Do you prefer to sit on the window or aisle side?

• Nous pouvons convenir d’un rendez-vous demain à 9 heures, ou bien à l’heure de votre choix. – We can arrange a meeting tomorrow at 9am, otherwise at the time of your convenience.

Ou can also be replaced by soit when there are multiple options, as an equivalent of either…or in French. Soit is repeated before each option.

• Ils veulent sortir soit vendredi soit samedi. – They want to go out either on Friday or on Saturday.

• C’est soit tu décides maintenant, soit on s’en va. – It’s either you decide now, or we leave.

Conclusion

In today’s post we took a thorough look at où in French in each of its uses, as well as at its homophone ou.

Où in French is an important relative pronoun used to indicate locations or time frames. Depending on whether it’s used to refer to a location or a point in time, it corresponds directly to the English words where and when.

In the context of questions, the grammatical role of où is as an interrogative adverb, best known as a question word. In this case, où is used to ask about locations, and always translates as where.

Où should never be mistaken with the unaccented ou, which is a French conjunction. Used to introduce a comparative clause, the equivalent of ou in English is or.

And if you ever encounter ouh, you can forget all this grammar stuff about relative and comparative clauses! This exclamation is part of many common French expressions such as ouh là là, and is a common interjection to express surprise or even an equivalent to boo!

But that’s another story, as the focus of today’s post was on the various meanings of où vs ou and their grammatical aspects. We hope you are now entirely comfortable with où and ou!