Dont, pronom relatif

Look at the following sentences: This is my friend. My friend got good marks.

This structure is rather clumsy and awkward and most people would say: This is my friend who got good marks.

The same is true in French- you can link sentences together using qui, que or dont, but you need to know which one to use.(qui/que and dont can be used for animate and inanimate objects so they are the same as who, which, that etc.)

Consider the sentence:

My friend is the subject of the second clause – my friend did the ‘getting of good marks’ so we link the sentences with qui

• Voici mon ami qui a reçu de bonnes notes

All the following sentences would use qui – the item in the first clause is the subject of the second clause:

• This is the girl who kissed me
• There’s that boy who beat me up
• Anne, who hadn’t felt well all day, threw up over John on the coach
• David, who has fancied Abi for ages, finally asked her out last week.

Now consider this sentence:

My friend is the object of the second clause – (I is the subject, my friend is the object) so we link the sentence with que

• Voici mon ami que j’ai vu dans le parc

All the following sentences would be linked with que – the item in the first clause is the object of the second clause

• This is the girl who I kissed
• There’s that boy who David beat up
• Anne, who John had been chatting up on the coach, was sick
• David, who Abi has fancied for ages, finally asked her out last week.

Dont is similar to qui and que. It is used to link sentences but means of whom/of which/about whom etc. It is used when the verb in the second clause is followed by de. You cannot end a sentence or a clause with de in French so:-

• The man who I was talking about/of – L’homme que je parlais de

becomes

• The man about whom I was talking – L’homme dont je parlais.

Lots of verbs in French take de when they don’t in English.

This is shown below:

to need	Here’s the book that I need
avoir besoin de	Voici le livre dont j’ai besoin
to use	Here’s the book that I use every day
se servir de	Voici le livre dont je me sers tous les jours
to fear/to be scared of	Here’s the teacher I’m scared of
avoir peur de	Voici le prof dont j’ai peur

Dont can also mean whose

• Voici le garçon dont le père est maire = This is the boy whose father is mayor
• L’homme, dont le frère est notre facteur, est très riche = The man, whose brother is our postman, is very rich.

Plus d’exemple…

Voici le livre. Tu as parlé de ce livre. > Voici le livre dont tu as parlé.		Here’s the book. You talked about this book. > Here’s the book (that) you talked about.
J’ai peur d’une seule chose : le noir. > Le noir est la seule chose dont j’ai peur.		I’m afraid of only one thing: the dark. > The dark is the only thing (that) I’m afraid of > The dark is the only thing of which I’m afraid.
Je me méfie de lui. > Tu connais l’homme dont je me méfie ?		I’m suspicious of him. > Do you know the man (whom) I’m suspicious of? > Do you know the man of whom I’m suspicious?

Since possession is indicated with de, dont can express it as well. When the thing possessed is a person,dont is equivalent to “whose”; when it’s inanimate, the best translation is often “with.”

Je connais un homme. La femme de cet homme est espionne. > Je connais un homme dont la femme est espionne.		I know a man. This man’s wife is a spy. > I know a man whose wife is a spy.
Je cherche une maison. La porte de la maison est jaune. > Je cherche la maison dont la porte est jaune.		I’m looking for a house. The house’s door is yellow. > I’m looking for the house with a yellow door.

Dont can also refer to members of a group:

J’ai beaucoup d’amis. Deux de mes amis sont poètes. > J’ai beauoup d’amis, dont deux poètes.		I have a lot of friends. Two of my friends are poets. > I have a lot of friends, two of whom are poets.
Certains films sont très marrants. Dîner de consest un de ces films. > Certains films sont très marrants, dontDîner de cons.		Some movies are very funny. Dîner de cons is one of those movies. > Some movies are very funny, includingDîner de cons.

À noter : After any preposition other than de, the relative pronoun is either qui (when it’s a person) or lequel (when it’s an object). Also, when de is not on its own, but instead part of a prepositional phrase such as près de, the relative pronoun is lequel.
from Lawless French » Grammar Lessons