What is an indefinite relative pronoun in French?

A relative pronoun with no noun in front of it, built on the placeholder ce: ce qui, ce que, ce dont, ce à quoi. It lets a whole clause behave like a noun, as in ce qui m'inquiète, c'est le silence.

How do I choose between ce qui, ce que and ce dont?

By what the clause is missing. No subject gives ce qui, no object gives ce que, a missing de complement gives ce dont, and a missing à complement gives ce à quoi. The choice is identical to the one you make with an ordinary antecedent.

Why does French say ce à quoi rather than ce auquel?

Because lequel agrees with an antecedent, and ce provides no gender or number to agree with. With no real antecedent, prepositions are followed by quoi: ce à quoi, ce sur quoi, ce en quoi.

How do I translate which when it refers to a whole sentence?

With ce qui or ce que, depending on the clause that follows: il a démissionné, ce qui a surpris tout le monde, or il a démissionné, ce que personne n'avait prévu. Plain qui and que are impossible there.

What is the difference between ce qui and celui qui?

Ce qui refers to no noun and means what. Celui qui refers to a specific masculine noun and means the one who or the one that, and it agrees: celle qui, ceux qui, celles qui.

French grammar · Advanced

French Indefinite Relative Pronouns: Ce Qui, Ce Que, Ce Dont, Ce À Quoi

Written by Camille Laurent, Lead French Curriculum Editor · Reviewed May 2026

An indefinite relative pronoun is a relative pronoun with no noun in front of it. French builds the whole family from the placeholder ce: ce qui, ce que, ce dont, ce à quoi. Each corresponds to an ordinary relative pronoun, and each turns a clause into something that behaves like a noun.

Je ne sais pas ce qui l'inquiète ni ce dont il a peur.

I don't know what's worrying him or what he's afraid of.

What it is

Ordinary relative pronouns need an antecedent: la femme qui parle. Sometimes there is nothing to attach to, because what you are describing has no name — an idea, an event, whatever it was that happened. French then supplies the neutral pronoun ce as a stand-in antecedent, and the relative clause hangs off that instead.

Ce qui est fait est fait. — What's done is done.

How to spot it

Two questions decide the form. First, is there a noun in front? If not, you need the ce family. Second, what does the verb inside the clause require: a subject, an object, de, or à?

ce qui te concerne — what concerns you (subject)
ce que tu as choisi — what you chose (object)
ce dont nous discutons — what we're discussing (discuter de)
ce à quoi il s'attend — what he's expecting (s'attendre à)

The whole phrase functions as a masculine singular noun, so anything agreeing with it stays in the masculine singular: ce que j'ai vu était étrange.

Indefinite Relative Pronouns Quick Reference

The family, and the ordinary pronoun each one mirrors

Indefinite form	Mirrors	Example
ce qui	qui (subject)	ce qui m'intéresse — what interests me
ce que	que (object)	ce que je préfère — what I prefer
ce dont	dont (de)	ce dont j'ai besoin — what I need
ce à quoi	à + lequel	ce à quoi je pense — what I'm thinking of
ce sur quoi	sur + lequel	ce sur quoi on s'accorde — what we agree on
tout ce qui / que	the same, with tout	tout ce que je sais — all I know
quiconque	celui qui	quiconque le souhaite — anyone who wishes

Common Indefinite Relative Pronouns Examples in French

The four core forms in the sentences they belong to:

As the Subject of a Sentence

Ce qui compte le plus, c'est la santé.: What matters most is health.
Ce que tu proposes me convient.: What you're suggesting suits me.
Ce dont nous avons parlé reste confidentiel.: What we discussed remains confidential.
Ce à quoi elle rêve coûte cher.: What she dreams of is expensive.

The whole clause is the subject of the main verb, which is why the sentence looks like it has two verbs with no conjunction.

As the Object of a Verb

Fais ce qui te semble juste.: Do what seems right to you.
Je n'ai pas entendu ce qu'elle a répondu.: I didn't hear what she replied.
Raconte-moi ce dont tu te souviens.: Tell me what you remember.
Il refuse de dire ce à quoi il travaille.: He won't say what he's working on.

Verbs of knowing, saying and asking take these clauses constantly, which is why they are so common in indirect questions.

After a Preposition

Je suis surpris de ce qu'il a dit.: I'm surprised at what he said.
Il ne pense qu'à ce qui l'arrange.: He only thinks about what suits him.
Elle est fière de ce qu'elle a accompli.: She's proud of what she's achieved.
On revient toujours à ce qu'on connaît.: You always come back to what you know.

The preposition of the main verb goes in front of ce, and the pronoun inside the clause is chosen independently.

Commenting on a Whole Clause

Il a refusé, ce qui ne m'étonne pas.: He refused, which doesn't surprise me.
Elle est partie tôt, ce que personne n'a remarqué.: She left early, which nobody noticed.
Le contrat a été signé, ce dont je me réjouis.: The contract was signed, which I'm delighted about.
Tout le monde a accepté, ce à quoi je ne m'attendais pas.: Everybody agreed, which I wasn't expecting.

English uses which for this. French cannot, because qui and que need a noun, so the placeholder ce is compulsory.

How the Ce Family Works

The ce holds the antecedent slot; the pronoun after it is chosen by the clause, exactly as it would be with a real noun.

Ce Is a Placeholder, Not a Meaning

In ce qui and ce que, the ce contributes almost nothing semantically: it exists so the relative pronoun has something to attach to. That is why the English translation is a single word, what, rather than two.

Ce que je cherche n'existe peut-être pas.

What I'm looking for may not exist.

ce = an empty antecedent.

The Clause Chooses the Pronoun

Whatever the verb inside the clause needs is what appears. A missing subject gives qui, a missing object gives que, a missing de complement gives dont, and a missing à complement gives à quoi. This is the same decision as with an ordinary antecedent.

Ce dont je me méfie, c'est sa gentillesse soudaine.

What I'm suspicious of is his sudden kindness.

Look inside the clause, not at the ce.

Quoi Replaces Lequel Here

With a real antecedent, a preposition takes lequel: le sujet auquel je pense. With ce there is no gender to agree with, so lequel is impossible and quoi takes over: ce à quoi je pense.

Ce sur quoi nous travaillons est confidentiel.

What we're working on is confidential.

No antecedent → quoi, not lequel.

Agreement Stays Masculine Singular

Because ce has no gender or number, adjectives and past participles that refer to the whole phrase take the default masculine singular form, even when the actual content is plural or feminine.

Ce que j'ai acheté était trop cher.

What I bought was too expensive.

était, cher — never étaient or chère.

A Preposition Before Ce Belongs to the Main Verb

Two prepositions can appear in the same sentence without clashing: one governed by the main verb, in front of ce, and one governed by the clause verb, inside. Je suis content de ce dont on a parlé has both.

Elle est revenue sur ce que nous avions décidé.

She went back on what we'd decided.

Outer preposition + ce + inner pronoun.

Common Mistakes with Indefinite Relative Pronouns

Incorrect: Il est parti tôt, qui m'a surpris. — He left early, which surprised me.

Correct: Il est parti tôt, ce qui m'a surpris. — He left early, which surprised me.

Qui needs a noun to attach to. To comment on a whole clause, French requires the placeholder ce, giving ce qui or ce que.

Incorrect: Ce auquel je pense est différent. — What I'm thinking of is different.

Correct: Ce à quoi je pense est différent. — What I'm thinking of is different.

Lequel agrees with an antecedent, and ce has no gender for it to agree with. With no antecedent, the form after a preposition is quoi.

Incorrect: Ce que j'ai acheté étaient chères. — What I bought was expensive.

Correct: Ce que j'ai acheté était cher. — What I bought was expensive.

The clause counts as a masculine singular noun phrase whatever it refers to, so the verb and the adjective stay singular and masculine.

Incorrect: Ce que je me souviens est flou. — What I remember is hazy.

Correct: Ce dont je me souviens est flou. — What I remember is hazy.

Se souvenir is built with de, so the relative pronoun has to carry that de. Ce que only works with verbs that take a direct object.

The Edges of the Family

Two related pronouns that behave like this family without using ce, and one construction that only they can build.

Quiconque, for whoever

Quiconque is a single word meaning anyone who or whoever, and it needs no antecedent of its own. It is formal and appears mainly in written rules and general statements.

Quiconque enfreint le règlement sera exclu.: Anyone who breaks the rules will be excluded.
Il en sait plus que quiconque.: He knows more about it than anyone.
Quiconque a essayé le sait.: Anyone who has tried knows it.

In ordinary French, celui qui or toute personne qui does the same job less formally.

Qui alone, in proverbs

In older and proverbial French, qui by itself means whoever, with no ce and no celui. This survives in a small stock of fixed sayings and sounds deliberately archaic elsewhere.

Qui vivra verra.: Time will tell.
Qui dort dîne.: He who sleeps eats.
Qui aime bien châtie bien.: Spare the rod, spoil the child.

Outside proverbs, modern French says celui qui or ceux qui: ceux qui dorment ne mangent pas.

The cleft construction

The indefinite relatives are what make it possible to put an idea in the spotlight at the front of a sentence, echoed by c'est or ce sont.

Ce qui me gêne, c'est le ton.: What bothers me is the tone.
Ce que je veux, c'est comprendre.: What I want is to understand.
Ce dont j'ai peur, ce sont les conséquences.: What I'm afraid of is the consequences.

With a plural after the echo, careful French uses ce sont rather than c'est.

Indefinite Relative Pronouns FAQs

What is an indefinite relative pronoun in French?: A relative pronoun with no noun in front of it, built on the placeholder ce: ce qui, ce que, ce dont, ce à quoi. It lets a whole clause behave like a noun, as in ce qui m'inquiète, c'est le silence.
How do I choose between ce qui, ce que and ce dont?: By what the clause is missing. No subject gives ce qui, no object gives ce que, a missing de complement gives ce dont, and a missing à complement gives ce à quoi. The choice is identical to the one you make with an ordinary antecedent.
Why does French say ce à quoi rather than ce auquel?: Because lequel agrees with an antecedent, and ce provides no gender or number to agree with. With no real antecedent, prepositions are followed by quoi: ce à quoi, ce sur quoi, ce en quoi.
How do I translate which when it refers to a whole sentence?: With ce qui or ce que, depending on the clause that follows: il a démissionné, ce qui a surpris tout le monde, or il a démissionné, ce que personne n'avait prévu. Plain qui and que are impossible there.
What is the difference between ce qui and celui qui?: Ce qui refers to no noun and means what. Celui qui refers to a specific masculine noun and means the one who or the one that, and it agrees: celle qui, ceux qui, celles qui.