What does ce dont mean in French?

What, when the verb of the clause is built with de: ce dont j'ai besoin is what I need, ce dont on parle is what we're talking about. The de is inside dont, which is why no separate de appears.

When do I use ce dont instead of ce que?

Whenever the inner verb requires de. Avoir besoin de, avoir envie de, parler de, se souvenir de, avoir peur de and se plaindre de all give ce dont; vouloir, dire, faire and voir take direct objects and give ce que.

Why is it ce à quoi and not ce dont with penser?

Because penser takes à, not de. Ce dont only replaces a de complement, so penser à gives ce à quoi je pense. The same applies to s'attendre à and tenir à.

What does de quoi mean before an infinitive?

Enough to, or the means to: il y a de quoi manger, je n'ai pas de quoi payer. The negative il n'y a pas de quoi also serves as a polite reply to thank you, meaning don't mention it.

What does sans quoi mean?

Otherwise, or failing which. It links a condition to its consequence: dépêche-toi, sans quoi nous serons en retard. Faute de quoi and après quoi work the same way and belong to formal written French.

French grammar · Advanced

Ce Dont and Ce À Quoi: Indefinite Relatives With a Preposition

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

Ce dont is what you use when the verb inside the clause is built with de and there is no noun to attach to: ce dont j'ai besoin, ce dont on parle. With any other preposition the form is ce plus that preposition plus quoi — ce à quoi, ce sur quoi, ce en quoi.

Ce dont j'ai besoin, c'est de deux jours de repos.

What I need is two days off.

What it is

A great many French verbs need de or à before their complement. When that complement is nameless — what I need, what he's afraid of — the relative pronoun has to carry the preposition with it. De collapses into dont, giving ce dont; every other preposition stays visible in front of quoi.

Ce dont il rêve et ce à quoi il pense sont deux choses différentes. — What he dreams of and what he's thinking about are two different things.

How to spot it

Say the clause as a plain sentence and listen for the preposition. J'ai besoin de quelque chose gives ce dont. Je pense à quelque chose gives ce à quoi. If there is no preposition at all, you want ce que.

ce dont j'ai envie — what I feel like (avoir envie de)
ce dont elle se plaint — what she's complaining about (se plaindre de)
ce à quoi je tiens — what I care about (tenir à)
ce sur quoi il insiste — what he's insisting on (insister sur)

Dont already contains de, so you never write de ce dont. The de is inside the pronoun, not in front of it.

Indefinite Relative Pronouns Ce Dont Quoi Quick Reference

The preposition decides the form

Verb pattern	Indefinite form	Example
avoir besoin de	ce dont	ce dont j'ai besoin
parler de	ce dont	ce dont nous parlons
se souvenir de	ce dont	ce dont je me souviens
penser à	ce à quoi	ce à quoi je pense
s'attendre à	ce à quoi	ce à quoi on s'attend
compter sur	ce sur quoi	ce sur quoi je compte
croire en	ce en quoi	ce en quoi il croit

Common Indefinite Relative Pronouns Ce Dont Quoi Examples in French

Ce dont and its prepositional cousins in real sentences:

Ce Dont With Verbs in De

Ce dont je me souviens le mieux, c'est l'odeur.: What I remember best is the smell.
Il ne parle jamais de ce dont il a honte.: He never talks about what he's ashamed of.
Ce dont elle se plaint est légitime.: What she's complaining about is legitimate.
Voilà ce dont il faut discuter.: That's what we need to discuss.

The verbs are the familiar de group: avoir besoin de, avoir envie de, parler de, se souvenir de, se plaindre de, avoir peur de, se douter de.

Dont for Possession

Il a raconté une histoire dont je n'ai pas saisi la fin.: He told a story whose ending I didn't catch.
Un problème dont la solution est simple.: A problem whose solution is simple.
un pays dont j'ai oublié le nom: a country whose name I've forgotten
un livre dont l'auteur est inconnu: a book whose author is unknown

Dont also covers the possessive de, which is why it translates as whose. This use needs a real antecedent, so it appears as dont rather than ce dont.

Ce À Quoi and Ce Sur Quoi

Ce à quoi je m'attendais ne s'est pas produit.: What I was expecting didn't happen.
Ce à quoi il tient le plus, c'est sa liberté.: What he values most is his freedom.
Ce sur quoi nous sommes d'accord est limité.: What we agree on is limited.
Ce en quoi elle croit ne se discute pas.: What she believes in is not up for debate.

These forms are formal. In speech people usually restructure: il tient surtout à sa liberté.

Commenting on a Whole Clause

Il est arrivé à l'heure, ce dont personne ne s'étonne.: He arrived on time, which surprises nobody.
Elle a été promue, ce dont je suis ravi.: She's been promoted, which I'm delighted about.
Le vol a été annulé, ce à quoi nous n'avions pas pensé.: The flight was cancelled, which we hadn't thought of.
Tout s'est bien passé, ce dont je doutais un peu.: It all went well, which I rather doubted.

The pattern is the same as ce qui and ce que after a comma; the form simply follows the preposition of the commenting verb.

How Ce Dont and Ce Quoi Are Built

One pronoun absorbs de; the others keep their preposition on show.

Dont Contains De

Dont is not a word that goes with de: it is de plus a relative pronoun rolled into one. That is why ce dont j'ai besoin needs no further de, and why de ce dont is always wrong.

Ce dont nous avons parlé restera entre nous.

What we talked about will stay between us.

dont = de + relative pronoun.

Other Prepositions Take Quoi

With no antecedent there is nothing for lequel to agree with, so French falls back on quoi, the neutral form. À quoi, sur quoi, en quoi, avec quoi and pour quoi all follow the same pattern behind ce.

Ce avec quoi il travaille est un simple crayon.

What he works with is an ordinary pencil.

ce + preposition + quoi.

The Preposition Belongs to the Inner Verb

Choose the form by looking at the verb inside the relative clause, not at the main verb. In je suis content de ce dont on a parlé, the first de belongs to content and the dont belongs to parler.

Je suis surpris de ce dont il est capable.

I'm surprised at what he's capable of.

Two prepositions can coexist, one outer, one inner.

The Whole Phrase Is Masculine Singular

Like every ce construction, this one has no gender or number. Adjectives, verbs and participles that agree with it stay in the default form even when the content is plural.

Ce dont j'ai besoin est simple : du temps et du silence.

What I need is simple: time and silence.

est, simple — never sont, simples.

The Echo Keeps the Preposition

In a cleft sentence, what comes after c'est often needs its own preposition, mirroring the one inside the clause. Ce dont j'ai besoin, c'est de repos keeps the de.

Ce dont il a peur, c'est de l'échec.

What he's afraid of is failure.

ce dont …, c'est de …

Common Mistakes with Indefinite Relative Pronouns Ce Dont Quoi

Incorrect: Ce que j'ai besoin, c'est du calme. — What I need is some quiet.

Correct: Ce dont j'ai besoin, c'est du calme. — What I need is some quiet.

Avoir besoin is built with de, so the pronoun has to carry that de, which is what dont does. Ce que only works with verbs that take a direct object.

Incorrect: Je me souviens de ce dont tu m'as dit. — I remember what you told me.

Correct: Je me souviens de ce que tu m'as dit. — I remember what you told me.

The inner verb here is dire, which takes a direct object, so the form is ce que. The de in front of ce belongs to se souvenir and does not affect the pronoun.

Incorrect: Ce dont je pense n'a pas d'importance. — What I'm thinking about doesn't matter.

Correct: Ce à quoi je pense n'a pas d'importance. — What I'm thinking about doesn't matter.

Penser takes à, not de, so the form is ce à quoi. Dont only replaces a complement introduced by de.

Incorrect: Voilà de ce dont je voulais parler. — That's what I wanted to talk about.

Correct: Voilà ce dont je voulais parler. — That's what I wanted to talk about.

Dont already includes de, so adding another one in front doubles the preposition. De ce dont never occurs in French.

Quoi Beyond the Relative Clause

Two very common constructions use quoi in ways that look unrelated but come from the same source.

De quoi plus an infinitive

De quoi followed by an infinitive means enough to, or the means to. It is extremely common and has no relative clause in it at all.

Il y a de quoi manger dans le frigo.: There's something to eat in the fridge.
Je n'ai pas de quoi payer.: I haven't got enough to pay.
Il n'y a pas de quoi rire.: There's nothing to laugh about.
Merci ! — Il n'y a pas de quoi.: Thanks! — Don't mention it.

Il n'y a pas de quoi, shortened to pas de quoi, is one of the standard replies to merci.

Quoi as a connector between clauses

After certain prepositions, quoi refers back to the whole previous clause and links it to the next one. These are set phrases used mainly in writing.

Il a signé, après quoi il est parti sans un mot.: He signed, after which he left without a word.
Réserve tôt, sans quoi tu n'auras pas de place.: Book early, otherwise you won't get a seat.
Il faut payer d'avance, faute de quoi la commande est annulée.: Payment must be made in advance, failing which the order is cancelled.

Sans quoi is the most useful of these and is a compact way of saying otherwise.

En quoi in questions

En quoi asks in what way or how, and it also introduces indirect questions of the same kind. It is not interchangeable with comment.

En quoi cela te concerne-t-il ?: In what way does that concern you?
Je ne vois pas en quoi c'est un problème.: I don't see how that's a problem.
Explique-moi en quoi tu es différent.: Explain to me how you're different.

En quoi asks about the respect in which something is true; comment asks about the manner of an action.

Indefinite Relative Pronouns Ce Dont Quoi FAQs

What does ce dont mean in French?: What, when the verb of the clause is built with de: ce dont j'ai besoin is what I need, ce dont on parle is what we're talking about. The de is inside dont, which is why no separate de appears.
When do I use ce dont instead of ce que?: Whenever the inner verb requires de. Avoir besoin de, avoir envie de, parler de, se souvenir de, avoir peur de and se plaindre de all give ce dont; vouloir, dire, faire and voir take direct objects and give ce que.
Why is it ce à quoi and not ce dont with penser?: Because penser takes à, not de. Ce dont only replaces a de complement, so penser à gives ce à quoi je pense. The same applies to s'attendre à and tenir à.
What does de quoi mean before an infinitive?: Enough to, or the means to: il y a de quoi manger, je n'ai pas de quoi payer. The negative il n'y a pas de quoi also serves as a polite reply to thank you, meaning don't mention it.
What does sans quoi mean?: Otherwise, or failing which. It links a condition to its consequence: dépêche-toi, sans quoi nous serons en retard. Faute de quoi and après quoi work the same way and belong to formal written French.