What does lequel mean in French?

Which one. It replaces a noun already mentioned, so lequel préfères-tu means which one do you prefer. It also serves as a relative pronoun after a preposition: la boîte dans laquelle j'ai mis les clés, the box I put the keys in.

What's the difference between quel and lequel?

Quel is an adjective and needs a noun with it: quelle voiture. Lequel is a pronoun and stands alone: laquelle. English marks the same difference with one, so which car is quel and which one is lequel.

How do auquel and duquel work?

They are lequel with à or de merged in, exactly as le becomes au and du. So à plus lequel gives auquel, de plus lesquels gives desquels. The feminine singular is the exception and stays as two words: à laquelle, de laquelle.

When do I use lequel instead of qui for people?

Normally you use qui: l'ami avec qui je pars. Lequel becomes necessary after parmi and entre, where qui is impossible: les collègues parmi lesquels je travaille. Elsewhere lequel with a person sounds formal and administrative.

Why can't I use dont after à côté de?

Because dont already contains a de of its own, so à côté de dont would repeat it. With any compound preposition ending in de you switch to duquel or de laquelle: la rue au bout de laquelle j'habite, the street I live at the end of.

French grammar · Intermediate

Lequel and Laquelle in French: Which One, and What Follows a Preposition

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

Lequel is the French for which one, and it does two jobs: it asks a question when the noun has already been mentioned, and it acts as a relative pronoun after a preposition. It has four forms and merges with à and de to give auquel, duquel, auxquelles, and the rest of the family.

Voici deux modèles ; lequel préférez-vous ?

Here are two models; which one do you prefer?

What it is

Lequel is literally the definite article welded to quel: le plus quel. Once you see that, everything about it follows. It agrees like an adjective because quel does, and it contracts with à and de because le does, which is where auquel and duquel come from.

Il y a deux trains. Lequel prends-tu ? Celui auquel je pense part à midi. — There are two trains. Which one are you taking? The one I'm thinking of leaves at noon.

How to spot it

Two situations call for lequel: a question where the noun has already been named, and a relative clause that needs a preposition in front of the pronoun.

Lequel de ces deux ? — Which of these two?
la chaise sur laquelle tu es assis — the chair you're sitting on
le problème auquel je pense — the problem I'm thinking about
les raisons pour lesquelles il est parti — the reasons why he left

Written as one word in every plain and contracted form, apart from à laquelle and de laquelle, where the feminine keeps the preposition separate.

Lequel Quick Reference

The four forms, plain and contracted

Preposition	Masculine singular	Feminine singular	Masculine plural	Feminine plural
none	lequel	laquelle	lesquels	lesquelles
à	auquel	à laquelle	auxquels	auxquelles
de	duquel	de laquelle	desquels	desquelles
sur	sur lequel	sur laquelle	sur lesquels	sur lesquelles
pour	pour lequel	pour laquelle	pour lesquels	pour lesquelles
avec	avec lequel	avec laquelle	avec lesquels	avec lesquelles

Common Lequel Examples in French

Lequel in both of its roles:

Asking Which One

Lequel préfères-tu ?: Which one do you prefer?
Laquelle de ces robes te plaît ?: Which of these dresses do you like?
Lesquels sont à toi ?: Which ones are yours?
Duquel parlez-vous ?: Which one are you talking about?

The noun has already been mentioned or is obvious from the situation, which is what licenses the pronoun.

Relative Pronoun After a Preposition

la chaise sur laquelle tu es assis: the chair you're sitting on
le stylo avec lequel j'écris: the pen I'm writing with
l'entreprise dans laquelle elle travaille: the company she works for
les raisons pour lesquelles il a démissionné: the reasons why he resigned

This is the job qui and que cannot do, because neither of them can follow a preposition when the antecedent is a thing.

Contracted With À

le problème auquel je pense: the problem I'm thinking about
la question à laquelle je réponds: the question I'm answering
les gens auxquels j'ai écrit: the people I wrote to
les défis auxquels nous faisons face: the challenges we're facing

The contraction follows the ordinary rule: à plus le gives au, à plus les gives aux. Only the feminine singular resists.

Contracted With De

le village près duquel nous campions: the village we were camping near
la maison en face de laquelle il habite: the house he lives opposite
les enfants au sujet desquels on a parlé: the children we talked about
le fleuve au bord duquel nous marchions: the river we were walking along

Whenever the preposition already ends in de, the relative has to be duquel and cannot be dont.

How Lequel Works

Everything about lequel comes out of its internal structure, so the forms are worth deriving once rather than memorising blindly.

It Is the Article Plus Quel

Le plus quel gives lequel, la plus quelle gives laquelle, les plus quels gives lesquels. That is also why the à and de contractions happen: it is the article inside, not the pronoun as a whole, that merges.

Auquel de ces deux problèmes penses-tu ?

Which of these two problems are you thinking of?

le + quel = lequel.

It Agrees With the Noun It Replaces

The gender and number come from the noun that has dropped out of the sentence. Talking about robes gives laquelle and lesquelles; talking about trains gives lequel and lesquels.

J'ai deux valises ; laquelle veux-tu ?

I have two suitcases; which one do you want?

Match the missing noun.

As a Question It Means Which One

Lequel is only available once the noun is known. If you have to say the noun, you need the adjective quel instead: quel train, but lequel on its own. English marks the same distinction with the word one.

Lesquelles de ces photos veux-tu garder ?

Which of these photos do you want to keep?

which one → lequel.

As a Relative It Needs a Preposition

Without a preposition, a relative clause uses qui or que. Lequel appears when the clause requires sur, dans, avec, pour, or another preposition and the antecedent is a thing rather than a person.

C'est le dossier dans lequel j'ai rangé le contrat.

That's the folder I filed the contract in.

Preposition + lequel.

Duquel Covers What Dont Cannot

Dont handles a bare de, as in le film dont je parle. But if the de is buried inside a longer preposition such as à côté de or au sujet de, dont is impossible and duquel takes over.

Voici l'immeuble à côté duquel j'ai grandi.

This is the building I grew up next to.

Compound preposition → duquel.

Common Mistakes with Lequel

Incorrect: Lequel livre préfères-tu ? — Which book do you prefer?

Correct: Quel livre préfères-tu ? — Which book do you prefer?

Lequel has already absorbed the noun, so it cannot have another one after it. With the noun present you need the adjective quel.

Incorrect: le problème à lequel je pense — the problem I'm thinking about

Correct: le problème auquel je pense — the problem I'm thinking about

The le inside lequel contracts with à just as any other le does. À lequel is as impossible as à le.

Incorrect: les raisons pour lesquels il est parti — the reasons why he left

Correct: les raisons pour lesquelles il est parti — the reasons why he left

Raison is feminine, so the plural form is lesquelles. The agreement comes from the antecedent, not from anything in the relative clause.

Incorrect: la maison dont j'habite à côté — the house I live next to

Correct: la maison à côté de laquelle j'habite — the house I live next to

French does not strand a preposition at the end of a clause. À côté de has to move to the front, and because it already contains de, the pronoun becomes de laquelle.

People, Parmi, and Compound Prepositions

Three situations decide whether lequel is optional, forbidden, or compulsory.

People usually prefer qui

After a simple preposition, a person is normally introduced by qui rather than by lequel, which sounds formal or heavy.

l'homme avec qui je travaille: the man I work with
la femme à qui j'ai parlé: the woman I spoke to
les amis pour qui je fais ça: the friends I'm doing this for

Avec lequel is not wrong, and you will see it in legal and administrative writing, but avec qui is what people say.

Parmi and entre demand lesquels

After parmi and entre, qui is impossible even for people, so lesquels or lesquelles is the only choice.

les candidats parmi lesquels il faut choisir: the candidates we have to choose between
les deux options entre lesquelles j'hésite: the two options I'm torn between
les invités parmi lesquels se trouvait le maire: the guests, among whom was the mayor

This is the one place where a person takes lequel without any hesitation.

Compound prepositions ending in de

When the preposition already contains de, dont cannot be used and duquel or de laquelle is required.

la maison à côté de laquelle il y a un parc: the house with a park next to it
le projet au sujet duquel il m'a écrit: the project he wrote to me about
la table au-dessus de laquelle pend une lampe: the table with a lamp hanging above it

Dont already contains its own de, so putting it after à côté de would give you the preposition twice.

Lequel FAQs

What does lequel mean in French?: Which one. It replaces a noun already mentioned, so lequel préfères-tu means which one do you prefer. It also serves as a relative pronoun after a preposition: la boîte dans laquelle j'ai mis les clés, the box I put the keys in.
What's the difference between quel and lequel?: Quel is an adjective and needs a noun with it: quelle voiture. Lequel is a pronoun and stands alone: laquelle. English marks the same difference with one, so which car is quel and which one is lequel.
How do auquel and duquel work?: They are lequel with à or de merged in, exactly as le becomes au and du. So à plus lequel gives auquel, de plus lesquels gives desquels. The feminine singular is the exception and stays as two words: à laquelle, de laquelle.
When do I use lequel instead of qui for people?: Normally you use qui: l'ami avec qui je pars. Lequel becomes necessary after parmi and entre, where qui is impossible: les collègues parmi lesquels je travaille. Elsewhere lequel with a person sounds formal and administrative.
Why can't I use dont after à côté de?: Because dont already contains a de of its own, so à côté de dont would repeat it. With any compound preposition ending in de you switch to duquel or de laquelle: la rue au bout de laquelle j'habite, the street I live at the end of.