Learn French: Tous les insectes qui volent sont dans le jardin. - All the insects that fly are in the garden.

Tous les insectes qui volent sont dans le jardin.

All the insects that fly are in the garden.

Breakdown of Tous les insectes qui volent sont dans le jardin.

the garden (faire le jardin = to garden)

Questions & Answers about Tous les insectes qui volent sont dans le jardin.

Why is it qui volent and not que volent?

In French relative clauses, you use qui when it is the subject of the verb (the thing doing the action). Since the insects are the ones doing the flying, we use qui. You would use que if the insect was the object receiving the action.

I thought qui meant "who". Why is it used for insects here instead of people?

When used as a question word, qui means "who". But when used to link parts of a sentence together (as a relative pronoun), qui translates to "that", "which", or "who". It can be used for people, animals, or things!

Why is the verb volent in the plural form?

The verb that comes after qui must match the noun that qui refers back to. Because qui refers to les insectes (which is plural), we conjugate voler (to fly) in the plural "they" form: ils volent.

Do I pronounce the "s" at the end of Tous in this sentence?

No, the "s" is silent here. When tous describes a noun that comes right after it (like les insectes), the "s" is not pronounced. You only pronounce the "s" when tous stands entirely on its own to mean "everyone" or "all of them".