Learn French: L'actrice dont tu parles ne manque pas de talent. - The actress you are speaking about does not lack talent.

L'actrice dont tu parles ne manque pas de talent.

The actress you are speaking about does not lack talent.

Breakdown of L'actrice dont tu parles ne manque pas de talent.

you (informal singular)

not (used before the verb)

pas

not (used after the verb)

parler

to speak

Questions & Answers about L'actrice dont tu parles ne manque pas de talent.

Why do we use dont instead of que to mean 'that' or 'who' in this sentence?

The verb is parler de (to speak about). In French, when a relative clause uses a verb that requires the preposition de, you must use dont to connect the ideas. It stands in for de l'actrice.

Where is the French word for 'about' in this sentence?

It is built right into dont. English often leaves prepositions at the end of a clause ('the actress you are speaking about'), but French never allows this. Because dont replaces a phrase starting with de, dont tu parles translates completely to 'about whom you speak.'

Since dont often translates to 'whose', does it mean that here?

Not here. It is true that dont is the main French word for 'whose' (for example, l'actrice dont le film est célèbre means 'the actress whose movie is famous'). But in this sentence, it simply acts as the object of parler de, meaning 'about whom.'

Why is it de talent instead of du talent?