Breakdown of Le placard dans lequel nous ne cachions rien est vide.
être
to be
nous
we / us (object pronoun)
dans
in, inside
ne
not (used before the verb)
cacher
to hide
le placard
the cupboard
rien
nothing (ne ... rien)
vide
empty
lequel
which (masculine singular, feminine laquelle, plural lesquels, lesquelles)
Questions & Answers about Le placard dans lequel nous ne cachions rien est vide.
Why do we use lequel here instead of que or qui?
Lequel is a relative pronoun used after a preposition (like dans, sur, or avec) to mean "which". We use the masculine singular form lequel to match the noun it refers back to, le placard (the closet). You cannot use que or qui directly after these prepositions to refer to things.
Could I use où instead of dans lequel in this sentence?
How does the negation ne ... rien work with the verb here?
The phrase ne ... rien (nothing or not anything) works just like ne ... pas. It goes around the conjugated verb. So, nous ne cachions rien translates to "we were hiding nothing" or "we weren't hiding anything".
Why is the verb cachions in the imparfait tense?
The imparfait is used here for an ongoing, continuous state in the past. Translating it as "were hiding" perfectly captures this background action, compared to the passé composé (avons caché), which would sound like a single, completed event.
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