Le congrès auquel tu participes est très intéressant.

Questions & Answers about Le congrès auquel tu participes est très intéressant.

Why is auquel used here instead of just que or lequel?
The verb in this sentence is participer à (to participate in). Because it requires the preposition à, we can't just use que. We have to combine à with the relative pronoun lequel (which). Whenever à and lequel meet, they must contract into the single word auquel (literally 'to which').
Why does auquel translate to 'in which' here instead of 'to which'?
Prepositions rarely translate word-for-word between languages. In English, you participate 'in' an event, but in French, the verb is always participer à. Since the French verb dictates the preposition, we must use à, which becomes auquel here, even though the English translation uses 'in'.
How do we know to use auquel and not à laquelle or auxquels?
The relative pronoun must agree in gender and number with the noun it refers back to. Here, it is replacing Le congrès (the convention), which is masculine and singular. If it referred to a feminine noun like la conférence (the conference), you would use à laquelle.
The English translation puts 'in' at the very end. Can we do something like that in French?
No, you can never leave a preposition dangling at the end of a clause or sentence in French. While English naturally says 'The convention you are participating in', French strictly requires the structure 'The convention in which you participate', keeping the preposition tucked safely inside auquel.

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