Question 1

Why do we use auxquels here instead of que or lesquels?

Accepted Answer

The verb is s'intéresser à (to be interested in). In French, relative pronouns must include the preposition required by the verb. Since séminaires is masculine plural, the pronoun would be lesquels. But because of the à, we have to combine à + lesquels to get the contracted form auxquels.

Question 2

In English, we say "interested in" at the end of the sentence. Why is there no preposition at the end of the French sentence?

Accepted Answer

In French, you can never leave a preposition dangling at the end of a clause like we do in English. The preposition must come right before the relative pronoun. Here, the à (translating to "in") is actually baked right into the word auxquels, placing it safely in the middle of the sentence.

Question 3

Why does the French use the preposition à here when the English translation says "interested in"?

Accepted Answer

Prepositions rarely translate perfectly word-for-word. The French verb phrase is s'intéresser à (literally, to interest oneself to). When learning a new verb, it is very important to memorize which preposition it uses, as that determines which relative pronoun (like auquel or duquel) you will need to use later.

Question 4

Why does the sentence start with Ce sont instead of Ils sont?

Accepted Answer

We use c'est (or its plural form, ce sont) when identifying or presenting a noun that has an article before it, like les séminaires. You would use ils sont if you were just following it with an adjective, like ils sont intéressants (they are interesting).

Ce sont les séminaires auxquels l'étudiant s'intéresse.

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