Log inSign up

Le discours à la fin duquel le roi a pleuré a été formidable.

Le discours à la fin duquel le roi a pleuré a été formidable.
The speech at the end of which the king cried was wonderful.
From Lesson 169:Contracted relative pronouns (auquel / duquel)·French

Questions & Answers about Le discours à la fin duquel le roi a pleuré a été formidable.

Why do we use duquel here instead of lequel?
Duquel is a contraction of the preposition de and lequel. It is used here because the phrase is à la fin de (at the end of). Since discours is a masculine singular noun, de combines with lequel to form duquel (at the end of which).
Could we just use dont instead of duquel?
No, you cannot use dont here. While dont often replaces de plus a noun, it cannot be used after a compound preposition phrase like à la fin de. When the word de is part of a phrase like à côté de or à la fin de, you must use the matching form of duquel.
It looks strange to have pleuré a été right next to each other. How does this sentence structure work?
Those verbs belong to two different clauses. The relative clause is à la fin duquel le roi a pleuré (at the end of which the king cried). The main sentence wraps around it: Le discours... a été formidable (The speech... was wonderful).
Why use the passé composé for a été instead of the imparfait (était)?
Both are grammatically correct, but they have different nuances. Using the passé composé (a été) treats the speech as a single, completed event in the past. If you used the imparfait (était), it would sound more like you were setting the scene or describing the ongoing atmosphere during the speech.

Learn Le discours à la fin duquel le roi a pleuré a été formidable and more in French

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning French →