Breakdown of La femme à qui tu parles a une belle personnalité.
un
a / an (masculine)
la femme
the woman
tu
you (informal singular)
qui
who
avoir
to have
parler
to speak
à
at / to / in (general locations) / about (what one thinks about / reacts to)
beau
beautiful / handsome
la personnalité
the personality
Questions & Answers about La femme à qui tu parles a une belle personnalité.
Why is it à qui here instead of just que or qui?
In English, we often put the preposition at the end of the sentence: "The woman you are talking to." French never leaves a preposition dangling like that. Because the verb is parler à (to talk to), the à must move in front of the relative pronoun. It literally translates to "The woman to whom you are speaking."
Could I say La femme à laquelle tu parles instead?
In English we can say "The woman you are talking to" without using "who" or "that." Can I drop the qui in French?
No, French is very strict about this! While English allows you to drop the relative pronoun, you can never skip it in French. You must always include the qui, que, or in this case, à qui.
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