Breakdown of À la convention, nous avons découvert ce sur quoi se base le livre.
le livre
the book
nous
we / us (object pronoun)
avoir
to have
à
at / to / in (general locations) / about (what one thinks about / reacts to)
découvrir
to discover
la convention
the convention (agreement, treaty)
ce sur quoi
what ... on
se baser sur
to base oneself on
Questions & Answers about À la convention, nous avons découvert ce sur quoi se base le livre.
Why do we need ce in ce sur quoi? Couldn't we just say sur quoi?
When "what" means "the thing that" and works with a preposition (like sur), French uses the structure ce + preposition + quoi. Think of ce as "the thing", sur as "on", and quoi as "which". Since the verb phrase is se baser sur (to be based on), "what the book is based on" becomes "the thing on which the book is based": ce sur quoi.
Why is the word order se base le livre instead of le livre se base?
This is a stylistic inversion. In relative clauses (like those starting with où, que, or ce sur quoi), if the subject is a noun like le livre rather than a pronoun like il, it is very common to put the subject after the verb because it flows better to the French ear. However, saying ce sur quoi le livre se base is also completely correct!
Why use the reflexive verb se base instead of est basé?
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