Learn French: Laquelle avez-vous décidé de restaurer ? - Which one did you decide to restore?

Laquelle avez-vous décidé de restaurer ?

Which one did you decide to restore?

Breakdown of Laquelle avez-vous décidé de restaurer ?

which (masculine singular, feminine laquelle, plural lesquels, lesquelles)

décider de

to decide to

Questions & Answers about Laquelle avez-vous décidé de restaurer ?

Why do we need de between décidé and restaurer?

In French, the verb décider (to decide) is followed by the preposition de when it comes right before an infinitive verb (a verb in its unconjugated form, like restaurer). You cannot just put the two verbs together like in English; you have to use the pattern décider de + infinitive.

Why use Laquelle instead of just Quelle?

Quelle is an adjective that must be followed by a noun (like Quelle chaise for 'Which chair'). Laquelle is a pronoun that stands on its own to mean 'Which one'. It is feminine here, so the speakers must be talking about a feminine noun they have already mentioned.

Since Laquelle is feminine and comes before the verb, why doesn't décidé get an extra e at the end?

This is a classic trap! It is true that in the passé composé, the past participle usually agrees with a direct object that comes before it. However, the thing they are talking about (Laquelle) is the object of restaurer (it is the thing being restored), not décidé. Because it is not the direct object of décidé, the past participle does not change.

Do I have to say avez-vous? Can I just say vous avez?