Learn French: Nous visitons le jardin botanique que préfèrent les visiteurs. - We are visiting the botanical garden that the visitors prefer.

Nous visitons le jardin botanique que préfèrent les visiteurs.

We are visiting the botanical garden that the visitors prefer.

Breakdown of Nous visitons le jardin botanique que préfèrent les visiteurs.

nous

we / us (object pronoun)

the garden (faire le jardin = to garden)

Questions & Answers about Nous visitons le jardin botanique que préfèrent les visiteurs.

Why is it que préfèrent les visiteurs and not que les visiteurs préfèrent?

This is a stylistic inversion. In French relative clauses starting with que, you can flip the noun subject (les visiteurs) and the verb (préfèrent). It means exactly the same thing but sounds a bit more elegant and is very common in written or formal French.

How can I tell that les visiteurs is the subject and not the object?

The relative pronoun que is always a direct object (representing the garden here), which means the clause still needs a subject. Because French uses que instead of qui, we know the garden isn't doing the action. Therefore, les visiteurs must be the subject, despite coming after the verb.

Can I always invert the subject and verb in a que relative clause?

You can only do this when the subject is a noun or a full noun phrase, like les visiteurs or mon ami. You cannot use this type of stylistic inversion if the subject is a pronoun like ils or elles. For example, you must say qu'ils préfèrent and never que préfèrent-ils.

Why does préfèrent have a grave accent (è) when the infinitive is préférer?