Breakdown of Le meneur demande ce que nous voulons faire.
nous
we / us (object pronoun)
faire
to do, to make
vouloir
to want
demander
to ask (for) / to require / demand
ce que
what (object)
le meneur
the gamemaster
Questions & Answers about Le meneur demande ce que nous voulons faire.
Since the current lesson is about lequel / laquelle, why aren't we using one of those here to mean 'what'?
Lequel (which / which one) is used when you need to point back to a specific, previously mentioned noun (an antecedent). In this sentence, there is no specific noun being referred to. When 'what' means 'the thing that' or 'that which,' you must use the indefinite relative pronoun ce que (or ce qui if it's the subject).
Why can't I translate 'asks what' directly as demande quoi?
While quoi does mean 'what', it cannot be used as a conjunction to introduce an indirect question. In French, you must use ce que (literally 'that which') whenever 'what' acts as the direct object of the verb in the following clause (nous voulons faire).
I learned that meneur means 'leader' or 'ringleader.' How does it mean 'gamemaster'?
Why isn't there any subject-verb inversion after ce que?
Because this is an indirect question. The main clause is a statement (Le meneur demande). In indirect questions, the dependent clause keeps standard declarative word order: subject (nous) followed by the verb (voulons).
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