Celui qui chante dans le jardin est mon ami.

to be

Breakdown of Celui qui chante dans le jardin est mon ami.

• mon: my (before a masculine singular noun)
• l'ami: the friend
• dans: in

Questions & Answers about Celui qui chante dans le jardin est mon ami.

What is the function of celui in this sentence, and how would you translate it?

celui is a masculine singular demonstrative pronoun meaning “the one” or “he who.” It replaces a noun (e.g. “man” or “person”) and introduces the specific individual. Here, Celui qui chante dans le jardin translates as “The one who sings in the garden…”.

Why is qui used as the relative pronoun instead of que?

qui functions as the subject of the verb in the relative clause. In qui chante, qui performs the action “sings.” If the pronoun were the direct object, you would use que instead.

Can we use que with celui in another example?

Yes. For example:
• Celui que j’ai vu dans le jardin – “The one that I saw in the garden.”
Here que is the direct object of voir.

What tense is chante, and why isn’t it chanté?

chante is the 3rd person singular present indicative of chanter (“to sing”). chanté is the past participle and only appears in compound tenses (e.g., a chanté = “has sung”).

Why is there a le in dans le jardin? Could you drop it?