Learn Hardcore French: Celui qui chante dans le jardin est mon ami. - The one singing in the garden is my friend.

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?

French normally requires an article before a singular, countable noun. dans le jardin means “in the garden,” specifying which garden. Omitting le (i.e., dans jardin) would be ungrammatical.

Why is it mon ami and not un ami or le mon ami?

Possessive adjectives (mon, ton, son, etc.) replace the indefinite or definite article.
• mon ami = “my friend.”
• un ami = “a friend” (indefinite).
• le mon ami is incorrect in French.

If the singer were female, how would you change celui and ami?

Use the feminine forms:
• Celle qui chante dans le jardin est mon amie.
Note that mon amie stays mon because amie begins with a vowel, but amie takes the -e ending for feminine.

Could you rearrange dans le jardin, for example: Celui dans le jardin qui chante?

Yes. Celui dans le jardin qui chante is grammatically correct. This order places slight emphasis on the location, translating as “The one in the garden who sings,” but the overall meaning is the same.