Learn Hardcore French: Ce à quoi je veux me consacrer cette année, c’est à la prononciation. - What I want to devote myself to this year is pronunciation.

ce = that / what (in a general, neutral sense)
à quoi = to which / to what, where à is the preposition required by the verb se consacrer à and quoi is the relative pronoun.

So the segment Ce à quoi je veux me consacrer… is like saying “What I want to devote myself to…” or “That to which I want to devote myself…”

Why is it quoi and not que in ce à quoi?

Because in French you generally cannot leave a preposition “hanging” at the end of a clause. The preposition à must come before the relative word.

With no preposition, you’d use ce que:
- Ce que je veux faire… = What I want to do…
With a preposition like à, you use ce à quoi:
- Ce à quoi je veux me consacrer… = What I want to devote myself to…

You cannot say *ce que je veux me consacrer à (copying English word order). The à must be placed before quoi: ce à quoi.

Why is there an à in ce à quoi? Could it just be ce quoi?

The à is required by the verb se consacrer à quelque chose.

Base pattern: se consacrer à X = to devote oneself to X
When X becomes a relative clause, you must keep à:
- Je veux me consacrer à la prononciation.
- Ce à quoi je veux me consacrer, c’est à la prononciation.

You cannot say *ce quoi je veux me consacrer because the verb demands à, and French doesn’t allow you to drop that preposition in this structure.

Why is me consacrer reflexive? Could we say je veux consacrer instead?

Se consacrer à is reflexive because the subject is devoting themselves to something.

se consacrer à X = to devote oneself to X
- Je veux me consacrer à la prononciation.
  I want to devote myself to pronunciation.

Without the reflexive:

consacrer quelque chose à X = to devote something to X
- Je veux consacrer mon temps à la prononciation.
  I want to devote my time to pronunciation.

So in your sentence, we are not devoting time, money, etc., but ourselves, so the reflexive me is needed.

Why is it je veux me consacrer and not je me veux consacrer?

When you have a conjugated verb + an infinitive (here veux + consacrer), the reflexive pronoun usually attaches to the infinitive, not the conjugated verb:

je me consacre (one verb)
je veux me consacrer (auxiliary / modal + infinitive)
je vais me consacrer
je peux me consacrer

*je me veux consacrer is not natural; it sounds wrong to native speakers in this meaning.

What kind of structure is Ce à quoi …, c’est …? Why not just say Je veux me consacrer à la prononciation cette année?

Ce à quoi …, c’est … is a cleft sentence, used to put strong emphasis on one part of the message.

Simple (neutral):
- Je veux me consacrer à la prononciation cette année.
  I want to devote myself to pronunciation this year.
Emphatic / focused:
- Ce à quoi je veux me consacrer cette année, c’est à la prononciation.
  What I want to devote myself to this year is pronunciation.

The cleft version highlights la prononciation as the specific focus, a bit like saying in English:
“The thing I want to focus on this year is pronunciation.”

Why is there a comma before c’est?

The comma separates the two parts of the cleft structure:

Ce à quoi je veux me consacrer cette année
→ the relative clause introducing “what we’re talking about”
c’est à la prononciation
→ the part that identifies or defines that “what”

Written French typically marks this break with a comma to show the pause you naturally make when speaking:
Ce à quoi je veux me consacrer cette année, c’est à la prononciation.

Why do we repeat à in c’est à la prononciation? Isn’t à already in ce à quoi?

The à in ce à quoi belongs to the first part of the sentence (the relative clause).
In c’est à la prononciation, we’re forming a new, independent c’est + groupe nominal structure.

French often repeats the preposition to keep the link clear:

Je pense à toi.
→ Ce à quoi je pense, c’est à toi.
Je veux me consacrer à la prononciation.
→ Ce à quoi je veux me consacrer, c’est à la prononciation.

Repeating à makes the sentence feel balanced and very natural.

Could we say Ce à quoi je veux me consacrer cette année, c’est la prononciation (without à)? Is it wrong?

You can hear both versions:

Ce à quoi je veux me consacrer cette année, c’est à la prononciation.
Ce à quoi je veux me consacrer cette année, c’est la prononciation.

With a noun like la prononciation, many speakers accept both.
Keeping à (as in the original) underlines the parallel with se consacrer à and sounds very natural and explicit.

For learners, using c’est à la prononciation is safe and clearly shows the link with se consacrer à. Native speakers won’t find it redundant.

Is Ce que je veux me consacrer à cette année correct?

No, that sounds wrong in French. It directly copies English word order (“what I want to devote myself to”), leaving the preposition à at the end.

Correct options:

Ce à quoi je veux me consacrer cette année, c’est à la prononciation.
Je veux me consacrer à la prononciation cette année.
Ce à quoi je veux me consacrer cette année, c’est la prononciation.

The key rule: in French, the preposition (à, de, etc.) must go before the relative word (quoi, lequel, etc.), not at the end of the clause.

What is the difference between se consacrer à and se concentrer sur?

They are close in meaning but not identical:

se consacrer à X
= to devote oneself to X (often long‑term, involving time, energy, commitment)
- Je veux me consacrer à la prononciation.
  → I want to devote myself to pronunciation (make it a major focus over time).
se concentrer sur X
= to concentrate/focus on X (can be short‑term or situational)
- Je veux me concentrer sur la prononciation aujourd’hui.
  → I want to focus on pronunciation (maybe just for this session).

Your sentence suggests a broader, more sustained commitment, so se consacrer à is well chosen.

Could we express the same idea with ce que instead of ce à quoi?

Yes, but you must change the rest of the structure so that ce que is the object, not the complement of a preposition:

Ce que je veux faire cette année, c’est me consacrer à la prononciation.
What I want to do this year is devote myself to pronunciation.

Here:

ce que = what (object of veux faire)
me consacrer à la prononciation = the specific thing you want to do

You cannot simply replace ce à quoi with ce que and keep the rest the same; the grammar around it must also change.

Where can cette année go in this sentence? Is its position fixed?

Cette année is fairly flexible in French. All of these are possible:

Cette année, je veux me consacrer à la prononciation.
Je veux, cette année, me consacrer à la prononciation.
Je veux me consacrer à la prononciation cette année.
Ce à quoi je veux me consacrer cette année, c’est à la prononciation.

In the original, cette année is attached to je veux me consacrer, indicating when you want to do this. Different positions slightly change the rhythm or emphasis, but all are acceptable.