Lesquelles de ces stations sont les plus proches de notre appartement ?

Which of these stations are closest to our apartment?

Breakdown of Lesquelles de ces stations sont les plus proches de notre appartement ?

• être: to be
• de: of
• l'appartement: the apartment
• le plus: the most
• ces: these
• notre: our
• proche: close
• de: to
• la station: the station
• lesquelles: which

Questions & Answers about Lesquelles de ces stations sont les plus proches de notre appartement ?

What does lesquelles mean here, and why is it used?

Lesquelles means which ones.

It is used because:

• the speaker is choosing from a known group: de ces stations = among these stations
• the noun it refers to, stations, is plural and feminine

So:

• lequel = which one? (masculine singular)
• laquelle = which one? (feminine singular)
• lesquels = which ones? (masculine plural)
• lesquelles = which ones? (feminine plural)

Because stations is feminine plural, French uses lesquelles.

Why can’t I just say quelles de ces stations?

In standard French, quelles de ces stations is not the natural structure here.

French normally uses:

• Lesquelles de ces stations... ? = Which of these stations... ?

If you want to use quelles, you usually need the noun directly after it:

• Quelles stations sont les plus proches de notre appartement ?

So both of these work:

• Lesquelles de ces stations sont les plus proches de notre appartement ?
• Quelles stations sont les plus proches de notre appartement ?

But quelles de ces stations by itself is generally not the correct pattern.

Why is there de in lesquelles de ces stations?

The de means of / among.

The phrase lesquelles de ces stations literally works like:

• which ones of these stations
• more naturally in English: which of these stations

This is a very common pattern in French:

• Lequel de ces livres... ? = Which of these books... ?
• Laquelle de ces rues... ? = Which of these streets... ?
• Lesquelles de ces stations... ? = Which of these stations... ?

Why does the sentence use ces stations?

Ces means these (or sometimes those, depending on context).

It is the plural demonstrative adjective:

• ce / cet = this, that
• cette = this, that
• ces = these, those

Here, ces stations means these stations.

A learner may confuse ces with:

• ses = his/her/its
• des = some

But here it must be ces because the sentence is pointing to a specific group of stations.

Why is the verb sont plural?

Because the subject is plural.

The subject is Lesquelles de ces stations, which refers to more than one possible station, so French uses the plural form of être:

• est = is
• sont = are

So:

• Laquelle de ces stations est... ? = Which one of these stations is... ?
• Lesquelles de ces stations sont... ? = Which ones of these stations are... ?

What does les plus proches mean?

Les plus proches means the closest.

It is the superlative form of proche:

• proche = close / near
• plus proche = closer
• le plus proche / la plus proche / les plus proches = the closest

Here it is plural:

• les plus proches

So the sentence is asking which stations are at the smallest distance from the apartment.

Why is there les before plus proches?

French uses the definite article with the superlative:

• le plus
• la plus
• les plus

So:

• la station la plus proche = the closest station
• les stations les plus proches = the closest stations

That is why the sentence says sont les plus proches, not just sont plus proches.

The difference is:

• plus proches = closer
• les plus proches = the closest

Why does proches end in -es?

Because it agrees with stations, which is feminine plural.

In French, adjectives usually agree in gender and number with the noun they describe.

Here:

• noun: stations = feminine plural
• adjective: proches = feminine plural form

With proche, the feminine singular and masculine singular are spelled the same:

• proche

But in the plural, you add -s:

• proches

Because it is feminine plural, you could think of it as proche + es, though in writing the result is simply proches.

Why is it proches de notre appartement and not proches à notre appartement?

Because proche is followed by de in French.

French says:

• proche de = close to / near

Examples:

• près de la gare = near the station
• proche de l’école = close to the school
• proches de notre appartement = close to our apartment

So even though English often uses to, French uses de after proche.

Why does French say notre appartement and not l’appartement de nous?

French usually uses a possessive adjective before the noun:

• mon / ma / mes = my
• ton / ta / tes = your
• notre / nos = our

So:

• notre appartement = our apartment

French does not normally say l’appartement de nous for this meaning.

Also notice:

• notre is used before a singular noun
• nos is used before a plural noun

So:

• notre appartement = our apartment
• nos appartements = our apartments

Is this a normal way to ask a question in French, even without inversion?

Yes. This is a completely normal and natural question.

French has several ways to ask questions. For example:

• Lesquelles de ces stations sont les plus proches de notre appartement ?
• Quelles sont les stations les plus proches de notre appartement ?
• Quelles stations sont les plus proches de notre appartement ?

You do not need inversion here. The interrogative word lesquelles already clearly marks it as a question.

Inversion is possible in some French questions, but it is not required in this sentence.

How would this change if I were asking about just one station?

You would use the singular form.

Because station is feminine singular, you would say:

• Laquelle de ces stations est la plus proche de notre appartement ?

Changes:

• lesquelles → laquelle
• sont → est
• les plus proches → la plus proche

So:

• plural: Lesquelles de ces stations sont les plus proches... ?
• singular: Laquelle de ces stations est la plus proche... ?

How is lesquelles pronounced?

It is pronounced roughly like lay-kell.

A few pronunciation notes:

• les and quelles are linked together in one word
• the s at the end is not pronounced
• the ll in quelles does not sound like English l + y here; it is simply an l sound

A rough guide:

• lesquelles ≈ lay-kell

And the whole beginning:

• Lesquelles de ces stations...
  ≈ lay-kell duh say sta-syon...

This is only an approximation, but it can help with recognition and speaking.