Answers
Jul 29, 2013 - 08:55 PM
If you cannot use "that" in the english version (you don't say "i know which cake that I want", then don't use "que" in French. If you can say "that" in english, even though it may often be omitted, then you have to use "que" in French, for example "This is the car I bought" you can also say "This is the car that I bought". In that case you must use "que". C'est la voiture que j'ai achetée.
Jul 31, 2013 - 09:45 AM
Thanks Fabrice. Again, this seems a Fluenz type explanation, not a grammatical one. "I know which cake that I want" doesn't sound all that wrong to me; and Word doesn't flag it as incorrect grammer. I realize that without the "que" must be the correct way to say it in French, but it would help me if I understood why, in more technical terms.
Sep 09, 2013 - 04:11 PM
James, I concur with your position... In fact, I had the same question. I have seen the word "that" inserted in places where i thought the insertion was questionable, but in this case, I agree with you, ... that "that" sounds fine to me also.
Feb 13, 2014 - 12:19 AM
Forgive me if I'm dragging up too old of a thread, but I think this is an interesting discussion, and I'd love to know the answer for certain. Maybe a native can chime in.
For what it is worth, I plugged in three variations of the statement into bonpatron.com (grammar checker), and they all passed. I've heard that it is mostly accurate.
Je sais quel gateau je veux.
Je sais quel gateau que je veux.
Je sais quel gateau ce que je veux.
For what it is worth, I plugged in three variations of the statement into bonpatron.com (grammar checker), and they all passed. I've heard that it is mostly accurate.
Je sais quel gateau je veux.
Je sais quel gateau que je veux.
Je sais quel gateau ce que je veux.
Feb 13, 2014 - 10:42 AM
Hi all, This is a very confusing and technical one. Basically, 'que' as a relative pronoun has no place in this sentence as it is not replacing any part of the phrase. French students learn is that qui means "who" and que means "that" or "what." In fact, this is not always the case. I found a great article that will help explain this.http://french.about.com/od/grammar/a/relativepronouns_2.htm Hope this helps!
Feb 25, 2014 - 07:59 PM
The reason you don't use "que" is that you're trying to use it as as relative pronoun to make reference to the cake. However, you already used "quel" as a relative pronoun, so "quel gateau que" is incorrect because you've already referenced the cake with "quel". You can say "Je vois le gateau que je veux", or "Je vois quel gateau je veux", but not "Je vois quel gateau que je veux". As an aside, "Je sais le gateau que je veux" sounds a bit weird (you would have to put some emphasis on the "sais" to make it work but it sounds very colloquial), so "Je sais quel gateau je veux" is much better.
I hope this helps :)
I hope this helps :)