French Grammar Explained /

Relative pronoun "où"

Sometimes explanations can sound redundant.
What do you mean?
Sometimes explanations can sound redundant. Some explanations are repeated too often.
I see...
J'habite à Nice. Nice est au bord de la mer.
I live in Nice. Nice is on the coast.
To avoid this repetition, we use relative pronouns:
Nice, j'habite, est au bord de la mer.
Nice, where I live, is on the coast.
Hey, haven't we talked about relative pronouns before?
Indeed we have; remember qui and que?
Mais oui !
Unlike qui and que, which can be used with people and objects, the relative pronoun is used in French to substitute a place and a time:
La ville (= dans la ville) j'habite est au bord de la mer.
For the grammar lovers
is a substitute for an indirect object introduced by a preposition of place (à, dans, sur, chez, en, au, de...).
Let's look at other examples using the relative pronoun :
J'ai grandi dans une maison. La maison est très petite.
I grew up in a house. The house is very small.
-> La maison j'ai grandi est très petite.
The house where I grew up is very small.
Il achète ses vêtements au magasin. Voici le magasin.
He buys his clothes in the shop. Here's the shop.
-> Voici le magasin il achète ses vêtements.
Here's the shop where he buys his clothes.
So that was the substitution of a place, now let's see replacing a time.
J'ouvre les yeux une seconde. La même seconde mon chat miaule pour manger.
I open my eyes one second. The same second my cat meows to eat.
-> À la seconde j’ouvre les yeux, mon chat miaule pour manger !
The second I open my eyes, my cat meows to eat.
J'ai eu un jardin une année. Cette année, j'ai adopté un chien.
I had a garden one year. That year, I adopted a dog.
-> J'ai adopté un chien l'année j'ai eu un jardin.
I adopted a dog the year I got a garden.
Are you stil following?
Yeah look... grammar points... c'est le moment où je m'endors ! (It's the moment I fall asleep!)
Très drôle !