Dont (en. Of which)

[dɔ̃]

Meaning & Definition

EnglishFrench

conjunction

Used to introduce a complement introduced by a preposition.

This is the book I told you about.

C'est le livre dont je t'ai parlé.

Indicates possession or a relationship.

She has a dog of which she is very proud.

Elle a un chien dont elle est très fière.

Used to mention a group or set.

The children whose parents work late are often alone.

Les enfants dont les parents travaillent tard sont souvent seuls.

From Old French, a contracted form of 'de' and 'qui'.

to talk about someone whom we are talking about

Discussing a person who has been mentioned.

parler de quelqu'un dont on parle

to need something that we need

Expressing a concrete necessity.

avoir besoin de quelque chose dont on a besoin

Preposition introducing a relationship.

qui

Relative pronoun used to introduce a relative clause.

qui

To express an informal dependency.

This is the person I was talking about yesterday.

C'est la personne dont je te parlais hier.

Used to designate an ambiguous relationship.

She is with the one I'm not sure about.

Elle est avec celui dont je ne suis pas sûr.