Laquelle

Laquelle is the feminine singular form of the French pronoun lequel, used as both an interrogative and a relative pronoun. It refers to a feminine antecedent and agrees in gender and number with that antecedent. In practice, laquelle appears most often after prepositions, yielding forms such as à laquelle, de laquelle, avec laquelle, pour laquelle, et par laquelle, among others. It can also function without a preposition in interrogative contexts.

As a relative pronoun, laquelle introduces relative clauses that provide information about a feminine antecedent. For example: La femme à laquelle je parle est médecin. The phrase La raison pour laquelle il est en retard m’inquiète uses laquelle within a compound preposition to introduce the clause explaining the reason. These constructions are common in formal writing and can convey precise relationships between elements.

As an interrogative pronoun, laquelle asks to identify a feminine item within a known set: Laquelle de ces robes préfères-tu ? Je ne sais pas laquelle choisir. In everyday speech, speakers often use the simpler questions with quel or quelle, but laquelle remains standard when a definite antecedent exists or when the preposition is required.

Related forms include lequel (masculine singular), laquelle, lesquels (masculine plural), and lesquelles (feminine plural). Together with the other forms lequel, lequel and its variants are used to avoid repetition and to align with the gender and number of the noun they refer to. Etymologically, laquelle is the feminine form derived from the same root as lequel, linked to the broader family of interrogative and relative pronouns in French.