lesquels

Lesquels is the masculine plural form of the French interrogative and relative pronoun lequel. It is used to refer to a specific set of items and agrees in gender and number with the noun it replaces or modifies. In interrogative use, lesquels asks “which ones,” while in relative use it introduces a clause that refers back to a plural antecedent, often following a preposition.

Forms and usage

In the interrogative, the forms are lesquels (masculine plural) and lesquelles (feminine plural). For example: Lesquels de ces livres préférez-vous? and Lesquelles de ces robes vous plaisent? In relative clauses, lesquels appears after common prepositions in contracted forms such as auxquels, auxquelles, auxquels, desquels, desquelles, et parmi lesquels. Examples: Les livres auxquels vous faites référence sont épuisés. Parmi lesquels se trouvent les documents manquants. Desquels ressortent les éléments importants pour l’analyse. These forms show how the pronoun adapts to the preposition and to the gender of the antecedent.

Notes on usage

Lesquels and ses variants are more common in written or formal French. In everyday speech, speakers often use simpler constructions with lequel or en utilisant des formes comme lesquels or auxquels depending on the preposition, rather than relying on lesquels alone. The pronoun serves to avoid repetition when the antecedent is plural and clearly identified.

Origin and relation

Lesquels derives from lequel, itself from quel with the definite article le, and is part of the broader system of quel, lequel, lequel, and their contractions used to link questions and relative clauses with precision in French grammar.