relative pronouns in french language

bonjour

i have 2 questions

1-What does this phrase mean ? "c'est moi que , ne se dit pas "

2- There are lots of relative pronouns in french language , and this is confused us as learners

for example :

masculin singulier : lequel, duquel, auquel.
féminin singulier : laquelle, de laquelle, à laquelle.
masculin pluriel : lesquels, desquels, auxquels.
féminin pluriel : lesquelles, desquelles, auxquelles.

my question is : Are all these pronouns are common ? in other words : do french people really use them in their daily life ?

i want to concentrate on spoken french only that's why i ask

merci a vous

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Permalink Reply by Neil Coffey on December 18, 2011 at 4:28am

These pronouns are common-ish when they're the object of a preposition. For example:

Voici le papier sur lequel il a écrit la note.

Let's say, in this case they're more or less as common as you'd need to express this kind of relationship between two nouns.

Otherwise, where there is an alternative, they're essentially part of formal usage, so for example this:

J'ai parlé avec Jean Moulin, lequel est malade depuis 2 mois.

would in everyday language be expressed e.g:

J'ai parlé avec Jean Moulin, qui est malade depuis 2 mois.

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Permalink Reply by Sandra Rose on December 18, 2011 at 9:27pm

But, what about the first question?

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Permalink Reply by Neil Coffey on December 19, 2011 at 6:34am

OK, I think what they meant with full punctuation is:

"C'est moi que" ne se dit pas.

which means "People don't say 'C'est moi que'". I'm guessing with more context it would make sense.

(N.B. "C'est moi que..." is perfectly grammatical under the right circumstances, so I'm guessing the person is pointing out that "C'est moi que..." is not grammatical in a particular sentence.)

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EducatorPermalink Reply by stu harris on December 20, 2011 at 12:46am

That's a surprise, Neil. I would have thought it was always "C'est moi qui..."