Imagine your friend is trying to decide on a shirt to wear to a party and asks for your opinion. In French, there are two main forms that question could take: 

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Quelle chemise préfères-tu? 
Which shirt do you prefer? 

Laquelle de ces chemises préfères-tu? 
Which of these shirts do you prefer? 

There's a slight but important difference between these two questions. Though quelle and laquelle both mean "which," laquelle more specifically means "which one." Since laquelle is a pronoun, you can simplify the second sentence and just say, Laquelle préfères-tu? (Which one do you prefer?) However, you can't simplify the first one (Quelle préfères-tu?) because quelle is an adjective and therefore always precedes a noun. 

Note that quelle and laquelle agree in number (singular) and gender (feminine) with the noun they refer to, chemise. Their other forms are quel/lequel (masculine singular), quels/lesquels (masculine plural), and quelles/lesquelles (feminine plural). As you can see, the pronoun is formed by combining the definite article le, la, or les with the corresponding form of quel.

Besides introducing a question, lequel/laquelle/lesquels/lesquelles can also be used after a preposition. Here they are in action with the prepositions sur (on) and dans (in):
 

Le territoire sur lequel ils sont installés...

The territory on which they have settled...

Caption 41, Actus Quartier - Fête de quartier Python-Duvernois

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Par exemple, j'ai ma deuxième robe,

For example, I have my second dress,

dans laquelle je chante mon duo.

in which I sing my duet.

Caption 25, Melissa Mars - Mozart, l'opéra rock

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Watch out for the prepositions à (to) and de (of, from) in this construction. Just as à + le becomes au instead of à le, and de + le becomes du instead of de le, à + lequel and de + lequel become auquel (to which) and duquel (from which, of which, about which). In all forms except the feminine singular (à laquelle, de laquelle), à and de combine with the pronoun to form one word: 

Masculine singular: duquel (de + lequel), auquel (à + lequel)
Masculine plural: desquels (de + lesquels), auxquels (à + lesquels)
Feminine plural: desquelles (de + lesquelles), auxquelles (à + lesquelles)

An important note about duquel/de laquelle/desquels/desquelles: these constructions are often replaced by the word dont, the subject of our previous lesson. So instead of a sentence like: 

Voici le livre duquel je t'ai parlé hier. 
Here is the book about which I spoke to you yesterday. 

You would more often hear:

Voici le livre dont je t'ai parlé hier. 
Here is the book I spoke to you about yesterday. 

However, you have to use duquel, de laquelle, etc., whenever the de is part of a prepositional phrase such as près de (near), à côté de (next to), or loin de (far from):
 

Il est bordé des quais de Valmy et de Jemmapes

It is bordered by the Quais de Valmy and Jemmapes,

au bord duquel se trouve le fameux Hôtel du Nord.

along which is found the famous Hôtel du Nord [Northern Hotel].

Captions 33-34, De nouvelles découvertes avec Marion - Le canal Saint-Martin

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Another important note: Though it's common in English to end a clause with a preposition like "about" or "from," you can never do this with de, duquel/de laquelle, etc., or dont. For example, you can say "the book I spoke to you about," but you can never say le livre je t'ai parlé duquel or le livre je t'ai parlé dont. You can only say le livre duquel je t'ai parlé or le livre dont je t'ai parlé (the book about which I spoke to you).  

Thanks for reading! Tweet us @yabla or email us at newsletter@yabla.com with any questions, feedback, or suggestions for future lesson topics. 

If you listen to Jean-Marc’s description of Mediterranean beaches versus those in western France and the eastern United States, you might be struck by the way he pronounces the word plus (more):

Les plages sont beaucoup plus petites, avec beaucoup plus de gens.

The beaches are a lot smaller, with a lot more people.

Caption 8, Jean-Marc - La plage - Part 1

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Did you notice that he didn’t pronounce the “s” in the first instance of plus, but did pronounce it in the second? That’s no inconsistency on his part—Jean-Marc is actually obeying the tricky pronunciation rules of this common little adverb. 

The general rule of thumb for plus is fairly easy to remember: when it’s used to mean more of something (plus de...), the “s” is pronounced; when it’s used in a negative sense (ne… plus [no more], non plus [neither]), the “s” is not pronounced:

Je ne savais plus qui j'étais.

I didn't know who I was anymore.

Caption 16, Melissa Mars - Mozart, L'opéra rock - Part 1

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Mais toi non plus tu n'as pas changé.

But you, you have not changed either.

Caption 25, Le Journal - Retour sur scène de Julio Iglesias

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This becomes especially important in informal conversation, when a lot of French speakers tend to drop the ne in negative constructions. So if someone says je veux plus de pain and they don’t pronounce the “s,” you can tell that they don’t want any more bread even though they left out the ne. If they do pronounce the “s,” you can pass them the bread basket! 

A different rule applies when plus is used comparatively, i.e., when it’s followed by an adjective. In that case, the “s” is usually not pronounced (like when Jean-Marc says plus petites in the first example), unless the adjective begins with a vowel:

Voici celle qui est sans doute la maison la plus illuminée d'Alsace.

Here is what is without a doubt the most illuminated house in Alsace.

Caption 4, Alsace 20 - Alsace: les plus belles déco de Noël!

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If the adjective begins with a vowel, the “s” of plus is pronounced like a “z” to follow the rules of liaison, which you can learn about in our previous lesson on that subject.

The “s” is also pronounced when plus is used at the end of a sentence to mean “more” and when it is used as a noun (le plus):

Du coup, ils ont commencé à être plus proches de moi et à me parler plus.

So they started to be closer to me and to talk to me more.

Caption 35, B-Girl Frak - Limoges

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Qui peut le plus peut le moins.

He who can do more can do less. 

So to sum up, here’s a general breakdown of the pronunciation of plus:

The “s” is pronounced:

-in the expression plus de....

-when plus is followed by an adjective beginning with a vowel.

-when plus is at the end of a sentence and means “more.”

-when plus is used as a noun.  

The “s” is not pronounced:

-in negative plus constructions (ne… plus, non plus).

-when plus is followed by an adjective beginning with a consonant. 

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Nous espérons que c'est un peu plus clair maintenant! (We hope that this is a bit clearer now!) Since it’s such a common word, plus appears in quite a large number of Yabla videos—you can find a list of them here. And stay tuned for a lesson on the opposite of plus—moins (less)—coming soon to Yabla. 

Thanks to subscriber Felicity S. for suggesting this lesson topic!