Relative pronoun in “Ce n'est pas ____ elle veut parler”

Question

"This is not who she wants to talk to"

Ce n'est pas ____ elle veut parler.

In a related question, it was pointed out that we can say

J'ai oublié à qui elle veut parler.

In the case with the verb être, however, I don't think this would work. Do we have to use ce à qui?

Could you make explicit what you think could be correct solutions, i.e. the options you would consider ? I think that would help you learn/improve, and it also would make the question a bit easier to understand and answer. — Nikana Reklawyks, Nov 5 '16 at 1:43
I you mean "*Ce n'est pas ce à qui elle veut parler.", then you were almost there ; only ce is for objects, and for people we use celui or celle depending on gender :) — Nikana Reklawyks, Nov 5 '16 at 21:19

Nikana Reklawyks · Accepted Answer · 2016-11-05 01:55:18Z

1

I see two ways. Indeed, one uses celui/celle à qui, like you mention :

Ce n'est pas - la personne à qui - elle veut parler.
This is not - the person to whom - she wants to talk to.

and :

Ce n'est pas - à lui/elle - qu'elle - veut parler.
It is not - to this person - that she - wants to talk to.

Both mean approximately the same, with slight nuances.

answered Nov 5 '16 at 1:55

Nikana Reklawyks

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Nikana Reklawyks · Accepted Answer · 2016-11-05 01:41:00Z

3

In this case I would say the following even though it is not a very nice way to say it.

Ce n'est pas à elle qu' elle veut parler.

Which litterally means

It is not to her she wants to talk to.

Nikana Reklawyks

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answered Nov 4 '16 at 16:10

MopMop

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