Canny

[tepid tusk]

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[mossy frost]

Okay so first off do you know how the direct object relative pronoun works

« Il voulait rendre visite à la femme que James avait vue dans la tour »
The bolded part

@grizzled smelt

Anyway, the relative pronouns aside, « lequel » is also used as an interogative pronoun. Before we dive into « lequel », we need to talk about « quel ».
« quel » is an adjective determiner which just means that we are using it to know (or determine) a specific noun. Articles are determiners; if we use the definite articles, we're saying that the nouns we are referring to are a specific kind of noun whereas if we use indefinite articles, we're saying that the nouns we're referring to are not a specific kind of noun.

« quel » is a determiner that we use to pinpoint/choose. For example, say I go to the market to buy some apples. In front of me are two apples: one is red and the other is green. As I'm looking to buy either one, the vendor asks me, « Quelle pomme est-ce que tu veux acheter ? (Which apple do you want to buy?) ».
The purpose of « quel » is for asking what item among a collection of that item I want to choose. Because it's an adjective – I said earlier it was an adjective determiner – « quel » will agree with the noun. Thus, because I was only looking to buy one apple, I will use « pomme » and thus « quelle » since « pomme » – the thing « quel » is modifying – is singular and feminine. If instead I want to buy more than one apple, I'd have to instead use « quelles pommes ». If I'm instead buying one melon, I'd have to use « quel melon ».

« lequel » comes into play when it's already clear what that noun is. Let's say that the vendor says to me, « ces pommes sont bonnes (these apples are good) ». We've already established that we're talking about apples so I don't need to repeat myself. Because of that, I can just use « laquelle » : « Laquelle est-ce que vous recommanderiez ? (Which one would you recommend?) ».
Why « laquelle »? Well, I'm only buying one apple so it's « laquelle ». You can think of « lequel » as being composed of the definite article « le » and the aforementioned adjective « quel ». That definite article replaces the noun so we don't need to repeat it. If I wanted to buy more than one apple, I would « lesquelles »; if I wanted to buy one melon, I would use « lequel ».

Recap:
__le__quel = quel + masculine singular noun
__les__quels = quel (quels) + masculine plural noun
laquelle = quel (quelle) + feminine singular noun
lesquelles = quel (quelles) + feminine plural noun

When we introduce prepositions to the equation, the preposition will 'stick' to the interrogative. For example, if I have « sur » like « Je m'assois sur cette chaise (I'm sitting down on this chair) », turning the object into an interrogative will cause the preposition to move as well:
« Sur quelle chaise est-ce que je m'assois ? (On which chair do I sit?) »

Remember what I said about treating « lequel » as two parts with the first being the definite article? Well, remember how the prepositions « à » and « de » contract with definite articles? Like, « je parle à + les hommes » becomes « je parle aux hommes » and « j'ai besoin de + le garçon » becomes « j'ai besoin du garçon »? Same idea here. When we have either « à » or « de », they will contract with the beginning part of « lequel ». Just as we have « à + le = au », so will we have « à + lequel = auquel ».

Example:
« J'ai décidé de commencer à faire des activités sportives. [I've decided to start doing some sports activities.]
– Ah oui ? Ça va bien ? Auxquelles est-ce que tu t'habitues ? [Oh really? Is it going well? To which ones are you getting used?] »

« Marie et moi, on a parlé de certains sujets. [Marie and I, we talked about some stuff.]
– Enfin ! Bon, desquels est-ce que vous avez parlé ? [Finally! Well, about which ones did you talk?] »

[grizzled smelt]

Yes.

[mossy frost]

Okay great, you should read what I said above because it works (almost) the same way

Tag me once you've finished reading so I can explain it

[grizzled smelt]

I have finished reading.

I think I understand now.

[mossy frost]

Great, so « lequel » is used in indirect object pronouns where, instead of a direct object, we have an indirect object. When we replace a direct object, we replace it with « que »; with indirect objects, we replace the noun with « lequel » and make sure the preposition moves with it. I said above that « lequel » replaces a known object hence it agrees in gender and number. Same case here.

[la chaise est bonne] + [je m'assois sur la chaise]
=> La chaise sur laquelle je m'assois est bonne
[laquelle replaces la chaise]

[grizzled smelt]

It makes sense now. Thank you.

[mossy frost]

[le pays est mort] + [tu te bats pour le pays]
=> Le pays pour lequel tu te bats est mort.

With « à » the process is straightforward like above: It contracts with the beginning of « lequel ».

[les habitudes me font du bien] + [je me fais aux habitudes]
=> Les habitudes auxquelles je me fais me font du bien

With « de », it's a slightly different story

You see, when you have an indirect object under « de », it behaves more like a definite object in that you replace the object not with « lequel » but with « dont ». The preposition also disappears.

[grizzled smelt]

Which makes sense because it’s often used to refer to unspecific or indefinite things.

[mossy frost]

That's a different thing

That would be the partitive article

We're talking about the preposition here

Anyway, an example is:
les sujets sont déjà abordés + tu parles des sujets
=> Les sujets dont tu parles sont déjà abordés

Instead of « desquels » like we would've expected, we're getting « dont »

[grizzled smelt]

So when would you use desquels?

[mossy frost]

Now, some prepositions are what we call complex or compound prepositions. This simply means that they have something. A good example is « près de » where we have « près », an adverb, plus the preposition « de ». Both combine to make a new preposition, a complex preposition.

As I've said before, when we replace an indirect object under the preposition « de », the preposition disappears. However, here, we have a fixed expression that we cannot change at all. Because of that, the standard rule of using preposition plus the object replaced with lequel kicks back in.

les arbres sont beaux + je suis assis à côté des arbres
=> Les arbres à côté desquels je suis assis sont beaux

[grizzled smelt]

Is that everything?

[mossy frost]

Should be