Concept
There are increasing differences between the syntax used in spoken Quebec French and the syntax of other regional dialects of French. In French-speaking Canada, however, the characteristic differences of Quebec French syntax are not considered standard despite their high-frequency in everyday, relaxed speech. What follows are examples of the most common distinctive constructions in Quebec French syntax. For comparison, a standard French used throughout la Francophonie (including Quebec and francophone Canada) is given in parentheses with the corresponding English translation given afterwards in italics. Note that some of the following constructions can also be found in other regional dialects of French such as Acadian French and dialects in Western France. One far-reaching difference is the weakening of the syntactic role of the specifiers (both verbal and nominal), which results in many syntactic changes: Positioning of the subject in an isolated syntagm at the beginning (or at the end) of the sentence, with pronouns integrated with the verbal particule (see pronouns below): Mon frère, yé dans police. (Mon frère est dans la police.) My brother is in the police. Y a l'air fâché, le chien. (Le chien a l'air fâché.) The dog looks angry. Increased presence of complex sentences with main or dependent clauses using demonstratives: Mon rêve, c'est de partir en Afrique. (Mon rêve est de partir pour l'Afrique / en Afrique.) My dream is to leave for Africa. Relative clauses (1) using "que" as an all-purpose relative pronoun, or (2) embedding interrogative pronouns instead of relative pronouns: (1) J'ai trouvé le document que j'ai besoin. (J'ai trouvé le document dont j'ai besoin.) I found / I've found the document (that) I need. (2) Je comprends qu'est-ce que tu veux dire. (Je comprends ce que tu veux dire.) I understand what you mean. Loosening of the prepositions traditionally associated with certain verbs: J'ai un enfant à m'occuper. (Standard correct French: s'occuper de; J'ai un enfant dont je dois m'occuper.