- What is the difference between ‘ce que’ and ‘ce dont’ in French?

Ce que and ce dont are indefinite relative pronouns that link relative clauses to main clauses in a sentence. Ce que is used as the direct object in a relative clause, for example: « Je ne comprends pas ce que tu veux. » Ce dont is used as the object for the predisposition "de", for example: « Je ne comprends pas ce dont tu parles. » It's easier to identify whether it's ce qui or ce dont when these expressions are at the beginning of the sentence because it all depends on whether the verb following requires the predisposition "de" or not. « Ce que tu veux, c’est mon livre. » "Vouloir" doesn't require the predisposition "de" because you would say "je veux mon livre" and not "je veux de mon livre". « Ce dont tu parles, c’est de mon livre. » In French, when talking about something (and not to someone), "parler" requires the predisposition "de" because you would say "je parle de mon livre" and not "je parle mon livre". Let’s look at other examples with a different wording: « Qui sait ce que Pierre mange? » and « Qui sait ce dont Pierre a besoin? » Again, this is because you would say "Pierre mange quelque chose" and "Pierre a besoin de quelque chose."