LinguaQui and que: asking about a person or a thing
Qui asks about a person and never changes its shape: Qui vient ce soir ? (who is coming), Qui est-ce ? (who is it), Tu regardes qui ? (who are you looking at). For a thing, French has three shapes of “what”, chosen by the structure of the sentence. Que stands at the front and is followed by inversion: Que prenez-vous ? – and it elides before a vowel: Qu’avez-vous ? The neutral, everyday form is qu’est-ce que followed by a plain statement: Qu’est-ce que tu prends ?, Qu’est-ce qu’il mange ? And when the question word comes LAST, in relaxed speech, “what” becomes quoi: Tu prends quoi ?, C’est quoi ? Alone, Quoi ? is a blunt “What?!” – to ask someone to repeat, say Pardon ? or Comment ?
| Question word | Asks about | Example |
|---|---|---|
| qui | a person | Qui parle ? |
| que | a thing – at the front, with inversion | Que prenez-vous ? |
| qu’est-ce que | a thing – neutral, then a statement | Qu’est-ce que tu prends ? |
| quoi | a thing – at the end, in speech | Tu prends quoi ? |
– Qui est-ce ? – C’est Nadia, la cousine de Karim.– Who is it? – It is Nadia, Karim’s cousin.
Où, quand, comment, pourquoi: place, time, manner, reason
Où asks where – mind the accent, because ou without it means “or”. Quand asks when, comment asks how (it is the word inside Comment tu t’appelles ?), pourquoi asks why, and the answer to pourquoi begins with parce que (parce qu’ before a vowel): – Pourquoi il est là ? – Parce qu’il a rendez-vous. Each of these words can take the three positions you already know. In relaxed speech it sits at the END of a plain statement: Tu travailles où ? With est-ce que it opens the sentence and the statement follows: Où est-ce que tu travailles ? In formal French it opens the sentence and is followed by inversion: Où travailles-tu ? Only pourquoi avoids the final position: Pourquoi il est là ? is what you hear – the word in front, no inversion.
| Word | At the end (speech) | With est-ce que | With inversion |
|---|---|---|---|
| où | Tu travailles où ? | Où est-ce que tu travailles ? | Où travailles-tu ? |
| quand | Vous mangez quand ? | Quand est-ce que vous mangez ? | Quand mangez-vous ? |
| comment | Il vient comment ? | Comment est-ce qu’il vient ? | Comment vient-il ? |
– Pourquoi tu ne manges pas ? – Parce que je n’ai pas faim.– Why aren’t you eating? – Because I am not hungry.
Combien and combien de: how much, how many
You already ask prices with combien on its own: C’est combien ? To count things, add de and the noun without any article: combien de frères, combien de temps, combien d’enfants (d’ before a vowel). Never combien des, never combien les. The phrase moves like the other question words: Tu as combien de cousins ?, Combien de cousins est-ce que tu as ?, Combien de cousins as-tu ? The answer is a number, with or without the noun: J’ai six cousins. or simply Six. Two useful words appear here: la langue, a language (Tu parles combien de langues ?), and arriver, to arrive – a regular -er verb (Ils arrivent à midi.).
| Question | Answer | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Combien de langues parlez-vous ? | Trois : le français, l’anglais et l’arabe. | how many languages do you speak? – three |
| Tu as combien de cousins ? | J’ai six cousins. | how many cousins have you got? – six |
| Il y a combien d’enfants dans l’école ? | Il y a cent enfants. | how many children are there in the school? – a hundred |
| C’est combien, le café ? | C’est deux euros. | how much is the coffee? – two euros |
– Combien de frères et sœurs avez-vous ? – J’ai un frère, et je n’ai pas de sœur.– How many brothers and sisters do you have? – I have one brother, and I have no sister.
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| qui | who | Qui est le professeur de Léa ? Who is Léa’s teacher? |
| que | what (at the front, with inversion) | Que buvez-vous, madame ? What are you drinking, madam? |
| qu’est-ce que | what (in a question) | Qu’est-ce que tu manges à midi ? What do you eat at noon? |
| quoi | what (at the end, in speech) | C’est quoi, ça ? What is that? |
| où | where | Où habitent tes grands-parents ? Where do your grandparents live? |
| quand | when | Quand est-ce que tu viens à Paris ? When are you coming to Paris? |
| comment | how | Comment s’appelle ton chien ? What is your dog called? |
| pourquoi | why | Pourquoi elle ne vient pas ? Why isn’t she coming? |
| parce que | because | Je mange parce que j’ai faim. I am eating because I am hungry. |
| combien de | how many, how much (+ noun without article) | Vous avez combien de chiens ? How many dogs do you have? |
| la langue | the language (also: the tongue) | Vous parlez trois langues ? Bravo ! You speak three languages? Well done! |
| ou | or (no accent) | Tu viens lundi ou mardi ? Are you coming on Monday or on Tuesday? |
| arriver | to arrive | Le train arrive à dix heures. The train arrives at ten o’clock. |
Exercises
This lesson has 10 exercises in the app:
- multiple choice: 3
- fill the gap: 2
- match the pairs: 1
- build the sentence: 1
- translate the sentence: 2
- listen and type: 1
Try the first one
Which question asks WHO is coming?
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.