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Interrogative Pronouns

To ask about people:

Long Form

Short Form

Translation

Subject Qui est-ce qui
Qui est-ce qui est venu?
Qui
Qui est venu?
Who came?
Direct Object Qui est-ce que
Qui est-ce que tu as vu?
Qui
Qui as-tu vu?
Whom did you see?
Object of Preposition Preposition + qui est-ce que
A qui est-ce que tu as parlé?
Preposition + qui
A qui as-tu parlé?
Whom did you speak to?
To ask about things:

Long Form

Short Form

Translation

Subject Qu'est-ce qui
Qu'est-ce qui est arrivé?

No short form

What happened?
Direct Object Qu'est-ce que
Qu'est-ce que tu as fait?
Que
Qu'as-tu fait?
What did you do?
Object of Preposition Preposition + quoi est-ce que
De quoi est-ce que tu as parlé?
Preposition + quoi
De quoi as-tu parlé?
What did you talk about?

1. Use of Inversion when Subject is Noun:
a. With qui and quoi, inversion pattern is regular.
Qui Marie a-t-elle vu?  Whom did Marie see?
De quoi Marc a-t-il besoin?  What does Marc need?

b. With que, the noun subject must be inverted directly.
Que veut Jean?  What does Jean want?
Que font les autres?  What are the others doing?

c.  However, if the sentence contains more than a subject and verb, or if the verb is
in a compound tense (such as the passé composé), the short form is not used.
Qu'est-ce que Luc veut faire aujourd'hui?  What does Luc want to do today?
Qu'est-ce que les autres ont fait?  What did the others do?

2. Verb Agreement:
a. Interrogative pronouns are usually masculine singular.
Les voitures font du bruit.  Qu'est-ce qui fait du bruit?
Les enfants sont arrivés.  Qui est arrivé?

b.  Exception:  when qui is followed by a conjugated form of être,
the verbs agrees with the noun that follows.
Qui étaient Les Trois Mousquetaires?

3. Qu'est-ce que (or qui) vs. Quel:
a. Qu'est-ce que c'est que is used to ask for a definition,
and quel asks for specific information.
Qu'est-ce que c'est que le camembert?  What is "camembert"?
Quel est le problème?  What is the problem?

b. When followed by a conjugated form of être, quel is used if être is followed by a noun
and qu'est-ce qui is used if être is followed by anything other than a noun.
Quelle est la date?  What is the date?
Qu'est-ce qui est bon?  What is good?


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