Introduction
Introduction
There are three interrogative pronouns qui, que and lequel in French that can be used to ask questions using both subject-verb inversion (if que is an object, not the subject) and est-ce que. We also include the word quoi which is simply the form of que used after prepositions.
Qui is used for people and translates as “who”or “whom”:
Avec qui aimeriez-vous parler?
With whom would you like to speak?
Que is used for objects or ideas when the question is not asking about an option among choices - the interrogative adjective quel is used for that:
Qu'est-ce qu'il veut?
What is it that he wants?
After a preposition que changes to quoi in a similar way to disjunctive pronouns:
En quoi pense-elle?
What is she thinking about?
Lequel translates best as “which one” and is a special case in that it can only refer to objects already discussed:
Quel film veux-tu regarder? Lequel veux-tu regarder?
Which movie do you want to watch? Which one do you want to watch?
It is essentially a combination of the definite le pronoun and the word quel, and like those it changes based on gender and plurality:
And, because it uses definite articles, it can also form contractions with the prepositions à and de:
Duquel parles-tu?
Which one are you thinking about?
Lequel allez-vous?
Which one are you going to?
Qui is used for people and translates as “who”or “whom”:
Avec qui aimeriez-vous parler?
With whom would you like to speak?
Que is used for objects or ideas when the question is not asking about an option among choices - the interrogative adjective quel is used for that:
Qu'est-ce qu'il veut?
What is it that he wants?
After a preposition que changes to quoi in a similar way to disjunctive pronouns:
En quoi pense-elle?
What is she thinking about?
Lequel translates best as “which one” and is a special case in that it can only refer to objects already discussed:
Quel film veux-tu regarder? Lequel veux-tu regarder?
Which movie do you want to watch? Which one do you want to watch?
It is essentially a combination of the definite le pronoun and the word quel, and like those it changes based on gender and plurality:
Masculine | Feminine | |
---|---|---|
Singular | lequel | laquelle |
Plural | lesquels | lesquelles |
And, because it uses definite articles, it can also form contractions with the prepositions à and de:
Duquel parles-tu?
Which one are you thinking about?
Lequel allez-vous?
Which one are you going to?
Ask the Polly Ambassadors a question
Poser une question aux Ambassadeurs Polly
Related Lessons
Leçons associées
Interrogative Adverbs
Adverbes interrogatifs
Idiomatic Prepositional Phrases
Expressions idiomatiques avec prépositions
Direct Object Pronouns
Les pronoms objets directs
Asking Yes or No Questions
Poser des questions auxquelles on répond par oui ou par non
Interrogative Adjectives
Adjectifs interrogatifs
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