Question words: qui, que, où, comment

French asks its questions with a small closed set of words. Qui (who) asks about a person, que (what) about a thing, and où, quand, comment, pourquoi and combien ask where, when, how, why and how much. Quel (which) is the one that agrees with its noun. Here is the set on one screen.

1234

1. 1qui
2. 2où
3. 3quand
4. 4combien

Qui asks about a person, où about a place, quand about a time, combien about an amount.

The invariable seven

Seven of the eight never change form. What the table above cannot show is how each one behaves:

The que / quoi split is about position, not meaning. In front of the verb it is que; alone or after a preposition it is quoi:

• Que fais-tu ? - What are you doing?
• Quoi ? - What?
• De quoi parles-tu ? - What are you talking about?

Adding est-ce que

Any question word can take est-ce que after it, and then the rest is a plain statement. It is the one pattern a beginner cannot get wrong.

French has three ways to ask the same question, from casual to formal:

All three are correct. The yes-or-no versions are on French word order.

The qui / que trap

English who and what feel far apart; French qui and que look almost alike. The rule in a direct question is clean: a person takes qui, a thing takes que.

The answer you expect decides it: Qui cherches-tu ? - Ma mère. (a person) but Que cherches-tu ? - Mes clés. (a thing).

Qui can also be the subject, the one doing the action: Qui parle ? - Who's speaking? Que cannot; what as a subject needs the long form below.