David B1 Kwiziq community member I have read through the lesson twice. There are many examples given but no clear guidance as to what they are supposed to be illustrating? Please could someone clarify? Thanks very much, David Asked 5 years ago Cécile Kwiziq team member Correct answer Hi David, If what you are asking is the difference between: Qu’est-ce-qui? and Qu’est-ce que? both meaning ‘What?’, then it is a question of grammar. ‘What’ being the subject or the object in the sentence. Have a look at the following examples: Qu’est-ce-qui est arrivé? ( What happened? ), in this sentence ‘What’ is the subject of the verb to happen. Ron C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Bonjour David, Qu’est-ce que and que are pretty much synonymous -> what. Qu’est-ce qui, when using this phrase, it will ALWAYS be followed by a verb whereas qu’est-ce que will be followed USUALLY by a noun or other subject in the same manner as que tu est triste instead qui est triste. Here are a couple of links that might help: https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/interrogative-pronouns / (this one is written by Laura from this site) https://www.laits.utexas.edu/tex/gr/int5.html Hopefully these additional resources can help clarify this for you. Bonne chance et bonne continuation ! Chris C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor You use “Qu’est-ce qui.” if “qui” is the subject of the following sentence. And you use “qu’est-ce que.” if “que” is the direct object of the sentence. For example: Qu’est-ce que tu as fait? – What is it that you did? (literal translation) Here “you” is the subject of the clause and “que” (=that) is the direct object. Ron C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Bonsoir, While I fully understand the response given by Chris, I still have a relevant question. After re-reading this question that was posed, I have the sense that possibly we both missed the intent of the question.
- My take-away is this: In what scenario would one choose to use «qu’est-ce qui» instead of just «que» and vice versa.
- Also in the same manner when would one use «qui est-ce qui» instead of just «qui»? Most things concerning the French language have definite guidelines when one form is preferred over another, is there a similar guideline for these examples? I have re-read the lesson and cannot find a discernible explanation.
Merci en avance, Ron Hello Chris, brilliant French by the way, impressive ! One comment though, I find confusing to put “qu’est ce qui” and ” qu’est ce que “, because your direct object(question word) in the latter is not “que ” per se but “qu’ “! Actually the “que” you allude to is just a part of the formula to ask a standard question in French (est-ce que), hence my confusion. I have read through the lesson twice. There are many examples given but no clear guidance as to what they are supposed to be illustrating? Please could someone clarify? Thanks very much, David
What is the difference between qu est-ce qui and que?
‘Qui’ means ‘who’ ( a subject). ‘Que’ means ‘what’ (an object). ‘Qui est-ce que’ means ‘whom’ (an object). ‘Qu’est-ce qui’ means ‘what’ (a subject).
What is the difference between est-ce que and est-ce?
Est-ce que is the inversion of c’est que, literally, ‘it is that.’ Hence the hyphen between est and ce: c’est = ce + est is inverted to est-ce. Though est-ce que is widespread in spoken French, it’s much less common in writing because it’s slightly informal.
What does qu est ce que est mean?
: what is it? : what’s that?
Why do French people say est-ce que?
The phrase est-ce que is used to ask a question. Word order stays just the same as it would in an ordinary sentence. Est-ce que comes before the subject, and the verb comes after the subject. So to turn the sentence Tu connais Marie (meaning You know Marie) into a question, all you need to do is to add est-ce que.
Is ce est correct ?
How to Form C’est and Ce Sont – C’est is a contraction of ce (this) and the verb être (to be). As it is singular, you will use the il/elle/on form of être which is est, Put everything together and you get c’est (this is) Ce sont is a contraction of ce (this) and the verb être (to be).
What is Qu est-ce que c’est used for ?
The full variation of this expression is ‘Qu’est-ce que c’est que ça?’ which means ‘What is it?’ but the literal translation is ‘ What is this that this is that this?
What does qu est ce que la vie mean?
Translation of ‘qu’est-ce que la vie’ in English. what is life. what’s life. what is the life.
What is ce la vie mean?
In French, c’est la vie means ‘ that’s life,’ borrowed into English as idiom to express acceptance or resignation, much like Oh well.
What does tout ce qui mean?
tout ce qui – Je ne comprends pas tout ce qui est écrit. I don’t understand everything that is written, Ton bonheur est tout ce qui compte pour moi. Your happiness is all that matters to me. Elle aime tout ce qui brille, She likes everything that shines,
What is the difference between dont and ce dont in French?
Kathryn C1 Kwiziq community member This question relates to: French lesson “Dont = Including/ of which (French Relative Pronouns)” Asked 7 years ago Like 0 Answer 2 Laura Kwiziq team member Correct answer Bonjour Kathryn, Ce dont is an indefinite relative pronoun. It’s used for the same reasons as dont (e.g., when replacing something that begins with de) but when there is no antecendent. Compare: Voici le stylo dont tu as besoin – Here’s the pen you need.
What is the difference between dont and duquel?
Dont vs duquel? | French Q & A | Kwiziq French “Dont” has a broad range of applications compared to “duquel” and its brethren. It is used as a relative pronoun to signify possession as well as being part of a group: C’est l’auteur don’t j’ai lu tous ses livres. – This is the author whose books I’ve read all. Here “dont” establishes the fact that the books “belong” to the author, i.e., they are written by him. J’ai 5 chats dont 2 chattes. – I have five cats, 2 of which are female. You use “dont” to show that the 2 female cats are part of the 5 cats. In all those functions, you can only use “dont” and never “duquel”. Where the confusion starts is usually when it comes to verbal vs. prespositional phrases. Here is the rule up front: Use “dont” in verbal phrases and “duquel” in prepositional phrases. Let’s have a look at what that means. Verbal phrases always include a verb + de: parler de, avoir besoin de, etc. In these cases, use “dont” like this: Je parle du garçon -> Le garçon dont tu parles. – The boy about whom you’re talking.Tu as besoin d’argent -> L’argent dont tu as besoin. – The money that you need. Prepositional phrases, as the name suggests, include a preposition along with a verb: être assis à côté de qqn: L’homme à côte duquel tu es assis. – The man next to whom you are sitting.être à droite de: L’appartement à droite duquel mon appartement est situé. – The apartment to the right of which my apartment is located. Here is a link that explains it in a bit more detail: https://lovelearninglanguages.com/2021/05/13/french-relative-pronouns-dont-vs-duquel/ : Dont vs duquel? | French Q & A | Kwiziq French
Do French people say n’est-ce pas?
N’est-ce pas? in English: literal meaning – Literaly, the french expression n’est-ce pas? can be translated to is it not? in English. Yet, to get the correct n’est-ce pas? translation, one should rather understand it as isn’t it?, isn’t that so?, isn’t that right?, or right?,
- Moreover, n’est-ce pas in English can also be translated to don’t you, didn’t she, aren’t we, and other forms of question tags.
- Taken bite by bite, n’est-ce pas is composed of: n est ce pas? The letter n’ with an apostrophe is short for ne, and it works with pas to create the negation.
- Est is the verb être conjugated in the third person of the singular.
And ce is a demonstrative that is used with the verb être. And of course, as it’s always a question, it ends with a question mark. To learn everything to know about that essential verb, être, check our post about the, While most often translated to right?, it’s important to note that n’est-ce pas in French is rather formal.
In spoken French, people often use other informal options at the end of their sentences to turn them into rhetorical questions, just as you might use huh? in English. A couple of comparable expressions in French are hein?, c’est pas vrai?, or pas vrai? As for the pronunciation, n’est-ce pas? has nothing challenging: it is pronounced in two syllables like “ness pa” (/n‿ɛs pa/).
Note that writing n’est ce pas by omitting the dash is incorrect.
Can I have un French?
Puis-je avoir?
What is the negative form of est ce que?
You can get a yes or no answer to a question in four ways, covered in each of the following sections. Intonations Questions are often asked by a noticeable change in intonation (modulation of the voice), typified by a rising inflection (change in the voice) at the end of the statement.
Tu ne veux pas sortir? (Don’t you want to go out?) Tu n’es pas sorti? (Didn’t you go out?)
N’est‐ce pas The tag n’est‐ce pas has various meanings:
isn’t that so? right? isn’t (doesn’t) he/she? aren’t (don’t) they? aren’t (don’t) we? aren’t (don’t) you?
N’est‐ce pas is a negative expression, so use n’est‐ce pas at the end of an affirmative statement only when the expected answer is “yes”: Tu veux sortir, n’est‐ce pas? (You want to go out, don’t you?) To answer yes to a negative question, use si instead of oui : Si, je veux sortir,
Est‐ce que tu ne veux pas sortir? (Don’t you want to go out?) Est‐ce que tu n’es pas sorti? (Didn’t you go out?)
Inversion Inversion is the reversal of the word order of the subject pronoun and the conjugated verb in order to form a question: You simply join the verb to its subject pronoun with a hyphen. Inversion is the most formal way to ask a question and is generally used more frequently in writing than in conversation.
ai‐je ? (do I have ?) suis‐je ? (am I ?) dois‐je ? (must I ? puis‐je ? (may I ?)
Inversion occurs in all tenses but only with subject pronouns and conjugated verbs:
Sors‐tu? (Are you going out?) Veux‐tu sortir? (Do you want to go out?) Es‐tu sorti? (Did you go out?) Sortais‐tu? (Were you going out?) Sortirais‐tu? (Would you go out?) Se lèvent‐ils? (Are they getting up?) Se sont‐ils levés? (Did they get up?)
The preceding questions can be made negative by putting the first part of the negative phrase before the reflexive pronoun or conjugated verb, and the second part of the negative after the subject pronoun:
Ne sors‐tu jamais? (Don’t you ever go out?) Ne veux‐tu pas sortir? (Don’t you want to go out?) Ne se sont‐ils pas levés? (Didn’t they get up?)
When the third person singular of the verb ( il, elle, on ) ends in a vowel, a ‐ t‐ is inserted between the verb and the subject pronoun to prevent having two vowels sounds together:
Travaille‐t‐il? (Is he working?) A‐t‐elle fini? (Did she finish?)
But, consider the following:
Obéit‐elle? (Does she obey?) S’est‐il lavé? (Did he wash himself?)
With a noun subject, a double‐subject construction is used: noun + verb‐third person pronoun, for example: La fille est ‐ elle (xxx). The third person pronoun agrees in number and gender with the corresponding subject noun:
Jean est‐il blond? (Is John blond?) Les films sont‐ils bons? (Are the films good?) Cette machine marche‐t‐elle? (Is that machine working?) Les filles se sont‐elles maquillées? (Did the girls put on make up?)
Follow the preceding rules to make these sentences negative:
Jean n’est‐il pas blond? (Isn’t John bolnd?) Les films ne sont‐ils pas bons? (Aren’t the films good?) Cette machine ne marche‐t‐elle pas? (Isn’t this machine working?) Les filles ne se sont‐elles pas maquillées? (Didn;t the girls put on makeup?)
Is pizza masculine or feminine in French?
Pizza noun, feminine — J’ai mangé la pizza entière parce que j’avais faim. — I ate the whole pizza because I was hungry.
How old are you French formal?
In French when you talk about ages you don’t say “I am 21 years old”: instead you say “I have 21 years”. Equally, when you ask the question “how old are you?” or “what age are you”, you actually ask “what age do you have”. Here are the phrases you’ll need: I’m (21) years old – j’ai (21) ans How old are you? (informal) – Quel âge as-tu ? How old are you? (formal) – Quel âge avez-vous? In the first part of the video, watch the interviews without subtitles and try to understand.
- In the second part of the video, we’ve provided subtitles in French at the top of the screen.
- You can choose to turn on subtitles in English using the Subtitles/CC button.
- In this first series of Coffee Break French To Go, Pierre-Benoît is in the town of Pornic, in the west of France, and in each episode she’ll ask passers-by one question.
Of course, that one question will result in many answers, and it’s through these answers that you can practise your French and build your vocabulary. Coffee Break French To Go will be published every two weeks here on YouTube, and each Season will be filmed in a different part of the French-speaking world.
If you’d prefer not to wait for all 10 lessons of Season 1 to be published, you can access downloadable versions of the videos along with audio versions and lesson notes / transcripts in the Coffee Break Academy, Coffee Break French To Go is based on the popular podcast series and online course Coffee Break French.
For access to the free podcasts, please click here, To purchase our full online courses on the Coffee Break Academy, click here,
What does est ce que tu es la mean?
Translation of ‘est-ce que tu es là’ in English. are you there.