Qui, Que, Quoi: pronoms interrogatifs

The interrogative pronouns qui, que, and quoi are the foundation of French question formation. With them you ask who, whom, and what. They feel deceptively simple — three short words — but they carry one of the most distinctive features of French syntax: the language splits the English question word what across three different forms (que, quoi, and the longer qu'est-ce que / qu'est-ce qui) based on register, syntactic role, and what comes before the question word.

This page covers the core forms, the four ways French has of asking what? (and when each is appropriate), the rule that prepositions force quoi rather than que, and the register continuum from formal Que fais-tu ? to neutral Qu'est-ce que tu fais ? to colloquial Tu fais quoi ?. Mastering this is essential for A1 question formation and pays dividends through every subsequent level.

Qui — for people

Qui asks about people, in any syntactic role. Unlike que/quoi, qui does not split into multiple forms based on syntax — the same word covers subject, object, and complement positions.

Qui as subject

When qui is the subject of the verb, it sits at the front and the verb follows directly.

There is also the longer form qui est-ce qui, which is grammatically equivalent and emphasizes the question slightly:

In modern French, the short form qui is more common in subject position. Qui est-ce qui is heard but slightly heavy.

Qui as direct object

When qui is the direct object, French uses inversion in formal speech (Qui vois-tu ?) or the long form qui est-ce que in neutral speech.

In casual spoken French, you also hear Tu vois qui ? with the qui at the end of the sentence. This is the most colloquial register.

Qui after a preposition

After a preposition, qui keeps its form — it does not change to quoi. This is a rare case where one word covers all positions for a category (people).

The preposition stands at the front of the question, with qui directly after it. French does not allow stranding the preposition at the end as colloquial English does.

Que — for things, in formal positions

Que asks about things — but it is only used in three specific positions: at the start of an inverted question, before est-ce que / qui, and in a small set of fixed expressions. In other positions, French switches to quoi.

Que + inversion

The most formal way to ask what in French uses que + inverted verb. This is standard in writing and careful speech.

Que elides to qu' before a vowel: Qu'as-tu fait ?, Qu'avez-vous trouvé ?. The inversion is mandatory in this construction; you cannot say Que tu veux ? — that is broken French.

Que faire ?, Que dire ? — que + infinitive

There is a productive idiomatic construction que + infinitive, used to express dilemma or rhetorical wondering.

This is a fixed structure with literary flavor. The infinitive expresses generic action without a specified subject, in a tone of meditation or rhetoric.

Quoi — for things, after preposition or alone

Quoi is the form que takes when it cannot stand at the front of an inverted question. The two main contexts are: after a preposition, and standing alone.

Quoi after a preposition

Whenever an interrogative about a thing follows a preposition, French uses quoi — never que.

The pattern: preposition + quoi + (rest of question). À que penses-tu would be ungrammatical. The boundary between que and quoi is rigid: front of inverted question = que; after preposition = quoi.

Quoi standing alone

Quoi is also the form used when the question word stands alone — as a one-word question or in echo questions.

The standalone quoi is direct and slightly informal. In very formal register, Pardon ? or Comment ? is preferred for "I beg your pardon?".

Quoi at the end — colloquial what

The most informal way to ask what is to leave the noun question word at the end of the sentence, in canonical SVO order. This is everyday spoken French.

These sound natural in conversation. In writing or formal speech, restructure to Que faites-vous ? or Qu'est-ce que vous faites ?.

The qu'est-ce qui / qu'est-ce que expansion

Qu'est-ce qui and qu'est-ce que are not extra forms — they are the longer, neutral-register equivalents of que (subject) and que (object). The structure decomposes as: que + est-ce + qui/que. They are the forms used when you want to ask a what question without inversion.

Qu'est-ce qui — what as subject

When what is the subject of the verb, French uses qu'est-ce qui. This is the most common form of the what-as-subject question.

There is no shorter alternative for what as subject — French does not allow Que se passe ? (broken). The options are Qu'est-ce qui (neutral) or, in highly formal register, restructuring entirely (Qu'arrive-t-il ? — what is happening).

Qu'est-ce que — what as object

When what is the direct object, qu'est-ce que is the neutral form.

The same question can also be asked formally with que + inversion (Que fais-tu ?) or colloquially with quoi at the end (Tu fais quoi ?).

The full system summarized

The diagnostic checklist:

1. Is the question about a person? → qui (everywhere — subject, object, after preposition).
2. Is the question about a thing, and is the thing the subject of the verb? → qu'est-ce qui. (No formal short alternative.)
3. Is the question about a thing, and is the thing the direct object? → que (formal, with inversion), qu'est-ce que (neutral), or quoi at the end (colloquial).
4. Is there a preposition before the question word? → preposition + quoi (for things) or preposition + qui (for people).

A subtle point: que in qu'est-ce que is not the same as standalone que

A note for sharper learners: the que inside qu'est-ce que and the standalone que of Que fais-tu ? play different syntactic roles. In Qu'est-ce que tu fais ?, the structure is que (interrogative pronoun) + est-ce que (a fossilized question marker) + tu fais (subject + verb). The que of qu'est-ce que is technically the interrogative pronoun, while the embedded que of est-ce que is a different morpheme (the conjunction que). Linguists analyze this; learners can simply memorize qu'est-ce qui and qu'est-ce que as fixed expressions.

Qui doesn't elide; que does

A small but important orthographic point: que elides to qu' before a vowel or silent h, but qui does not elide.

The reason: qui ends in /i/, a vowel, and another vowel can follow without phonetic clash. Que ends in a schwa /ə/, which is dropped before vowels.

Comparison with English

English splits these in a different way:

• Who (subject and object — whom is now archaic in conversation): Who came?, Who did you see?. French has qui across the board (with qui as subject, qui as object).
• What (subject and object): What happened?, What do you want?. French has qu'est-ce qui, qu'est-ce que, que (formal), or quoi at the end.
• What after preposition: What are you thinking about?. French requires preposition + quoi: À quoi penses-tu ?.

The biggest English-French difference is that English freely strands prepositions at the end (What are you thinking about?), while French categorically requires the preposition at the front (À quoi penses-tu ?). This is the most reliable error-producing site for English speakers.

Comparison with other Romance languages

Spanish qué (with accent — distinct from relative que without accent) covers most of what French que and quoi split. Spanish quién (people) parallels French qui. Crucially, Spanish does NOT have a distinction between que (front of inverted) and quoi (after preposition) — Spanish uses qué in both: ¿Qué quieres?, ¿En qué piensas?. Italian similarly uses cosa or che cosa without a quoi-equivalent.

The French que/quoi split is unusual within Romance and traces back to the historical evolution of Latin quid. Modern French keeps que for atonic positions (where the word is unstressed because it leans on the following verb) and quoi for tonic positions (where the word is stressed — at end of sentence, after preposition, alone).

Common Mistakes

Mistake 1: Using que after a preposition.

The rule is mechanical: any preposition + interrogative what requires quoi, never que. De quoi, avec quoi, sur quoi, par quoi, contre quoi — never de que, avec que, etc.

Mistake 2: Stranding the preposition at the end (in formal contexts).

The preposition + quoi combination is fine at either end of the question, but the registers differ. In writing, formal speech, exams, and any careful context, the preposition must come before the interrogative word. Stranding the preposition (Tu penses à quoi ?) is restricted to colloquial spoken French.

Mistake 3: Using que for what as subject.

Que as subject does not work in modern French. Use qu'est-ce qui. (The very formal alternative Qu'arrive-t-il ? uses a different verb and structure.)

Mistake 4: Using quoi at the front of a formal question.

Quoi belongs at the end (colloquial), after a preposition, or standing alone. Never at the front of an inverted question.

Mistake 5: Confusing qui (subject) and qui (object) — when the verb form is ambiguous.

When the qui could be subject or object of the same verb, the question is genuinely ambiguous in French — and natives use stress, intonation, or clarification (Qui est-ce qui aime Marie ? unambiguously asks about the subject; Qui est-ce que Marie aime ? unambiguously asks about the object). Learners should default to the est-ce qui / est-ce que expansions when ambiguity is a risk.

Mistake 6: Trying to shorten qu'est-ce que c'est ?.

Qu'est-ce que c'est ? literally decomposes as what is it that it is? — a fully grammatical question meaning what is it?. The colloquial counterpart is C'est quoi ?. The expanded form Qu'est-ce que c'est que ça ? is also natural, especially when pointing at the thing. But you cannot drop pieces and end up with Que c'est ? — that's broken.

Key Takeaways

• Qui asks about people, in any role: subject (Qui parle ?), object (Qui vois-tu ?), after preposition (Avec qui ?). One word for everything.
• Que asks about things — but only at the front of an inverted question (Que fais-tu ?) or in que
  • infinitive (Que faire ?).
• Quoi asks about things — after a preposition (À quoi ?), standing alone (Quoi ?), or at the end of a colloquial sentence (Tu fais quoi ?).
• For what as subject of the verb, the only natural form is qu'est-ce qui (Qu'est-ce qui se passe ?).
• For what as direct object, three registers: Que fais-tu ? (formal), Qu'est-ce que tu fais ? (neutral), Tu fais quoi ? (colloquial).
• After a preposition, French requires the preposition at the front, not stranded at the end. À quoi penses-tu ?, never Tu penses à quoi ? in formal register.
• Que elides to qu' before vowels; qui does not elide.
• The qu'est-ce qui / qu'est-ce que forms are the safe neutral default — when in doubt, use them.

These three pronouns — qui, que, quoi — and the qu'est-ce que / qu'est-ce qui expansions cover almost every information question in French. Drill the four-cell decision matrix (person/thing × subject/object/preposition), and the system stops feeling like three rules and becomes one.