Chinese (Mandarin)

Spanish

English

Hindi

Arabic (Modern Standard)

Portuguese

Bengali

Russian

Japanese

Punjabi

German

Javanese

Malay

Telugu

Vietnamese

Korean

French

Marathi

Tamil

Urdu

Turkish

Italian

Chinese, Yue / Cantonese

Thai

Gujarati

Chinese, Jin

Chinese, Min Nan

Dari

Farsi

Polish

Pashto

Kannada

Chinese, Xiang

Malayalam

Sundanese

Hausa

Odia

Burmese

Chinese, Hakka

Ukrainian

Bihari, Bhojpuri

Tagalog

Yoruba

Bihari, Maithili

Uzbek

Sindhi

Amharic

Fula

Romanian

Oromo

Igbo

Azerbaijani

Chinese, Gan

Dutch

Kurdish, Central

Kurdish, Northern

Kurdish, Southern

Malagasy

Lahnda, Saraiki

Nepali

Sinhalese

Chittagonian

Zhuang

Khmer

Turkmen

Assamese

Madurese

Somali

Marwari

Bihari, Magahi

Haryanvi

Hungarian

Chhattisgarhi

Greek

Chewa

Dakhini

Akan, Twi

Akan, Fante

Kazakh

Chinese, Min Bei

Sylheti

Zulu

Czech

Kinyarwanda

Marwari, Dhundhari

Haitian Creole

Chinese, Min Dong

Ilocano

Quechua

Kirundi

Swedish

Hmong

Shona

Uyghur

Hiligaynon

Mossi

Xhosa

Belarusian

Balochi

In English, we often end sentences with prepositions when talking about abstract ideas, like "what the movie is based on" or "what I believe in."

French grammar does not allow prepositions at the end of a sentence. When "what" refers to an abstract idea, French combines **ce** (that) + a preposition + **quoi** (which/what).

### Ce en quoi

If the verb requires the preposition **en** (like *croire en*, to believe in), use **ce en quoi** (what... in).

{{item:878643}}

### Ce à quoi

If the verb requires **à** (like *s'attendre à*, to expect), use **ce à quoi**.

{{item:878655}}

When the subject is a noun (like *le fan*), French often inverts the subject and verb after the relative pronoun:

{{item:878646}}

### Ce sur quoi & Ce pour quoi

Similarly, verbs requiring **sur** (like *se baser sur*, to base oneself on) use **ce sur quoi**, and sentences with **pour** use **ce pour quoi**.

{{item:878649}}

{{item:878651}}

### Starting a Sentence

You can also use these phrases at the beginning of a sentence to mean "What [subject] [verb] is...":

{{item:878662}}

{{item:878665}}

Indefinite relative pronouns (ce à quoi, ce sur quoi)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

contraction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prep

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Singular 'to be' and indefinite articles (je suis un...)

Singular definite articles (le, la, l')

Identifying vs. describing (c'est vs. il est)

Feminine adjective agreement (+e)

Plural pronouns and 'to be' (nous sommes, vous êtes)

Formal and informal you (tu vs. vous)

Plural nouns and indefinite articles (des... -s)

Plural definite articles (les)

Plural adjective agreement (+s)

Stressed pronouns (moi, toi, lui)

The verb "to have" singular (j'ai, tu as, il a)

The verb "to have" plural (nous avons, vous avez, ils ont)

There is / there are (il y a)

Basic verbal negation (ne... pas)

Negating "there is" (il n'y a pas de)

Regular -er verbs singular (je parle, tu parles, il parle)

Regular -er verbs plural (nous parlons, vous parlez, ils parlent)

The verb "to be called" (s'appeler)

Yes/no questions with intonation (Tu parles ?)

Yes/no questions with "Est-ce que" (Est-ce que tu parles ?)

Informal questions (qui, que, quoi)

Standard questions (est-ce que)

Singular possessives (mon, ton, son)

Plural possessives (notre, votre, leur)

Demonstrative adjectives (ce, cet, cette, ces)

Adjective placement

Numbers 1 to 20

Numbers 21 to 100

Age and physical states (avoir)

The verb to go (aller)

The preposition to/at (à, au, aux)

Question word for location (où)

Prepositions for cities and countries (à, en, au, aux)

The verb to come (venir)

The preposition from/of (de, du, des)

Question word for origin (d'où)

The verb to do/make (faire)

Days of the week (lundi, mardi)

Telling time (il est... heure)

Question words for time (quand, à quelle heure)

The verb to take or have (prendre)

The verb to drink (boire)

Partitive articles (du, de la, de l')

Zero quantity (pas de)

Expressions of quantity (un peu de, beaucoup de)

Asking how much or how many (combien, combien de)

Very vs. a lot (très, beaucoup)

The verb to want (vouloir)

Polite requests (je voudrais)

The verb to be able to (pouvoir)

Obligation (devoir)

General obligation (il faut)

Why and because (pourquoi, parce que)

Expressing purpose (pour)

Reflexive pronouns (me, te, se, nous, vous)

Daily routine verbs (se lever, s'habiller)

Adverbs of frequency (parfois, rarement)

Never (ne... jamais)

Regular -ir verbs (choisir, finir)

Regular -re verbs (attendre, répondre)

Irregular -ir verbs (sortir, partir, dormir)

Informal 'we' (on)

The imperative mood

Direct object pronouns (le, la, les, l')

The near future (aller + infinitive)

The recent past (venir de + infinitive)

The passé composé with avoir

Irregular past participles (eu, été, fait, pris, vu)

The passé composé with être

The negative passé composé (ne ... pas)

Saying goodbye

Please, sorry and thank you

Which / what (quel)

The indefinite adjective (tout, tous)

Irregular feminine adjectives (-euse, -ve)

Double consonant adjectives (-enne, -ette)

Feminine adjective endings (-ère, -trice)

Irregular plurals (-x)

Plurals ending in -al (-aux)

Present tense stem changes (e to è)

Accent stem changes (é to è)

Double consonant verbs (appeler, jeter)

Verbs ending in -yer (payer, envoyer)

Irregular communication verbs (dire, lire)

Irregular action verbs (écrire, mettre)

Question	Answer
the convention (agreement, treaty)	la convention
the science fiction	la science-fiction
Here is the science fiction convention whose director is famous.	Voici la convention de science-fiction dont le directeur est célèbre.
the future	le futur
what ... in	ce en quoi
Yet, the future of the universe is what the fan believes in.	Pourtant, le futur de l'univers est ce en quoi le fan croit.
what ... to / what ... about	ce à quoi
to expect	s'attendre à
That is what the science fiction fan expects at the convention.	C'est ce à quoi s'attend le fan de science-fiction à la convention.
what ... on	ce sur quoi
to base oneself on	se baser sur
I would like to know what the theory is based on.	Je voudrais savoir ce sur quoi se base la théorie.
what ... for	ce pour quoi
The future is what we are working for.	Le futur est ce pour quoi nous travaillons.
You must look at what the movie is based on.	Il faut que tu regardes ce sur quoi se base le film.
You should read what the story is based on.	Tu devrais lire ce sur quoi se base l'histoire.
It is the future that the fan prefers, and it is what he thinks about.	C'est le futur que le fan préfère, et c'est ce à quoi il pense.
Yet, what I expect is very different.	Pourtant, ce à quoi je m'attends est très différent.
At the convention, we discovered what the book is based on.	À la convention, nous avons découvert ce sur quoi se base le livre.
The universe is what I believe in and what I work for.	L'univers est ce en quoi je crois et ce pour quoi je travaille.
the script	le scénario
What the fans rely on is this script.	Ce sur quoi les fans se basent, c'est ce scénario.
the hologram (m)	l'hologramme
This hologram is what nobody expects.	Cet hologramme est ce à quoi personne ne s'attend.
What this script is based on is a secret.	Ce sur quoi ce scénario se base est un secret.
Here is what the alien really looks like.	Voici ce à quoi l'extraterrestre ressemble vraiment.
the creature	la créature
What you are expecting is the hologram of the creature.	Ce à quoi tu t'attends, c'est l'hologramme de la créature.
What the scenario is based on is a dangerous creature.	Ce sur quoi le scénario se base, c'est une créature dangereuse.