Informal questions with "quoi"
In everyday spoken French, the most common way to ask a question is to keep the standard statement word order and place the question word at the very end. To ask "what," use quoi.
| What are you doing now? | Tu fais quoi maintenant ? |
You can use this structure to ask what someone is looking for (chercher) or hiding (cacher).
| What is he looking for under the table? | Il cherche quoi sous la table ? |
| What is she hiding in the bag? | Elle cache quoi dans le sac ? |
Asking "who" with "qui"
To ask "who" or "whom," use the question word qui. Just like quoi, you can simply place it at the end of an informal question.
| Who are you looking for in the park? | Vous cherchez qui dans le parc ? |
| Who do you see in the car? | Tu vois qui dans la voiture ? |
Asking "what" at the beginning of a question
While quoi is perfect for the end of an informal sentence, it is not used at the beginning of a basic question. To ask "what" at the start of a structured question, use the phrase qu'est-ce que (literally "what is it that").
| What are you looking for? | Qu'est-ce que tu cherches ? |
Compare this with the informal spoken word order:
| What are you looking for? | Tu cherches quoi ? |
Just like est-ce que, the que at the end of qu'est-ce que drops its "e" and becomes qu' if the next word begins with a vowel.
| What is she preparing? | Qu'est-ce qu'elle prépare ? |
Gifts and surprises
Use these question forms with verbs like acheter (to buy) and entendre (to hear) to uncover facts and surprises!
| What are you buying, a gift for them? | Tu achètes quoi, un cadeau pour eux ? |
| They are buying a surprise for the child. | Ils achètent une surprise pour l'enfant. |
| Who do they hear in the house? | Elles entendent qui dans la maison ? |
