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Il achète quoi ?

Il achète quoi ?
What is he buying?
From Lesson 22:Informal questions (qui, que, quoi)·French

Breakdown of Il achète quoi ?

il
he
quoi
what
acheter
to buy

Questions & Answers about Il achète quoi ?

Why is "what" at the end of the sentence, and why is it quoi instead of que?
In everyday spoken French, it is very common to use normal sentence order (subject + verb) and just place the question word at the end. When the word for "what" comes at the end of a sentence or after a preposition, it changes from que to quoi. This is why we say Il achète quoi ? instead of putting que at the start.
Is this the only way to ask "What is he buying?"
No, this is just the most informal, conversational way. You could also use the standard structure you may have seen before: Qu'est-ce qu'il achète ? In very formal or written French, you might even see the subject and verb swapped: Qu'achète-t-il ?
Why is it translated as "is he buying" instead of "does he buy"?
French only has one present tense! The phrase Il achète translates to both "he buys" (a regular habit) and "he is buying" (happening right now). Context will tell you which one makes the most sense, but both English translations are perfectly correct.
Why does achète have an accent mark when the dictionary verb acheter does not?
It helps with pronunciation! The infinitive acheter (to buy) has a soft, almost silent "e" in the middle. When conjugated for je, tu, il/elle, and ils/elles, the ending is silent. To give the word a strong vowel sound to land on, that middle "e" changes to an è. This makes il achète sound like "eel ah-shet".

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