Breakdown of Qu'est-ce que vous préparez pour le dîner ?
pour
for
préparer
to prepare
le dîner
the dinner
qu'est-ce que
what (in questions)
Questions & Answers about Qu'est-ce que vous préparez pour le dîner ?
How does Qu'est-ce que mean "What"?
This is a classic French question phrase that literally means "What is it that". It combines the question word Que (what) with the phrase est-ce que (is it that). Because est-ce que starts with a vowel, Que drops its 'e' and becomes Qu'. Together, Qu'est-ce que is the standard way to ask "What...?" in spoken French.
The English translation says "are preparing". Why isn't there a French word for "are" in this sentence?
In French, the present tense covers both the simple present ("you prepare") and the present continuous ("you are preparing"). The single word préparez means both! You never need to add an extra word for "are" when using the present tense of an action verb like this.
Why do we say pour le dîner (for the dinner) instead of just pour dîner?
In French, nouns almost always need an article (like le, la, or un) in front of them, even when we might leave it out in English. When talking about a specific meal as a noun, like dinner (le dîner), breakfast (le petit-déjeuner), or lunch (le déjeuner), you generally need to include the definite article (le).
Could I just ask "Que préparez-vous pour le dîner ?" instead?
Yes! Que préparez-vous... uses inversion (swapping the verb and the subject pronoun) and is totally correct, though it sounds a bit more formal. Using Qu'est-ce que followed by the normal subject-verb word order (vous préparez) is the most natural and common way to ask this question in everyday conversation.
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