Question 1

The current lesson is about adding 'est-ce que' to question words. Why is there no 'que' here?

Accepted Answer

In this sentence, Qui est-ce ? translates directly to 'Who is it?'. The phrase est-ce is just the question form of c'est (it is). If you added que to make Qui est-ce que, it would mean 'Who is it that...' and you would need another subject and verb after it, like in Qui est-ce que tu vois ? (Who do you see?).

Question 2

Why do we reply with C'est un collègue instead of Il est un collègue (He is a colleague)?

Accepted Answer

In French, when you identify a person using an article (like un, une, le, or la) plus a noun, you must use c'est. You only use il est or elle est when stating someone's profession without an article, such as Il est professeur (He is a teacher).

Question 3

Is the word collègue only used for men?

Accepted Answer

No, the word collègue is spelled exactly the same for both men and women. You can only tell the gender by looking at the article before it. Here, un collègue means a male colleague, while une collègue would mean a female colleague.

Question 4

Can I just ask C'est qui ? instead of Qui est-ce ?

Accepted Answer

Yes! C'est qui ? is the informal, everyday spoken way to ask 'Who is it?' or 'Who is that?'. Qui est-ce ? means the exact same thing but is just a bit more standard and formal.

Qui est-ce ? C'est un collègue.

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