Il y a un homme ici. Qui est-ce ?

Questions & Answers about Il y a un homme ici. Qui est-ce ?

The lesson is about adding est-ce que after question words. Why does this just say Qui est-ce without the que?
Qui est-ce ? is a complete, fixed phrase meaning "Who is it?". You only add que when there is a subject and a verb following it, like in Qui est-ce que tu vois ? (Who do you see?). Because we just want to say "Who is it?", we stop at est-ce.
Does Il y a change if we are talking about more than one man?
No, it stays exactly the same! English changes between "There is" and "There are", but French simply uses Il y a for both singular and plural. "There are two men" is just Il y a deux hommes.
How is un homme pronounced? Are the two words blended together?
Yes, they are blended together through a process called liaison. Because the letter 'h' in homme is silent, the word acts like it starts with a vowel. You pronounce the 'n' from un right at the beginning of homme, making it sound smoothly connected.
I sometimes mix up qui and que. Could I use que here?
No, because qui means "who" (used for people) and que means "what" (used for things). Since we are asking about a man, we have to use qui. If you were asking about a strange object, you would use the phrase for "What is it?": Qu'est-ce que c'est ?

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