Learn Hardcore French: Quel est ton film préféré?

In French, quel is an interrogative adjective that must be followed by a noun (or être + noun/adjective). It agrees in gender and number with that noun.

Quel = which / what (followed by a noun)
- Quel film = which/what film
Quoi = what (used mostly after prepositions or at the end of a question)
- Tu parles de quoi ? = What are you talking about?

In Quel est ton film préféré ?, quel is used because it refers to film, a masculine singular noun (implied in the structure quel est [noun]). Using quoi here would be ungrammatical.

Why is it quel est and not just quel or something like qu’est-ce que?

Quel est literally means “which is / what is” and is followed by a complement:

Quel est ton film préféré ? = What is your favorite film?

You cannot just say Quel ton film préféré ? — you need a verb.
You also cannot say Quel est-ce que ton film préféré ? — that mixes two different question structures incorrectly.

The main correct options are:

Quel est ton film préféré ? (standard, neutral)
C’est quoi, ton film préféré ? (very common spoken, informal)
Quel est votre film préféré ? (polite/formal)

Why is it ton film and not ta film, since ta is also “your”?

The choice between ton / ta / tes depends on the gender and number of the noun, not on the speaker or the owner.

ton = your (before a masculine singular noun)
ta = your (before a feminine singular noun)
tes = your (before any plural noun)

Since film is a masculine singular noun in French, you must use ton:

ton film (your film)
Compare with:
ta voiture (your car – voiture is feminine)
tes films (your films – plural)

What is the difference between ton and votre?

Both mean “your”, but they differ in formality and number:

ton / ta / tes: informal you, talking to one person you know well (friend, child, relative, someone your age, etc.)
votre / vos:
- formal you (one person you address politely),
- or you plural (talking to more than one person).

So:

Quel est ton film préféré ? → informal, to one person you know well.
Quel est votre film préféré ? → formal, or to several people.

Why is film used without any article like le or un?

There is a determiner: ton.
In French, you normally use only one determiner before a noun:

article: le, la, les, un, une, des
possessive: mon, ton, son, notre, votre, leur, etc.

You cannot combine them:

✅ ton film
❌ le ton film
❌ un ton film

So ton replaces le / un here.

Why does préféré come after film, when in English “favorite” comes before “film”?

In French, most adjectives come after the noun:

un film intéressant (an interesting film)
un livre drôle (a funny book)

Préféré normally follows this pattern:

mon film préféré (my favorite film)
sa couleur préférée (his/her favorite color)

So film préféré is the normal French word order: noun + adjective, not the English order.

Why is it préféré and not préférée at the end?

Adjectives in French agree in gender and number with the noun they describe.

film is masculine singular, so the adjective must also be masculine singular:
- un film préféré

If the noun were feminine, you would add -e:

une chanson préférée (a favorite song – chanson is feminine)

If it were plural, you would add -s:

mes films préférés (my favorite films)
mes chansons préférées (my favorite songs)

In ton film préféré, both film and préféré are masculine singular, so préféré (without extra e) is correct.

How do you pronounce the full sentence Quel est ton film préféré ?

Approximate pronunciation (in IPA):

Quel est ton film préféré ? → /kɛl‿ɛ tɔ̃ film pʁefeʁe/

Broken down:

Quel → /kɛl/ (like “kel”)
est → /ɛ/ (like “eh”, the t is silent here)
ton → /tɔ̃/ (nasal: kind of like “tohn”, letting air resonate in the nose)
film → /film/ (ending -lm both pronounced, unlike English “film” where the l may be lighter)
préféré → /pʁefeʁe/
- pré → /pʁe/ (the é is like “ay” in “say”)
- fé → /fe/
- ré → /ʁe/

There is a liaison between quel and est: you pronounce the l clearly and link quel and est smoothly: kel-eh. The t of est is not pronounced.

Why is there a question mark but no inversion like “film préféré est ton” or similar?

French has several ways to form questions. Here, the structure is:

Quel est ton film préféré ?

This is already an inversion between the verb est and the subject ton film préféré:

Statement (very unnatural in this exact form, but structurally):
- Ton film préféré est lequel.
Question (with quel moved to the front):
- Quel est ton film préféré ?

You do not invert film and préféré; they stay as noun + adjective. The inversion is between quel and est in the usual quel + être pattern.

Could you say Quel film préféré est ton ? instead?

No, that word order is wrong in French.

Correct patterns are:

Quel est ton film préféré ?
Quel est ton film ? (more like “Which is your film?” in some contexts)
Quel film préfères-tu ? (literally “Which film do you prefer?”)

In Quel film préfères-tu ?, you do invert préfères-tu, but the noun and adjective do not switch places the way they sometimes can in English.

Can I say C’est quoi ton film préféré ? and does it mean the same thing?

Yes, you can say:

C’est quoi, ton film préféré ?

This is very common in spoken, informal French. It means essentially the same as:

Quel est ton film préféré ?

Differences:

C’est quoi, ton film préféré ?
- More casual, conversational.
- Very frequent in everyday speech.
Quel est ton film préféré ?
- More neutral/standard.
- Suitable in writing or in slightly more formal situations.

What is the difference between préféré and favori?

Both can mean favorite, but there are some nuances:

préféré(e)
- Very common in everyday speech.
- Slightly more neutral.
- Often used for personal tastes:
  - mon film préféré, ma couleur préférée, ma nourriture préférée
favori(te)
- Also common, sometimes sounds a bit more “list/contest” oriented (like “top choice”, “front-runner”).
- Often used in sports, competitions, rankings:
  - le candidat favori, l’équipe favorite

You can say Quel est ton film favori ?, and it’s correct; préféré is just the most typical choice for this sentence.

How would this sentence change for feminine or plural “favorite films”?

You adjust the possessive, the noun, and the adjective to match gender/number:

Feminine singular noun (e.g. série – series/show):
- Quelle est ta série préférée ?
  - quelle (feminine singular for série)
  - ta (for a feminine singular noun)
  - préférée (feminine singular, with -e)
Masculine plural noun (e.g. films):
- Quels sont tes films préférés ?
  - quels (masculine plural)
  - sont (plural of être)
  - tes (your, plural noun)
  - préférés (masculine plural, with -s)
Feminine plural noun (e.g. chansons – songs):
- Quelles sont tes chansons préférées ?
  - quelles (feminine plural)
  - préférées (feminine plural, -es)

All the parts must agree in gender and number with the noun they refer to.