Qui est-ce ?

Qui is the French question word for who. It asks about a person’s identity.

In Qui est-ce ?, qui is the thing being asked: which person is it?

Here, est-ce comes from the verb être (to be) plus ce (it/this/that in a very general sense).

So Qui est-ce ? is built like:

• qui = who
• est = is
• ce = it/this

Literally, it is something like Who is it?

This is a very common fixed way to ask for someone’s identity in French.

The hyphen is standard spelling here. Est-ce is written as a set expression in this structure.

So you should write:

• Qui est-ce ?

not:

• Qui est ce ?

This hyphen is just part of the normal written form.

Yes. It is natural and common.

A very common spoken alternative is:

• Qui c’est ?

That version is especially common in everyday conversation.
Compared with Qui c’est ?, Qui est-ce ? can sound a little more careful or standard, but both are widely used.

They mean essentially the same thing.

• Qui est-ce ? = standard, very common
• Qui c’est ? = very common in speech, often a bit more conversational

For a learner, both are useful. If you want a safe standard form, Qui est-ce ? is excellent.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

• qui ≈ kee
• est-ce ≈ ess

So the whole sentence sounds roughly like:

• kee ess?

In careful speech, you may hear the parts a little more clearly, but in normal conversation it is quite compact.

Yes, qui is used for people.

If you are asking about a thing, French would use que / qu’est-ce que / qu’est-ce que c’est or another structure, not qui.

So Qui est-ce ? is specifically for identifying a person.

Yes, absolutely. That is one of the most common situations.

For example, if someone knocks and you want to ask Who is it?, Qui est-ce ? works well.

It can also be used when you hear a voice and want to know who the person is.

They are different structures.

• Qui est-ce ? = Who is it?
• Qui est-ce qui... ? = Who is it that... ? / Who ... ?

For example:

• Qui est-ce ? = asking for identity
• Qui est-ce qui parle ? = Who is speaking?

So Qui est-ce ? stands on its own, while Qui est-ce qui... introduces another verb.

Yes, but it means something slightly different.

• Qui est-ce ? asks for identity: Who is it?
• Qui est là ? asks who is present/there: Who is there?

In many situations, especially at a door, both can make sense, but they are not exactly the same question.