#onedammortal

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

pure deltaBOT
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frosty plaza
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As a native french (it's scary 😭 even if we speak a language we can't explain it....) The difference between them :

  • "que" means "That" or "this".
    Example :
    It's the man that i love => C'est l'homme que j'aime

-"quoi" means "what"
Example :
He tolds me "whaaaaat ?" bcz he didn't understand => Il m'a dit quoi parce qu'il n'a pas compris

I know that's not a good example... 😭

-"Quel" means "which"
Example :
Which school subjects do you like ? => Quelles matières scolaires aimes-tu ?

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@mellow mist

signal sundial
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« que » peut signifier 'what' aussi comme « que fais-tu / qu'est-ce que tu fais ? (what are you doing?)

frosty plaza
mellow mist
mellow mist
signal sundial
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Right so personally I'll split it into que/quoi and quel.
« que/quoi » is an interrogative pronoun meaning 'What'. Now, this pronoun has two different forms depending on where it is in the sentence which is why I'm putting them together. You see, the pronoun is « que » if placed at the start but « quoi » when placed at the beginning. The thing about « que » at the start is that it requires inversion so you either have to invert or you have to add « est-ce que ».

Tu fais …
-> Que fais-tu ? [inversion where the subject and verb are reversed – formal]
-> Qu'est-ce que tu fais ? [adding « est-ce que » between the interrogative and the subject pronoun – neutral]
Now, in any other case, the word changes to « quoi ». Because it's at the end, it'll be the informal way of asking, the intonation.
Tu fais …
-> Tu fais quoi ? [intonation when your voice goes up at the end – informal]
I say 'in any other case' because it becomes important when prepositions are added in. In French, you can't have a preposition ending a clause (with a very small exception) so the question word and the preposition has to be moved to the front if you're going with a formal or a neutral way of asking. When this word is under a preposition, it doesn't change.
For example, take the informal sentence « Tu parles de quoi ? ». If I were to move that back to the start for a formal/neutral way of asking, I'd get:
-> De quoi parles-tu ?
-> De quoi est-ce que tu parles ?
If you only kept in mind, 'if it starts the sentence, use « que »; if at the back, use « quoi »', you'll form « De que parles-tu ? » which is just wrong.
With me so far? @mellow mist

mellow mist
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give me a minute please

signal sundial
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no worries

mellow mist
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Ok so basically whether you use quoi or que depends on the position of the word and whether it is being used with a preposition, am i getting that right?

signal sundial
mellow mist
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yup understood that well, thank you

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then what about quel?

signal sundial
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Now, « quel » is still an interrogative word but it's an adjective this time so it has to have a noun. For example:
« Quel film est-ce que tu as regardé ? »
(What film did you watch?)
« Quelle voiture acheterez-vous ? »
(Which car will you buy?)

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Notice that « quel » has to agree with the noun it modifies. Now, you can separate the adjective from the noun but it still has to agree:
« Quel est ton film préféré ? »
(What is your favourite film?)
« Quelles sont tes voitures ? »
(Which are your cars?)
Notice that in the second example, « être » also agrees with the number of the noun and adjective

mellow mist
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Ohh ok it makes perfect sense to me now

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Thank you so much

signal sundial
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As you can see, « quel » can mean 'what' but also 'which'

signal sundial
mellow mist
mellow mist
signal sundial
# mellow mist Um sure
  1. À [...] penses-tu ?
  2. [...] livres est-ce que tu veux acheter ?
  3. [...] est-ce que tu veux dire en disant ça ?
  4. [...] sont les tiennes ? Je ne vois que mes pages.
  5. Tu parles de [...] ?
mellow mist
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  1. quoi
  2. Quels
  3. Que
  4. Que
  5. quoi
signal sundial
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4 is wrong

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maybe I should reword that

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[...] sont tes pages ? Je ne vois que les miennes.

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answer is still the same but the question has been reworded

mellow mist
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I did not understant the second part of the sentence well but

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is it 'Quelles'?

signal sundial
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Yup, you got it

signal sundial
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Either way, seems like you got the hang of it

mellow mist
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Yes it i clear to me now

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I tried to search it on the internet but only ended up more confused

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Thanks again!