{"id":119286,"date":"2023-11-20T04:52:53","date_gmt":"2023-11-20T09:52:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/french-qui-vs-que\/"},"modified":"2024-08-29T01:30:05","modified_gmt":"2024-08-29T05:30:05","slug":"french-qui-vs-que","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/french\/french-qui-vs-que\/","title":{"rendered":"Qui vs Que: When to Use Them"},"content":{"rendered":"

Qui <\/em>and\u00a0que<\/em> are French relative pronouns<\/a> that are often confused for each other.<\/p>\n

Qui<\/em> is often translated as “who” and que<\/em> as “what.” However, these meanings can be reversed or even be completely different depending on the context.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If that last part gave you a headache, don’t worry. There are actually a few tricks that can help you remember which you should use when.<\/p>\n

In this post, we’re going through the main distinctions between qui\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0que<\/em> and other uses each word has.<\/p>\n

Let’s settle the qui <\/em>vs. que<\/em> debate once and for all!<\/p>\n

[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

How to Use Qui<\/em> in French<\/h2>\n

In English, “who” can refer to people, while “that” or “which” refers to objects. In French, qui<\/em> may be used for either one, but what matters is the role the word plays in the sentence.<\/p>\n

Qui <\/em>is used to stand for the subject of a subordinate clause.<\/h3>\n

Remember that the subject is the person or thing that does the action of the verb, while a subordinate clause is a phrase that adds information to a sentence but cannot stand on its own.<\/p>\n

For example:<\/p>\n

J’ai un nouveau ami. Il vient d’Isra\u00ebl. <\/em>(I have a new friend. He is from Israel.)<\/p>\n

Here, you have two full sentences. From those, you could build a more complex sentence by keeping the first sentence and making the second a subordinate clause.<\/p>\n

J’ai un nouveau ami qui<\/strong> vient d’Isra\u00ebl. <\/em>(I have a new friend who<\/strong> is from Israel.)<\/p>\n

In the above example, qui<\/em> is part of the subordinate clause, standing in for the original subject, il<\/em> (he).<\/p>\n

Let’s take another example.<\/p>\n

Elle a achet\u00e9 un ordinateur. Il marche bien. <\/em>(She bought a computer. It works well.)<\/p>\n

Once again, let’s combine these sentences by turning the second sentence into a subordinate clause and replacing the subject il <\/em>(it) with qui.<\/em><\/p>\n

Elle a achet\u00e9 un ordinateur qui<\/strong> marche\u00a0bien. <\/i>(She bought a computer that<\/strong> works well.)<\/p>\n

Qui <\/em>often means “who” when employed as part of a question.<\/h3>\n

Usually, but not always, if you’re using qui <\/em>in a question, chances are it means “who.”<\/p>\n

Qui<\/strong> a \u00e9crit cet email ? <\/em>(Who<\/strong> wrote this email?)<\/p>\n

Qui<\/strong> parmi vous est fran\u00e7ais ? <\/em>(Who<\/strong> among you is French?)<\/p>\n

Qui<\/em> is used in prepositional phrases.<\/h3>\n

\u00c0 qui<\/em> (to whom, whose) may be used to indicate possession.<\/p>\n

\u00c0 qui<\/strong> est ce portable ? <\/em>(Whose<\/strong> cellphone is this?)<\/p>\n

Pour qui<\/em> (for whom) is used in pretty much the same way as its English equivalent.<\/p>\n

Pour qui<\/strong> as-tu achet\u00e9 ce cadeau ?<\/em>\u00a0(For whom<\/strong> did you buy this gift?)<\/p>\n

Avec qui<\/em>\u00a0(with whom) is also quite simple.<\/p>\n

Avec qui<\/strong> allez-vous au mus\u00e9e ? <\/em>(With whom<\/strong> are you going to the museum?)<\/p>\n

How to Use Que<\/em> in French<\/h2>\n

As mentioned earlier, que<\/em> is often translated as “what,” but\u2014surprise, surprise\u2014that’s not what it always means in context! It could also mean “who” or “that.” Similar to qui<\/em>, you have to look closely at the role que<\/em> plays in a sentence.<\/p>\n

Que <\/em>is used to stand for the object of a subordinate clause.<\/h3>\n

If the subject is the actor, the object is the one being acted on. Whenever you refer to the latter, use que.<\/em><\/p>\n

Again, let’s take these two complete but related sentences.<\/p>\n

J’ai mang\u00e9 un croissant. Il \u00e9tait d\u00e9licieux ! <\/em>(I ate a croissant. It was delicious!)<\/p>\n

They can easily be combined into one sentence, but let’s do it a bit differently from last time.<\/p>\n

Le croissant que<\/strong> j’ai mang\u00e9 \u00e9tait d\u00e9licieux ! <\/em>(The croissant that<\/strong> I ate was delicious!)<\/p>\n

In this case,\u00a0que<\/em> is used because it refers to le croissant<\/em>,\u00a0the direct object (receiving the action of being eaten).<\/p>\n

But if you’re using qui <\/em>instead, you could say something like:<\/p>\n

J’ai mang\u00e9 un croissant qui<\/strong> \u00e9tait d\u00e9licieux ! <\/em>(I ate a croissant that<\/strong> was delicious!)<\/p>\n

Just like before, qui<\/em> is used here because it represents the subject of the subordinate clause.<\/p>\n

Que <\/em>means “what” when used in a question.<\/h3>\n

Just as qui\u00a0<\/em>generally means “who” in a question,\u00a0que<\/em> means “what” in the same context.<\/p>\n

Que<\/strong> pensez-vous ? <\/em>(What<\/strong> do you think?)<\/p>\n

Note that que <\/em>is changed to\u00a0qu’\u00a0<\/em>before a vowel, as in the very helpful phrase,\u00a0qu’est-ce que <\/em>(what is it that). This phrase often opens “what” questions such as:<\/p>\n

Qu’est-ce que<\/strong> vous \u00e9tudiez ?\u00a0 <\/em>(What<\/strong> are you studying?)<\/p>\n

Que <\/em>can also mean “only.”<\/h3>\n

You’ve probably heard that the French word for “only” is seulement<\/em>. But there’s another common way native speakers express “only”\u2014namely, the phrase ne… que<\/em>, with a verb in between.<\/p>\n

Vous n<\/strong>‘avez lu que<\/strong> les dix premi\u00e8res pages ?<\/em>\u00a0(You only<\/strong> read the first ten pages?)<\/p>\n

Using Que<\/em> in the\u00a0Pass\u00e9 Compos\u00e9<\/em><\/h2>\n

If you’re using que<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0the\u00a0pass\u00e9 compos\u00e9 <\/em>(perfect tense<\/a>), the participe pass\u00e9<\/em> (past participle<\/a>) in your sentence must agree with the direct object.<\/p>\n

In other words, if the direct object is feminine, add an “-e” to the participe pass\u00e9<\/em>. If it’s plural, add an “-s.” There’s no change for masculine singular objects.<\/p>\n

La chanson<\/strong> que j’ai \u00e9cout\u00e9e<\/strong> s’agit de l’amour. <\/em>(The song<\/strong> I listened to deals with love.)<\/p>\n

Using Qui<\/em> in the Pass\u00e9 Compos\u00e9<\/em><\/h2>\n

As for\u00a0qui<\/em>, you only need to make changes if the pass\u00e9 compos\u00e9\u00a0<\/em>is formed with \u00eatre <\/em>(to be<\/a>). In this case, the agreement is with the subject. The endings are the same: “-e” for feminine and “-s” for plural.<\/p>\n

Les \u00e9tudiants<\/strong> qui sont venus<\/strong> l’ann\u00e9e derni\u00e8re \u00e9taient g\u00e9nials. <\/em>(The students<\/strong> who arrived last year were great.)<\/p>\n

Where to Practice\u00a0Qui\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Que<\/em><\/h2>\n

Try these practice resources to reinforce what you’ve just learned in this post.<\/p>\n