"Qu'aimez-vous?" means who or what?

Rebecca L.C1Kwiziq community member

"Qu'aimez-vous?" means who or what?

How can you tell that the qu'  in "Qu'aimez-vous?" means que rather than qui?  I.e., why isn't it "who do you like?" instead of "what do you like?"

Asked 2 years ago
Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

Maarten and Jameson already explained that the "i" in qui never contracts. That's the reason you absolutely know that the first word in Qu'aimez-vous? must be que.

The next thing to keep in mind is the difference between qui/que as an interrogative pronoun (like in this sentence) and qui/que used as a relative pronoun.

Interrogative pronoun:
qui -- used for people ("who")
que -- used for objects ("what")

Qui vous aime ? -- Who loves you?
Qui aimez-vous ? -- Whom do you love?
Qu'aimez-vous ? -- What do you love?

Relative pronoun
qui -- used for people and objects as the subject of a relative clause ("who", "which", "that")
que -- used for people and objects as the direct or indirect object of a relative clause ("whom", "which", "that")

Je ne sais pas qui est venu. -- I don't know who came.
Je ne sais pas ce qui s'est passé. -- I don't know what happened.
Je connais cette personne, que tu m'as montrée. -- I know that person whom you showed me.
Je connais le livre que tu m'as montré. -- I know the book which you showed me.

Maarten K.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Qui never contracts - see point towards end of lesson. Qui = Who/which/that (French Relative Pronouns)

J. L.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Because QUI is never truncated. It is always QUI. So if you see qu'ils/qu'aimez IT IS alway QUE.

Rebecca L. asked:

"Qu'aimez-vous?" means who or what?

How can you tell that the qu'  in "Qu'aimez-vous?" means que rather than qui?  I.e., why isn't it "who do you like?" instead of "what do you like?"

Sign in to submit your answer

Don't have an account yet? Join today

Ask a question

Find your French level for FREE

Test your French to the CEFR standard

Find your French level
I'll be right with you...