I don’t understand how to know whether this refers to a person (WHOM do you miss) or to a thing (WHAT are you missing).
Qu’est-ce qui te manque?
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Qu’est-ce qui te manque?
Hi Nancy,
The relative pronouns qui and que are used differently, qui replaces a noun/subject and que a noun/object.
Furthermore, qui is never elided so qu' is que here.
With an odd construction like the verb 'manquer', I can understand your confusion but -
If it was a person it would be -
Hope this helps?
Bonjour Nancy,
Qui est petit ? = Who is small?
Qui est-ce qui fais ce bruit ? = Who (is it who) is making that noise ?
-> in both examples, "Qui" is a person. So,"qui/qui est-ce qui" + [conjugated verb] ? = Who + [conjugated verb]?.
Attention:
-> "Qui est-ce que" + [noun/subject] + [conjugated verb] ?= Whom ?
Take a look the link below:
Qui/Qui est-ce que ... ? = Whom ... ? (French Questions)
Remember:
Qui est-ce qui + [conjugated verb] ? = Who + [conjugated verb]?
versus
Qui est-ce que + [noun/subject] + [conjugated verb] ? = Whom do/did + [subject] + [verb]?
I hope this is helpful.
Bonne journée !
Bonjour Nancy,
It is tricky -- In this case "qui" is a relative pronoun and the verb manquer is being employed intransitively (to an indirect object) te.
So we have effectively "what (que) is it (est-ce) that (qui) is lacking / missing (manque) for / to / from you (te) "Qu'est-ce qui te manque"
I hope this helps.
Bonne continuation.
Jim
I do understand the difference between a subject and an object. What I don’t understand is how to tell whether QUI is a person (who) or a thing (what) in the following sentences:
Qui est petit? (Is QUI a person or a thing?).
Qui est-ce qui est petit? (Is QUI EST-CE QUI a person or a thing?).
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