Que and Qui

Question

'Qu'est que' or 'qu'est qui' marche le mieux ? I find this difficult to understand. This lesson says that Qui is used when the following word is a verb. That's not the case in the example given. How might I understand this more clearly, please? Thanks.

Accepted Answer

Hi Nuala, 
In -
Qu'est-ce qui marche le mieux ?= What works best?
The word 'marche' is the verb marcher ( to work ) so qui  follows the normal pattern.
Bonne Continuation ?

Answer

Hi Nuala,This is a tricky area of French grammar and is not easy to grasp initially.Qui as a relative pronoun represents in English "who" "which" "that"It is employed in French grammar as the subject of the clause being introduced and as such precedes a verb.Que as a relative pronoun represents the direct object in English "whom" "which" "that" Both qui and que have other functions in French grammar in addition to that above.Try this online dictionary and enter each (qui, que) for a more complete understanding.https://www.wordreference.com/ Bonne continuationJim

Answer

This relates to the often asked "que vs. qui" question. Jim has already explained the basic grammar behind it: qui stands for the subject and que for the COD (direct object) of a sentence. Here are a couple of example sentences with brief explanations to help you sharpen your eye for this matter.

Qu'est-ce qui marche mieux? -- What works better? Qui is the subject to the verb marcher. There is no COD in this sentence.
Qu'est-ce qui te dérange? -- What is bothering you? Qui is the subject, te the COD.

Qu'est-ce que tu as fait? -- What did you do? Tu is the subject and que the COD.
Qu'est-ce que vous cherchez? -- What are you looking for? Vous is the subject and que the COD.

Answer

Note also the lesson expands on the shorthand description and clarifies that it is a ‘verb expression’ following - that is, the verb does not need to be the word immediately after ‘qui’.