What is the rule as to when Qu'est-ce qui is used rather than Que?
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What is the rule as to when Qu'est-ce qui is used rather than Que?
Hi David,
If what you are asking is the difference between: Qu'est-ce-qui? and Qu'est-ce que? both meaning 'What?', then it is a question of grammar. 'What' being the subject or the object in the sentence. Have a look at the following examples:
Qu'est-ce-qui est arrivé? ( What happened?), in this sentence 'What' is the subject of the verb to happen.
Quest-ce-que tu veux? ( What do you want?), in this sentence 'What' is the object of the verb to want.
Hope this helps!
Qu'est-ce que and que are pretty much synonymous ---> what. Qu'est-ce qui, when using this phrase, it will ALWAYS be followed by a verb whereas qu'est-ce que will be followed USUALLY by a noun or other subject in the same manner as que tu est triste instead qui est triste.
Here are a couple of links that might help:
https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/interrogative-pronouns/ (this one is written by Laura from this site)
https://www.laits.utexas.edu/tex/gr/int5.html
Hopefully these additional resources can help clarify this for you.
Bonne chance et bonne continuation !
Hello Chris , brilliant French by the way , impressive ! One comment though , I find confusing to put "qu'est ce qui" and " qu'est ce que ", because your direct object(question word) in the latter is not "que " per se but "qu' "! Actually the "que" you allude to is just a part of the formula to ask a standard question in French (est-ce que), hence my confusion.
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