Why do we say "Qu'est-ce que tu en penses ?
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Paola L.Kwiziq community member
Why do we say "Qu'est-ce que tu en penses ?
Qu'est-ce que tu en penses ?
This question relates to:French lesson ""C'est" vs "Il/Elle est" to say it is/she is/he is in French"
Asked 5 years ago
Qu'est-ce que tu en penses? -- What do you think of it?
Qu'est-ce que tu penses? -- What do you think?
It depends on what you want to say.
Chris W. Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
Qu'est-ce que tu en penses? -- What do you think of it?
What do you mean by "why do we say this"?
Alan G. Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
I am surprised at this. As a native English speaker I would say that "What do you think?" means the same as "What to you think of/about it?" You can drop the "of/about it" when the context is obvious. I'm obviously not a native French speaker, but I would have thought you can't do the same thing in French, so "Qu'est-ce que tu penses?" is either wrong, or implies a direct object, so it would have to mean something like "What are you planning?".
Chris W. Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
Maybe "What are you thinking." is the better translation, in the sense of "a penny for your thoughts" :)
Alan G. Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
But is that how you would say it in French? Wouldn't it be "À quoi tu penses?"
Chris W. Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
According to a French native speaker, both is possible:
Qu'est-ce que tu pense. -- What are you thinking about?
À quoi tu penses. -- What are you thinking about?
According to her, they are both possible and mean exactly the same thing: asking someone what he is thinking, without reference to anything mentioned earlier.
Chris W. Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
Qu'est-ce que tu penses, of course, I forgot the "s". Wish there was some way to edit one's typos...
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