Questions: Qui, qui est-ce qui = Who ?

In: Level A2, Questions & Interrogatives, Question/Interrogative
Questions: 14

In cases when you ask who does something, there are two ways in French:

Who ... ?

C'est qui?
Who's that? 

Qui vient manger?
Who's coming to eat?

Qui fait ça?
Who is doing that?

 

Qui means who but there is a longer form in which qui appears twice: qui est-ce qui ...? (literally: who is it who...). 

Qui est-ce qui vient manger?
Who's coming to eat?

 

Qui est-ce qui fait ça?
Who is doing that?

 


ATTENTION: 

You can also sometimes encounter the form c'est qui qui, however, this is NOT a grammatically correct form to use!

C'est qui qui vient manger?
Who's coming to eat?

 literally: It's who who is coming to eat?

 

See also Questions: Qui / qui est-ce que = Whom ?

 

Learn more about these related French grammar topics

Question/Interrogative

Examples and resources

Qui est-ce qui vient manger?
Who's coming to eat?

C'est qui?
Who's that? 

Qui fait ça?
Who is doing that?

Qui est-ce qui fait ça?
Who is doing that?

Qui te rejoint tous les matins?
Who meets you every morning?

C'est qui qui vient manger?
Who's coming to eat?

Qui vient manger?
Who's coming to eat?

Q&A

Lewis

Kwiziq community member

13 October 2018

4 replies

Qui doen't contract before a vowel

Qu'est-ce que tu penses?

but,

Qui est-ce qui vient ce soir?

Just wondering why 'Qui', which ends in a vowel, wouldn't contract when the following word begins with a vowel, as does the example with 'Que'?

Chris

Kwiziq community member

14 October 2018

14/10/18

Only words ending in "e" contract. 

Alan

Kwiziq community member

14 October 2018

14/10/18

Mainly it's words ending in "e", but also "la" and "si".

The rules are explained here:

https://kwiziq.learnfrenchwithalexa.com/revision/glossary/contraction/l-elision-elision

Chris

Kwiziq community member

15 October 2018

15/10/18

But si does not contract if the following vowel is an "e". It only contracts in cases such as si+il = s'il or s+ils = s'ils.

If you want a more complete summary on elisions, you can check, e.g.,
here:https://www.lawlessfrench.com/pronunciation/elision/

Cécile

Kwiziq language super star

15 October 2018

15/10/18

Hi Lewis,

 In answer to your question logically, it is probably to differentiate the meanings which would be lost if you could elide both vowels - 

Qu'est-ce -que ...? = What is ...?

Qui est-ce que ...? = Who is ...?

Hope this helps.

Donald

Kwiziq community member

15 December 2017

3 replies

Qui est-ce qui m'a traité?

Who insulted me? Qui est-ce qui vous avez traité? Who insulted you? Traiter is new verb for me.

Chris

Kwiziq community member

15 December 2017

15/12/17

I would translate "Qui est-ce qui m'a traité" as "Who treated me." I am not familiar with traiter in the meaning of to insult. -- Chris (not a native speaker).

Aurélie

Kwiziq language super star

15 December 2017

15/12/17

Bonjour Donald and Chris !

Indeed, the verb "traiter" can be used to mean "to insult".

Here's where that comes from: the original sentence is: 
traiter [quelqu'un] de [quelque chose] = to call [someone] [something] 

but in speech, it's become common to imply the insult itself and to use "traiter" on its own, i.e. to call [someone], meaning to insult [someone].


I hope that's helpful!
Bonne journée !

Nigel

Kwiziq community member

23 March 2019

23/03/19

Qui est-ce qui vous avez traité? Who insulted you?

Should it not be :

Qui est-ce qui vous a traité? Who insulted you?

Stuart

Kwiziq community member

30 July 2016

1 reply

I wasn't sure at the end if this lesson the advantages of using one or the other ...

... and having just been asked a question on it I left the question and found the answer was the one with qui .... qui which looked the most confusing of the answers and the one I certainly wouldn't have chosen :)

Laura

Kwiziq language super star

3 August 2016

3/08/16

Bonjour Stuart, From the lesson: "Qui means who but there is a longer form in which 'qui' appears twice: qui est-ce qui" In other words, they mean exactly the same thing, and qui is more common. I would guess that the question you're referring was multiple answer, meaning that you have to choose all of the possible right answers in order for that question to be marked as correct.

Susan

Kwiziq community member

20 May 2016

2 replies

Isn't "Qui est-ce" an acceptable form as well?

Aurélie

Kwiziq language super star

20 May 2016

20/05/16

Bonjour Susan, "Qui est-ce ?" is a closed question in itself, meaning "Who is it?", you cannot use it to ask "who is it [that....]". It's in that case that you'll use either "Qui [...]?" or "Qui est-ce qui [...]?". I hope that's helpful. À bientôt !

Susan

Kwiziq community member

21 May 2016

21/05/16

Merci!! Je comprends maintenant!

Find your French level for FREE

Test your French to the CEFR standard

find your French level

Get some more practice

French listening practice

French reading practice

French speaking practice

French writing practice

Why not share the love?!

Related lessons

Clever stuff underway!