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'?
In cases when you ask who does something, there are two ways in French:
Who ... ?
Qui means who but there is a longer form in which qui appears twice: qui est-ce qui ...? (literally: who is it who...).
ATTENTION:
You can also sometimes encounter the form c'est qui qui, however, this is NOT a grammatically correct form to use!
See also Questions: Qui / qui est-ce que = Whom ?
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
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Q&A Forum 4 questions, 10 answers
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.
Alan Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
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 Q&A super contributor
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/
Lewis asked:View original
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'?
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DonaldKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
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.
Asked 1 year ago
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 !
Chris Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
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).
Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Qui est-ce qui vous avez traité? Who insulted you?
Should it not be :
Qui est-ce qui vous a traité? Who insulted you?
Donald asked:View original
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.
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StuartKwiziq community member
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 :)
Asked 3 years ago
LauraKwiziq team member
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.
Stuart asked:View original
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 :)
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AurélieKwiziq team member
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 !
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