There are several ways of formulating an open-ended question in English using interrogative pronouns such as “what,” as in “What are you doing?" In French, there are four equivalents to “what”: the interrogative pronouns que, quoi, qu’est-ce que, and qu’est-ce-qui. Which one should you use? That depends on grammar and the desired level of formality. Let's explore how to use these four different versions of “what.”
The most common way to form a “what” question in French is with the somewhat convoluted phrase qu’est-ce que (literally, "what is it that"), as in Qu’est-ce que c’est ? ("what is it" or "what is that," or literally, "what is it that that is?") Here is an example from our Sophie et Patrice video series:
Mais ces gens crient là-bas. Qu'est-ce que c'est ?
But those people are shouting over there. What is that?
Caption 38, Sophie et Patrice Charles III
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In another Sophie et Patrice video, Sophie adds an extra que to qu'est-ce que c'est to make the idiomatic expression qu’est-ce que c’est que. This is a way to ask about something you're not familiar with or are surprised by. In this case, Sophie is expressing surprise at Patrice's new mustache:
Alors qu'est-ce que c'est que cette moustache ?
So what's with this mustache?
Caption 1, Sophie et Patrice Patrice va jouer Proust
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Going back to qu’est-ce que c’est, here is another example for you:
Alors globalement un four banal, qu'est-ce que c'est ?
So what is a communal oven, basically? [So basically a communal oven, what is it?]
Caption 21, Voyage en France Montmorency - Part 3
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You'll notice that the word order is reversed in the translation. Putting what is it at the end may seem back to front to an English speaker, but it is perfectly natural in French and quite common.
Here is an example where French follows the same sentence structure as in English, with qu’est-ce que (what) at the start of the question:
Qu'est-ce que tu vas faire après? Est-ce que tu vas danser, [chanter]...?
What will you do next? Are you going to dance, sing...?
Caption 25, Actus Quartier Fête de quartier Python-Duvernois - Part 4
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Our speaker could have started his question with que instead, which would mean the same thing. However, grammatically speaking, starting questions with que is trickier as it requires an inversion (when subject and verb switch places). In addition, the tone might have seemed slightly too formal in this very casual conversation with the locals:
Que vas-tu faire après ?
What will you do next?
On the other hand, the use of que does not seem out of place in the slightly more formal context of this next example, where a restaurant owner is being interviewed.
Que vas-tu nous préparer au menu du jour à huit euros soixante-dix ?
What are you going to prepare for us for today's menu for eight euros seventy?
Caption 5, Alsace 20 Grain de Sel: Au Caveau de l'étable à Niederbronn-les-Bains
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Still, the difference in formality is so subtle that both qu’est-ce que and que would have been appropriate for the situation:
Qu'est-ce que tu vas nous préparer au menu du jour à huit euros soixante-dix ?
What are you going to prepare for us for today's menu for eight euros seventy?
On the other hand, if our speaker had used quoi instead, he might have sounded too casual:
Tu vas nous préparer quoi au menu du jour à huit euros soixante-dix ?
What are you going to prepare for us for today's menu for eight euros seventy?
Indeed, quoi is reserved for more casual settings, such as a conversation among friends or addressing young kids, like the interviewer in the following video. There is no need to switch verb and subject with quoi, but note that quoi always comes after the verb, unlike in English:
Tu fais quoi ici? -Tu fais quoi ici, Nougra, toi?
What are you doing here? -What are you doing here, Nougra?
Caption 77, Actus Quartier Fête de quartier Python-Duvernois - Part 3
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Quoi can also act as a standalone interrogative pronoun. Quoi ? is the equivalent of “What?” in English, often used when expressing surprise. In this video, Sacha is shocked to hear about Sam’s impending marriage:
Quoi ?
What?
Caption 3, Extr@ Ep. 13 - Un mariage dans l’air - Part 5
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Note that you cannot use que as a standalone pronoun.
Finally, here is a trickier equivalent to “what,” qu’est-ce qui, which is often used to ask what is going on or what happened. As this frequently involves using impersonal verbs that have no real subject, qu’est-ce qui becomes the subject. In other words, unlike qu'est-ce que, which precedes a subject + verb, qu'est-ce qui only precedes a verb. Here is an example with the expression Qu’est-ce qui t’arrive ? (What’s the matter with you?)
Tu as mal à la dent ? Qu'est-ce qui t'arrive ?
Do you have a toothache? What's the matter with you?
Captions 1-2, Sara et Lionel J'ai mal aux dents
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Quoi ? This lesson is over? Not quite. Remember that qu’est-ce que and que are pretty much interchangeable but are grammatically different, and qu’est-ce qui is often used to ask what is going on. As for quoi, it's more suited to casual situations. Feel free to browse through our Yabla videos to know what’s what and familiarize yourself with the various ways of asking questions. Thank you for reading!
C'est and il/elle est are two common expressions used to describe people or things in French. Though they have the same meaning (he/she/it is), they're not interchangeable. So how do you know when to use which? It all depends on what comes after the verb est (is). Let's look at some examples.
Il est (masculine) and elle est (feminine) are primarily used before an adjective alone, or before an adverb and adjective (such as très intelligent):
Il s'appelle André. Il est très intelligent.
His name is André. He's very smart.
They're also used to describe someone's nationality, religion, or profession:
Elle est japonaise. Elle est bouddhiste. Elle est chimiste.
She is Japanese. She is Buddhist. She is a chemist.
Note the difference between the French and the English in that last sentence. You don't need an indefinite article (un, une) after il/elle est when talking about someone's profession. So you don't say elle est une chimiste, but simply elle est chimiste.
C'est is used in pretty much every other circumstance. You'll find it before a modified noun, such as mon ami:
Il s'appelle André. C'est mon ami. [Not: il est mon ami.]
His name is André. He's my friend.
Or before a disjunctive pronoun (moi, toi, lui, etc.):
Ah, oui, c'est moi. -C'est toi mais c'est vrai!
Oh, yes, it's me. -It's you, but it's true!
Caption 63, Actus Quartier - Fête de quartier Python-Duvernois
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L'État, c'est moi.
The State, it is I (or "I am the State").
(attributed to King Louis XIV of France)
C'est can also come before a standalone adjective (such as c'est vrai in the example above), but only when you're making a general statement about a situation. If you're referring to something specific, then you use il/elle est:
Cette histoire n'est pas inventée. Elle est vraie.
This story isn't made-up. It's true.
If you're describing a group of people or things, then you need to use the plural forms of c'est and il/elle est. These are ce sont and ils/elles sont (they are):
Ah, ce sont les fameuses pommes de terre, euh... violettes.
Oh, these are the famous, uh... purple potatoes.
Caption 37, 4 Mains pour 1 Piano - Médaillon de Homard
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Ne vous approchez pas des ours. Ils sont très dangereux.
Don't go near the bears. They are very dangerous.
Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for our next lesson and tweet us @yabla or send your topic suggestions to [email protected].
In a recent video, Lionel samples some beer at a local market in the town of Toul. In classic Lionel fashion, he delivers a witty pun:
Quand on boit de la bière Coin Coin
When you drink "Coin Coin" [Quack Quack] beer,
il faut vivre dans une pièce sans coins.
you need to live in a room without corners.
Captions 36-37, Lionel - Les bières artisanales Coin Coin
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The name of the beer is derived from the onomatopoeic expression coin coin, or "quack quack," as in the sound a duck makes. When not repeated, the word coin has several meanings. As Lionel demonstrates, un coin usually means "a corner." He's talking specifically about the corner of a room, but un coin can also be a street corner:
Au coin de la rue Fabre et de la rue Laurier.
At the corner of Rue Fabre [Fabre Street] and Rue Laurier [Laurier Street].
Caption 39, Canadian Chocolate Seller - Chocolats
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The other word for "corner" in French is angle (which literally means "angle," as you may have guessed). So you could just as easily say l'angle de la pièce (the corner of the room) or l'angle de la rue (the street corner).
Sometimes, un coin can refer not simply to a street corner, but to a broader area of a town or city:
De l'extérieur, on dit que c'est un coin... un quartier chaud.
Outsiders say that this is an area... a rough neighborhood.
Caption 29, Actus Quartier - Fête de quartier Python-Duvernois
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Or it can have a more general locational meaning, like "spot" or "place":
J'ai trouvé un coin sympa au bord de l'eau.
I found a nice spot on the waterfront.
There's also the adjectival phrase du coin, which refers to all things local:
Pas de polémique: qu'ils soient du coin ou qu'ils viennent de loin...
No argument: whether they're from around here or from far away...
Caption 14, Le Journal - Un automne bien chaud
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Nous sommes allés au bistrot du coin.
We went to the local bistro.
Coin is a false cognate of the English word "coin." The word for "coin" is pièce, which also means "room," as in Lionel's example above. Try not to get them confused!
C'est la pièce de dix euros, euh, qui représente la région.
It's the ten-euro coin, uh, that represents the region.
Caption 2, Normandie TV - La pièce de 10 euros bas-normande
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You can find many expressions featuring coin on this page. Keep them dans un coin de la tête (at the back of your mind) for whenever you speak French!
Tweet us @yabla or send your topic suggestions to [email protected].
Daniel does a lot of walking in his Voyage en France series, showing us around some of France's most beautiful and historic cities and towns. He also uses several walking-related words during his tours:
Et d'emblée depuis cette promenade...
And right away from this walk...
Caption 5, Voyage en France - Conflans-Sainte-Honorine
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In English, "promenade" is a somewhat formal word for a boardwalk or a leisurely stroll. But une promenade is the standard French term for "a walk" or, when you're going somewhere in a vehicle, "a ride" or "drive":
Hier nous avons fait une promenade en voiture.
We went for a drive yesterday.
Its verb form, se promener, means "to take a walk":
Quand on se promène dans le vieux Conflans...
When we take a walk in Old Conflans...
Caption 22, Voyage en France - Conflans-Sainte-Honorine
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Daniel also frequently uses the word une balade (not to be confused with une ballade, "a ballad"), which has the same meaning as une promenade:
Pendant votre balade dans le vieux Conflans...
During your walk in Old Conflans...
Caption 28, Voyage en France - Conflans-Sainte-Honorine
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Just like une promenade, une balade also has a verb form, se balader:
A se balader avec lui dans les rues de Dakar,
Strolling along the streets of Dakar with him,
on mesure toute la dimension de l'artiste.
one gets a sense of the depths of the artist.
Captions 30-31, Le Journal - Youssou N'Dour
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C'est très, très agréable de se balader
It's very, very pleasant to go for a ride
avec ces bateaux sur la mer.
on those boats on the sea.
Captions 33-34, Jean-Marc - La plage
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As you may know, marcher is the basic French verb for "to walk." But it's also often used informally to mean "to work," "to function," or "to go well":
Non, c'est juste pour voir si tout marche bien.
No, it's just to see if everything is working well.
Caption 3, Il était une fois: Les découvreurs - 9. Galilée
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Elle est chez les seniors. Et ça marche bien.
She's with the seniors. And it's going well.
Caption 43, Actus Quartier - Fête de quartier Python-Duvernois
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Just as you can say "that works" to mean "OK" or "sounds good to me," in French you can say ça marche:
Tu veux prendre un café aujourd'hui à quinze heures? -Ça marche!
Do you want to get coffee today at three p.m.? -That works!
Now that you know all the different ways of saying "walk" in French, why not go take one?
Thanks for reading! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to write to us at [email protected] or tweet us @yabla.
Il y a is probably one of the most common French expressions, and appears countless times in Yabla videos, which makes it a perfect lesson topic! Though it literally means "it has there," il y a is the equivalent of "there is" or "there are." You'll find it very useful when describing a location or a situation:
Donc, en effet, il y a des vagues, il y a du courant. Le courant est fort.
So, indeed, there are waves, there is a current. The current is strong.
Caption 2, À la plage avec Lionel - La plage
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As the above example demonstrates, il y a remains unchanged regardless of whether its object is singular (du courant) or plural (des vagues). It does change, however, according to the tense of the sentence. Here it is in the imperfect, passé composé, and future tenses:
Il y avait un lièvre mais, tu vois, il courait trop vite.
There was a hare, but you see, it was running too fast.
Caption 15, Il était une fois: Les Amériques - 1. Les premiers Américains
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Quand il est mort, il y a eu un million ...
When he died, there were a million ...
Parisiens qui ont suivi, euh, le cortège.
Parisians following, uh, the procession.
Caption 15, Bertrand Pierre - Victor Hugo
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Il y aura beaucoup de tableaux à voir au musée.
There will be many paintings to see at the museum.
Il y a can also be used to indicate the passage of time, in which case it usually means "ago":
On a commencé il y a dix minutes.
We started ten minutes ago.
Caption 47, Actus Quartier - Fête de quartier Python-Duvernois
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You can also use the phrase il y a... que to express the same thing, though in this case it usually means "for" or "since":
Il y a trois mois que j'habite à Paris.
I've lived in Paris for three months.
Incidentally, you could rewrite the above sentence three different ways, all with the same meaning:
Ça fait trois mois que j'habite à Paris.
Voilà trois mois que j'habite à Paris.
J'habite à Paris depuis trois mois.
Another more informal way of using il y a is when you notice someone looking sad or upset and you ask them: Qu'est-ce qu'il y a? (What's wrong?) Even more informally, you can shorten that question to: Qu'y a-t-il? If you're wondering why there's suddenly a "t" and two hyphens there, check out our lesson on inversion for a full explanation.
It's very common for il y a to be shortened to y a in casual speech:
C'est festif, euh... Y a de la barbe à papa.
It's festive, uh... There's cotton candy.
Caption 32, Actus Quartier - Fête de la rose au caviar rouge
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To sum up, let's review all the uses of il y a in a short dialogue:
Qu'est-ce qu'il y a? -Je suis en colère parce qu'il y a trop de tableaux au musée du Louvre. Il y a trois mois que j'habite à Paris et je n'ai pas encore tout vu!
What's wrong? -I'm mad because there are too many paintings in the Louvre. I've lived in Paris for three months and I still haven't seen everything!
Given that (étant donné que) it's the season of Thanksgiving (or Le Jour de l’Action de Grâce in Canadian French), let’s commemorate the act of giving by exploring the French verb for “to give,” donner. Besides thanks, there is an infinite number of things you can give, so we’ll focus on some specific expressions with donner that are featured in our videos.
Let’s start by giving some thanks to our favorite tour guide, Daniel Benchimol, who likes to close his always informative travel videos with the phrase donner rendez-vous:
Je vous donne rendez-vous
I'll meet you
très rapidement pour d'autres découvertes.
very soon for some other discoveries.
Caption 45, Voyage dans Paris - Les Secrets de la Bastille
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Daniel is literally “giving you a rendezvous,” and you can accept his gift by watching his latest tour, which will take you around Paris’s beautiful Bastille neighborhood.
It’s also good to give thanks for the rights (les droits) that we’re granted every day, whether our human rights or the occasional promotional perk:
Une place de concert achetée
A purchased concert seat
donne droit également à une entrée gratuite au château.
also entitles you to a free entry to the castle.
Captions 27-28, TV Tours - Ouverture du 3ème festival de Chambord
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And let’s not forget about what we can give back to others, even if it’s just a helping hand:
Je viens là et puis je leur donne un petit coup de main!
I come here and then I give them a bit of a helping hand!
Caption 24, Actus Quartier - Fête de quartier Python-Duvernois
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If you’re dealing with someone stubborn, you might not want to give them anything or get anything from them—you might just want them to give in (se donner):
Seul face à Beethoven encore et toujours,
Alone in front of Beethoven, as always,
Beethoven qui résiste et qui se donne et s'enfuit.
Beethoven who resists and who gives in and runs away.
Caption 18, Le Journal - Gstaad
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As a gift to you for being such great Yabla subscribers, here is a list of some other useful expressions with donner. Think of it as a bit of a donnant donnant (give and take) situation. For even more donner-related expressions, see our previous lesson on the word maldonne.
donner de sa personne - to give a lot of oneself, go out of one’s way
donner à penser que - to suggest, lead to believe
donner faim/soif/chaud/froid - to make hungry/thirsty/hot/cold
donner sur - to look out onto
donner dans - to lapse into
se donner à fond - to go all out, give it one’s all
se donner du mal - to go to a lot of trouble
donner du fil à retordre - to give a hard time, give the runaround
se donner en spectacle - to make a spectacle of oneself
s'en donner à cœur joie - to enjoy wholeheartedly
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