Adjectifs et pronoms interrogatifs et exclamatifs (Interrogative and exclamatory adjectives and pronouns)

The interrogative adjective QUEL

Forms

quel (which, what) agrees in the number and gender with the noun it refers to

with a masc sing noun quel ?
with a fem sing noun quelle ?
with a masc plur noun quels ?
with a fem plur noun quelles ?

Direct questions

-quel est votre passe-temps favori ?(what is your favourite pastime ?)
-quelle heure est-il?(what time is it?)
-quels jours as-tu de libres ?(which days have you got free ?)
-quelles affaires comptes-tu prendre avec toi ?(what/which things do you intend to take with you ?)

Indirect questions

-je ne sais pas quel disque choisir(I do not know which record to choose)
-il se demande quelle veste lui va le mieux(he is wondering which jacket suits him best)

The exclamatory adjective QUEL

quel ! has the same forms as the interrogative asjective quel ?

-quel dommage!(what a pity!)
-quelle belle maison!(what a beautiful house!)
-quels imbéciles!(what idiots!)

Interrogative pronoun

    lequel/laquelle/lesquels/lesquelles ?       which one/ones ?
    qui ?                                       who/whom ?
    que ?                                       what ? 
    quoi ?                                      what?
    ce qui                                      what
    ce que                                      what

ce qui and ce que are used only in indirect question; all other interrogative pronouns can be used both in direct and indirect questions.

Lequel ?

lequel(which, which one) agrees in gender and in number with the noun it stands for

with a masc sing noun lequel ? which one ?
with a fem sing noun laquelle ? which one ?
with a masc plur noun lesquels ? which ones ?
with a fem plur noun lesquelles ? which ones ?

after the prepositions à and de, the following changes occur

    à + lequel ?         ->      auquel ?
    à + lesquels ?       ->      auxquels ?
    à + lesquelles ?     ->      auxquelles ?
    de + lequel ?        ->      duquel ?
    de + lesquels ?      ->      desquels ?
    de + lesquelles ?    ->      desquelles ?
    
    à/de laquelle ? do not changes

Direct question

-je cherche un hôtel ; lequel recommandez-vous ?(I am looking for a hotel; which one do you recommand?)
-nous avons plusieurs couleurs ' vous préférez laquelle ?(we have several colours ; which one do you prefer ?)
-lesquels de ces livre sont à toi ?(which (one) of these books are yours ?)
-je voufrais essayer ces chausssures -- lesquelles?(I would like to try these shoes on - which ones ?)

Indirect question

-demande-lui lequel de ces ordinateur est le moins cher(ask him which one of these computers is the cheapest)
-c'est dans une de ces rues, mais je ne sais plus laquelle(it's in one of these streets, but I don't know which one)

Qui ?

qui (who, whom) is used to refer to people; it can be both subject and object and can be used after a preposition

-qui t'a accompagné ?(who accompanied you)
-qui as-tu appelé?(who did you call?)
-tu y vas avec qui?(who are you going with?)
-c'est pour qui?(who is it for?)
-pour qui vous prenez-vous?(who do you think you are?)
-à qui l'as-tu donné?(who did you give it to?)

Note: que(not qui!) changes to qu' before vowel or a silent h

-qui est-ce qu'elle attend?(who is she waiting for?)

qui ? can be replaced by qui est-ce qui? (subject) or qui est-ce que ? (object) in the direct question

-qui est-ce qui veut du café?(who wants coffee?)
-qui est-ce que tu as vu?(who did you see?)
-avec qui est-ce que tu sors ce soir?(who are you going out with tonight?)

But: qui cannot be replaced by qui est-ce qui or qui est-ce que in indirect questions

-j'aimerais savoir qui vous a dit ça(I would like to know who told you that)
-elle se demandait de qui étaient les fleurs(she was wondering who the flowers were from)

More details on the use of qui/que as relative pronoun in futhur chapter.

Que ?

que(what?) is used to refer to things; it is only used in direct questions; it is always a direct object and cannot be used after prepositions

-que désirez-vous?(what do you wish?)
-qu'a-t-il dit?(what did he say?)

que? is rather formal and is usually replaced by qu'est-ce qui? or qu'est-ce que? in spoken French

Note: que becomes qu' before a vowel or a silent h

Qu'est-ce qui ?

qu'est-ce qui ? (what?) is used as the subject of a verb; it cannot refer to a person

-qu'est-ce qui lui est arrivé?(what happened to him?)
-qu'est-ce qui la fait rire?(what makes her laugh?)

Qu'est-ce que ?

Qu'est-ce que ? (what) replaces que? as the object of a verb; it becomes qu'est-ce qu' before a vowel or a silent h

-qu'est-ce que tu aimes lire?(what do you like reading?)
-qu'est-ce qu'il va faire pendant les vacances?(what is he going to do during the holidays?)

Quoi

Quoi? (what?) refers to things; it is used

instead of que or qu'est-ce que after a preposition

  -à quoi penses-tu?(what are you thinking about?)
  -dans quoi l'as-tu mis?(what did you put it in?)

in indirect questions

  -demandez-lui de quoi il a besoin(ask him what he needs) 
  -je ne sais pas à quoi ça sert(I do not know what it is for)

Ce qui, ce que

ce qui and ce que (what) are only used in indirect questions; they replace qu'est-ce qui and (qu'est-ce) que

They are used in the same way as the relative pronouns ce qui and ce que.

ce qui is used as the subject of the verb in the indirect question (ce qui is the subject of s'est passé in the following example)
```
  -nous ne saurons jamais ce qui s'est passé(we'll never know what happened)
```
ce que (ce qu' before a vowel or a silent h) is used as the object of the verb in the indirect question (ce que is the object of il faisait in the following example)
```
  -je n'ai pas remarqué ce qu'il faisait(I didn't notice what he was doing)
```

French grammer with English