LearnModule 2 · Lesson 7 of 30Basic User · CEFR A1, completedUnit 2 · Questions

Qui and que — who and what

Module 2 of the free French course (CEFR A1, completed), lesson 7 of 30: Qui asks who: Qui est-ce? On this page: 7 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's lesson 7.

The words

French	English	Say it
qui	who	kee
que	what	kuh
qui parle?	who is speaking?	kee PAHRL
qu'est-ce que tu regardes?	what are you watching?	kess kuh tew ruh-GAHRD
qu'est-ce que tu aimes?	what do you like?	kess kuh tew EHM
quelque chose	something	kehl-kuh SHOHZ
tout	everything / all	too

Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.

Hear the words

Each word is read twice — say it back in the gap. Computer-generated voice; credits on the course page.

La règle · The rule

Qui asks who: Qui est-ce? Qui parle? Que asks what, and shrinks before a vowel: Qu'est-ce que tu regardes?

Et aussi · And also

Qu'est-ce que c'est, your Module 1 master key, is que working: "what is it that it is".

Attention · Watch out

que shrinks to qu' before a vowel (qu'est-ce que, qu'il), but qui never shrinks: qui est-ce, qui a.

Do it now — on paper

Say all 7 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with qui.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write two sentences of your own that get the watch-out line right, then the two practice pages of workbook lesson 7 in Module 2 are the written half of this page.

This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The French Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.

Keep these words

Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.

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