French Question Words: Qui, Que, Où, Quand, Pourquoi…

The essential French question words are qui (KEE — who), que/quoi (KUH/KWAH — what), où (OO — where), quand (KAH(N) — when), pourquoi (poor-KWAH — why), comment (koh-MAH(N) — how), combien (koh(m)-BYEH(N) — how much/many), and quel (KEHL — which). Learn these eight and you can ask for directions, prices, times, reasons, and names — which is to say, you can survive.

What makes French questions feel tricky isn’t the words — it’s that French has three different ways to build a question with them. The secret every learner deserves to hear early: you only need the easy way to be understood everywhere. Here’s the full toolkit, from survival level to polish.

The eight question words, with pronunciation

French	Pronunciation	English	Example
qui	KEE	who	Qui est-ce ? — “Who is it?“
que / quoi	KUH / KWAH	what	Tu fais quoi ? — “What are you doing?“
où	OO	where	Où sont les toilettes ? — “Where are the toilets?“
quand	KAH(N)	when	Tu arrives quand ? — “When do you arrive?“
pourquoi	poor-KWAH	why	Pourquoi pas ? — “Why not?“
comment	koh-MAH(N)	how	Comment ça marche ? — “How does it work?“
combien	koh(m)-BYEH(N)	how much / many	C’est combien ? — “How much is it?“
quel(le)(s)	KEHL	which / what	Quelle heure est-il ? — “What time is it?”

Pronunciation flags: qui and quand start with a clean hard “k” — the qu is never “kw” as in English “quick.” Où is just “oo” (the accent distinguishes it from ou, “or” — a spelling detail, not a sound change). And quand’s nasal “ah(n)” means the d is silent — until liaison: quand est-ce que… sounds like “kah(n)-TESS-kuh,” the d surfacing as a t.

The three ways to ask any question

Take one question — “Where do you live?” — and watch it wear three outfits:

• Intonation (spoken, casual): Tu habites où ? (tew ah-BEET OO) — statement word order, question word at the end, rising voice. This is how French people actually talk.
• Est-ce que (neutral, always safe): Où est-ce que tu habites ? (oo ess-kuh tew ah-BEET). The magic phrase est-ce que (literally “is it that”) glues a question word to a normal sentence. Works everywhere, spoken or written.
• Inversion (formal, written): Où habites-tu ? (oo ah-beet-TEW) — verb and pronoun swap places, joined by a hyphen. Elegant, standard in writing, and slightly stiff in casual speech.

Teacher’s tip: as a learner, build your questions with est-ce que by default. It’s never wrong, never rude, and it lets you keep normal word order — question word + est-ce que + plain sentence. Pourquoi est-ce que tu ris ? (“Why are you laughing?”), Quand est-ce qu’on mange ? (“When do we eat?”). Fluency in casual intonation questions comes free later, just from listening.

Que vs quoi: the “what” problem

French splits English “what” in two, and the rule is about position:

• Que (or qu’ before a vowel) goes at the front: Que fais-tu ? / Qu’est-ce que tu fais ? — “What are you doing?”
• Quoi goes at the end (or stands alone): Tu fais quoi ? — “You’re doing what?” And solo: Quoi ?! — “What?!”

The single most useful chunk in all of spoken French is built from this pair: Qu’est-ce que… (kess-kuh) — literally “what is it that…” — the all-purpose “what” opener. Qu’est-ce que c’est ? (kess-kuh SAY) — “What is that?” — deserves to be memorized as one welded-together sound, because you will say it constantly.

One refinement for politeness: quoi alone as “what?/pardon?” is fine among friends but brusque with strangers — the polite versions are pardon ? or comment ? (Yes, “how?” doubles as “pardon?” — very French.)

Quel: the “which” that agrees

Quel means “which” or “what” before a noun — and, being an adjective, it agrees with that noun’s gender and number:

Form	Used with	Example
quel	masculine singular	Quel jour ? — “Which day?“
quelle	feminine singular	Quelle heure est-il ? — “What time is it?“
quels	masculine plural	Quels livres ? — “Which books?“
quelles	feminine plural	Quelles chaussures ? — “Which shoes?”

All four are pronounced identically — KEHL — so this is purely a writing concern. The pattern to internalize: when English “what” sits directly before a noun (what time, what color, what name), French wants quel, not que: Quel est ton nom ? — “What is your name?”

The questions you’ll actually ask

Survival French is mostly these, ready to deploy:

• Où sont les toilettes ? (oo soh(n) lay twah-LEHT) — “Where are the toilets?”
• C’est combien ? (say koh(m)-BYEH(N)) — “How much is it?” — see French numbers to survive the answer.
• Quelle heure est-il ? (kehl uhr eh-TEEL) — “What time is it?”
• Comment tu t’appelles ? (koh-mah(n) tew tah-PELL) — “What’s your name?” (literally “how do you call yourself” — French asks how, not what)
• Comment dit-on… en français ? (koh-mah(n) dee-TOH(N)) — “How do you say… in French?” — the learner’s best friend.
• Qui est-ce ? (kee ESS) — “Who is it?”
• Quand est-ce que ça ouvre ? (kah(n) tess-kuh sah OO-vruh) — “When does it open?”
• Pourquoi ? — “Why?” — and its charming cousin Pourquoi pas ? — “Why not?”

Notice how many everyday questions are also greetings and small talk — Comment ça va ? (“How’s it going?”) is question words in action, covered from the social angle in French greetings. And most answers will lean on the same dozen verbs, so keep the most common French verbs within reach.

A rapid-fire dialogue

Two friends planning dinner — every question word earning its keep, in the casual register:

— On mange où ce soir ? — “Where are we eating tonight?” — Chez Luigi. — “At Luigi’s.” — C’est quoi, Chez Luigi ? — “What’s Chez Luigi?” — Un italien. — “An Italian place.” — On y va comment ? — “How do we get there?” — À pied. — “On foot.” — Et on y va quand ? — “And when are we going?” — À vingt heures. — “At 8 p.m.” — C’est combien, à peu près ? — “How much is it, roughly?” — Vingt euros. Pourquoi ? — “Twenty euros. Why?” — Pour rien. Qui d’autre vient ? — “No reason. Who else is coming?”

Six question words in eleven lines — that’s a normal French conversation. Note how every question uses the casual end-position pattern (où, quoi, comment, quand, combien after the verb): pure spoken French.

FAQ

What are the main question words in French?

Eight cover nearly everything: qui (who), que/quoi (what), où (where), quand (when), pourquoi (why), comment (how), combien (how much/many), and quel/quelle (which/what before a noun). With these plus est-ce que to build the sentence, you can form any everyday question.

What does “est-ce que” literally mean, and do I need it?

Literally “is it that…” — but treat it as a question-making particle with no real translation. You don’t strictly need it (intonation alone works in speech), but it’s the learner’s safest tool: put a question word before it, a normal sentence after it, and the grammar takes care of itself.

What’s the difference between que and quoi?

Position. Que starts a question (Que veux-tu ? — “What do you want?”); quoi ends one or stands alone (Tu veux quoi ? / Quoi ?). Same meaning, different slots. In casual speech, the quoi-at-the-end pattern dominates; in writing, que and qu’est-ce que take over.

Why do the French say “comment” for “what’s your name”?

French asks how you are called, not what your name is: Comment tu t’appelles ? (literally “how do you call yourself?”). English and French simply chose different question words for the same idea. If you want the quel version, it exists too: Quel est ton nom ? — grammatical, just less common in conversation.

Is “quoi ?” rude when I didn’t hear someone?

With friends, it’s fine — the equivalent of “what?” With strangers or in formal settings, it lands as abrupt. The polite options are pardon ? (pahr-DOH(N)) or comment ? — and if you need a full sentence: Vous pouvez répéter, s’il vous plaît ? (“Can you repeat, please?”).