Fast Track French

 

My French students often wonder how to translate what into French as it can have different terms depending on its function in a sentence. In this short lesson, I won’t be giving you all the terms we use in French but the most useful ones. So, first, we are going to see how to use it in a question and then in a statement.

WHAT IN A QUESTION

What can often be translated by “Qu’est-ce que/Qu’est ce qui – Quel(s) /quelle(s)- Quoi

Each one has a grammatical function that you need to understand in order to correctly use them.

1. Qu’est-ce que and Qu’est-ce qui

a.        Qu’est-ce que tu veux manger ce soir?

What do you want to eat tonight ?

b.        Qu’est-ce qui fait ce bruit ?

What makes that noise ?

Note : In sentence (a) we use « Qu’est-ce que » because it is directly followed by a subject.

Qu’est-ce que + tu (subject) + veux manger (verbs)

In sentence (b) the verb we use « Qu’est-ce qui » because it is directly followed by a verb and NOT a subject. But be careful because here « Qui » doesn’t mean « WHO » so don’t get confused!

 Qu’est-ce qui + fait (verb)

2. Quels & Quelles

a.           Quelle heure est-il?

What time is it?

 b.          Quel est ton nom?

What is your name?

Note: In sentence (a) you must use “Quelle” because it is followed by a feminine noun (une heure-an hour) and in the second sentence you must use “Quel” because “nom’ has a masculine gender (un nom- a name/a noun).

Quel/Quelle literally mean “which” and are always used before a noun or before the verb “to be”.

• Quel(le)s + noun (Quelle heure est-il?)
• Quel(le)s + être (Quel est ton nom)

 There are 4 different forms of “Quel” according to gender and number of the noun they precede and modify

What/which	Masc	Fem
Singular	Quel	Quelle
Plural	Quels	Quelles

 

Tips: Easy to remember how to pronounce each of them as they all have the same pronunciation /KEL/!!

 

 3.     Quoi

This is the unformal way of asking a “What” question.

So, instead of saying “Qu’est-ce que tu veux?” you could say “Tu veux quoi? “.

Notes:

• “Quoi” can only replace “Qu’est-ce que” (not qu’est-ce qui or quel)
• It has to be put at the end of a question
• It is informal (mainly used in spoken French)

WHAT IN A STATEMENT

1. Ce que/ce qui      

a.   Je me demande ce que vous voulez.

I wonder what you want.

 b. Tu me demandes ce qui fait ce bruit

I wonder what makes that noise

 Notes:

• What (ce que /ce qui) is often in the middle of a statement
• It corresponds to “Qu’est-ce que /Qu’est-ce qui “in a question …
• Ce que + subject + verb
• Ce qui + verb

2.    Quel(s)/quelle(s)

a. Je me demande quel est son nom

I wonder what ‘s his/her name

b. Je me demande quelle heure il est

I wonder what time it is

Notes:

• Quel/quelle + verb “être”+ noun
• Quel/quelle + noun (without an article le/la un/une)
• Concerning the gender, the same thing happens as in the questions : Quel for masculine nouns & Quels for mac and plural nouns / Quelle for feminine nouns & Quelles for feminine and plural nouns.

I have decided to write about this “special” verb “s’asseoir” (to sit (oneself) down) because I have noticed that many people don’t know how use it properly. Indeed, “ s’asseoir ” is not one of the easiest verbs to learn, as it is irregular and reflexive too… And on top of that, It also has two complete sets of conjugations! But to make it easier for you to use, I’m only going to show you one set of conjugation which is the more common one.

• In the present tense

 

S'asseoir	To sit (oneself) down
Je m'assieds	I sit down
Tu t'assieds	You sit down
Il /elle/on s'assied	He/she/one sits down
Nous nous asseyons	We sit down
Vous vous asseyez	You sit down
Ils /elles s'asseyent	They sit down

• In the passé composé 

 

S'asseoir	To sit (oneself) down
Je me suis assis(e)	I have sat down, I sat down, I did sit down
Tu t'es assis(e)	You have sat down, you sat down, you did sit down
Il s'est assis	He/it has sat down, he/it sat down, he/it did sit down
Elle s'est assise	She/it has sat down, she/it sat down, she/it did sit down
Nous nous sommes assis(es)	We have sat down, we sat down, we did sit down
Vous vous êtes assis(e)(es)	You have sat down, you sat down, you did sit down
Ils se sont assis	They have sat down, they sat down, they did sit
Elles se sont assises	They have sat down, they sat down, they did sit down

Notice that we use “être” in the passé composé because it’s a reflexive verb.

• The most familiar use is of course in the imperative form!

 

Assieds-toi – sit down (tu form)

Asseyons-nous – let’s sit down

Asseyez-vous – sit down (vous form)

Note that in the negative form, you have to say:

Ne t’assieds pas!

Ne nous asseyons pas!

Ne vous asseyez pas !

 

 

Meilleur & Mieux both mean better or best when translated to English, but in French they have different meanings and which one you use depends on what you are trying to say. Deciding whether you need meilleur or mieux is essentially a question of deciding between bon and bien (See the lesson on Bon & Bien)  , but in a comparative or superlative construction. 

BETTER : MEILLEUR OR MIEUX ?

1.  Ce fromage est meilleur que l’autre                 This cheese is better than the other one

2. Je comprends et parle mieux français que toi maintenant.      I understand and speak better French than you now

 Notes:

1. In the first example, we have to use MEILLEUR because it describes the word “fromage”, how this cheese is compared to the other one. So it plays the role of a describing word or adjective.

2. In the second sentence, we must use MIEUX because it describes the action of speaking and understanding French. So it describes a doing word

   (THE)BEST: MEILLEUR OR MIEUX

1. C’est la meilleure chose à faire             It’s the best thing to do

2. C’est le mieux !                                          It’s the best !

In the superlative form (The best…) you have to agree with the object it refers to. Look at the table below :

 

Forms of meilleur	Forms of mieux	English translation
Le meilleur (masculine singular)	Le mieux (masculine, singular)	The best
La meilleure (feminine, singular)	La mieux (feminine, singular)	The best
Les meilleurs (masculine, plural)	Les mieux (fem&masc, plural)	The best
Les meilleures (feminine, plural)		The best