If you want to learn to ask questions using which in French, stay tuned to learn all about it. Expressing “which” in French gets an additional layer of complexity, unknown in English.
As opposed to English, French “which” takes many forms.
After today’s class, you’ll be able to ask questions such as these, “Which cake would you like?”
How do the French Say Which?
The French quel, which usually means “which,”, and “what” is arguably one of the trickiest things to learn. The word precedes a common name or a GN (name group).
Quel is an adjective, and any other adjective has to agree with the noun that follows. Because of that, quel has four basic forms, for both masculine and feminine, and singular and plural.
Quel agrees in number and gender with the thing/person it is used with (quel, quels, quelle, or quelles).
quel (masculine singular form) → quels (masculine plural form)
quelle (feminine singular form) → quelles (feminine plural form)
Note how the adjective quel changes its form according to the word it connects with.
Quel est ton livre préféré?
Which/ What is your favorite book?
Quels saveurs tu as choisis?
Which/What flavors did you choose?
Quelle robe tu veux?
Which/What dress do you want?
Quelles chaussures te plaisent?
Which shoes do you like?
Knowing this, only confirms how important knowing genders in French is.
To sum up, there are 5 things you should consider when deciding which quel to use.
- Is the word masculine? In that case, use quel.
- Is the word feminine? In that case, use quelle.
- Is the word masculine plural? In that case, use quels.
- Is the word feminine plural? In that case, use quelles.
- Is the word referring to both masculine and feminine groups? In that case, use quels.
How to Pronounce Homophones : Quel, Quelle, Quels, Quelles in French
Quel, quelle, quels and quelles are homophones, which means they are all written differently but sound the same. The pronunciation always sounds like the masculine singular adjective (kɛl).
Let’s Practice
To practice quel,quelle, quels, quelles, try this easy to do test.
To expand, even more, click here.
Quel est ton langue preferée ?
There’s no doubt about it. We know it’s French. Now you can expand your questioning abilities in French.
Learning how to ask questions using quel,quelle, quels, quelles covers a wide range of questions in French.
Remind yourself to follow the five steps before deciding which adjective to use, and you are good to go.