Published May 14, 2020 • Updated June 18, 2026 — By French teacher David Issokson, teaching French online since 2014
French interrogative adjectives are quel, quelle, quels, and quelles and mean which? or what?. They are used to ask questions about nouns and must agree in gender and number with the noun they modify.
French interrogative adjectives chart
| Masculine | Feminine | |
|---|---|---|
| Singular | Quel livre ? Which book? | Quelle table ? Which table? |
| Plural | Quels livres ? Which books? | Quelles tables ? Which tables? |
The basic rule
French interrogative adjectives come before the noun they modify and agree with its gender and number. Use quel with masculine singular nouns, quelle with feminine singular nouns, quels with masculine plural nouns, and quelles with feminine plural nouns.
Quel livre lis-tu ?
Which book are you reading?
Quelle langue étudies-tu ?
Which language are you studying?
Quels pays veux-tu visiter ?
Which countries do you want to visit?
Quelles chansons préfères-tu ?
Which songs do you prefer?
Quel + noun
Use quel and its forms directly before a noun.
Quel film veux-tu regarder ?
Which movie do you want to watch?
Quelle ville préfères-tu ?
Which city do you prefer?
Quels sports pratiques-tu ?
Which sports do you play?
Quelles émissions regardes-tu ?
Which TV shows do you watch?
Quel with prepositions
Interrogative adjectives are frequently used after prepositions.
De quel film parles-tu ?
What movie are you talking about?
Pour quelle raison êtes-vous en retard ?
Why are you late?
De quelle couleur est ta voiture ?
What color is your car?
Avec quels amis voyages-tu ?
Which friends are you traveling with?
Quel est…? / Quelle est…?
Quel is commonly used with être to ask for information.
Quel est le problème ?
What’s the problem?
Quelle est la capitale de la Suisse ?
What’s the capital of Switzerland?
Quels sont les pays francophones ?
What are the French-speaking countries?
Quelles sont tes activités préférées ?
What are your favorite activities?
Common expressions with quel
Several everyday French questions use quel.
Quel âge as-tu ?
How old are you?
Quel jour sommes-nous ?
What day is it?
Quelle heure est-il ?
What time is it?
Quelle est la date aujourd’hui ?
What’s today’s date?
Quel temps fait-il ?
What’s the weather like?
Quel est ton nom ?
What’s your name?
Exclamations with quel
Interrogative adjectives can also be used in exclamations.
Quelle surprise !
What a surprise!
Quel dommage !
What a shame!
Quelle horreur !
How awful!
Quelle bonne journée !
What a wonderful day!
Summary
- quel → masculine singular
- quelle → feminine singular
- quels → masculine plural
- quelles → feminine plural
French interrogative adjectives come before nouns and agree with their gender and number.
📚 Related lessons
- French interrogative pronouns
- Interrogative pronouns qui and que
- French Possessive adjectives
- French demonstrative adjectives
- French demonstrative pronouns
- French subject pronouns
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