“Quoi” (pronounced kwah) in French means “what”. However, learning how and when to use this word can be somewhat of a mystery to many students. This post will explain how to use quoi in the context of “what” and how to use it as a common filler word.
quoi
/kwah/
Quoi in the context of “what”
The most basic meaning of “quoi” is “what”. Here are some examples:
- Qu’est-ce que c’est? What is it? (slightly more formal)
- C’est quoi? What is it? (slightly less formal)
C’est quoi?
What is it?
As we just saw, using “quoi” is less formal than using “Qu’est-ce que” for “what”. Here are some more examples including subject pronouns followed by verbs.
Tu manges quoi?
What are you eating?
Tu fais quoi samedi?
What are you doing on Saturday?
By using quoi, it’s almost like you’re saying, “You’re eating WHAT!?!”. The word “quoi” is used to express an element of surprise. Here’s one more example:
Vous dites quoi ?
What are you saying?
Expressing “What???”
Another common usage of “quoi” is simply to ask “what?” When you haven’t understood what’s being said. In this context, the word “comment?” to to indicate “what” is much more polite. For example:
- Comment ? Je n’ai pas compris. What? I didn’t understand. (slightly more formal)
- Quoi ? Je n’ai pas compris. What? I didn’t understand. (much less formal)
Quoi ? Je n’ai pas compris.
What? I didn’t understand. (much less formal)
Quoi used as a filler word
In spoken French, the word “quoi” can be used as a filler word, much like “like” in English. In this context, “quoi” also loosely translates to “kind of” or “in short”.
C’était un bon film, quoi.
It was kind of a good movie.
J’avais envie d’y aller, quoi.
I kind of wanted to go.
To not know “what” to + infinitive
The word “quoi” is also used to mean what in the context of “I don’t know what to + infinitive (to form of a verb)”.
I don’t know what to say.
Preceded by a preposition
“Quoi” can be preceded by prepositions. For example: “avec quoi” (with what), “sur quoi” (on what). For example:
- Avec quoi est-ce que tu écris ? What are you writing with?
- Sur quoi est-ce que tu écris ? What are you writing on?
Interestingly, the word “pourquoi” (why) is a combination of the preposition “pour” (for) and quoi to literally mean “for what”.
- Pourquoi est-ce que vous étudiez le français ? Why are you studying French?
Used in indefinite relative pronouns
“Quoi” can also be used in indefinite pronouns for verbs followed by the preposition “à”. For example:
- Je ne sais sais pas ce à quoi il pense. I don’t know what he’s thinking about.
- On ne sait pas ce à quoi il s’entend. We don’t know what he’s expecting.
Related lessons
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