Published May 15, 2020 • Updated June 19, 2026 — By French teacher David Issokson with native audio by Marie Assel Cambier
French interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions about people and things. Qui usually means who and que usually means what. A useful rule to remember is qui + verb and que + subject pronoun. This lesson explains the most common ways to use qui and que with charts and examples.
French interrogative pronouns chart
| Pronoun | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| qui | who | Qui parle ? (Who is speaking?) |
| que / qu’ | what | Que fais-tu ? (What are you doing?) |
The basic rule
When qui is the subject of the sentence, it is usually followed directly by a verb.
Qui parle français ici ?
Who speaks French here?
When que is the object of the sentence, it is usually followed by a subject pronoun.
Qu’est-ce que tu fais ?
What are you doing?
Qui + verb
When qui is the subject, it is followed directly by the verb.
Qui parle français ici ?
Who speaks French here?
Qui commande une pizza ?
Who is ordering a pizza?
Qui est-ce qui
This structure also asks “who?” when qui is the subject.
Qui est-ce qui parle français ici ?
Who speaks French here?
Qui est-ce qui veut manger de la glace ?
Who wants to eat ice cream?
Qui est-ce que
Use this structure when asking about the object of the verb.
Qui est-ce que tu invites ?
Who are you inviting?
Qui est-ce que tu as appelé ?
Who did you call?
À qui est-ce que tu parles ?
Who are you talking to?
Qui with inversion
A more formal way to ask questions uses inversion.
Qui invites-tu ?
Who are you inviting?
Qui as-tu invité ?
Who did you invite?
Qui Jean a-t-il invité ?
Who did Jean invite?
Questions with que
Que means what and is used to ask about things, actions, or ideas.
Qu’est-ce que + subject pronoun
This is one of the most common ways to ask “what?” in French.
Qu’est-ce que tu manges ?
What are you eating?
Qu’est-ce que tu fais ?
What are you doing?
Qu’est-ce que tu as mangé ?
What did you eat?
Que + verb + subject
This is a more formal structure.
Que fait Jacques ?
What is Jacques doing?
Que mange Marie ?
What is Marie eating?
Qu’est-ce qui + verb
Use qu’est-ce qui when what is the subject of the sentence.
Qu’est-ce qui se passe ?
What’s going on?
Qu’est-ce qui arrive ?
What’s happening?
Qu’est-ce qui ne va pas ?
What’s wrong?
Qu’est-ce qui s’est passé ?
What happened?
📚 Related lessons
- Que (What, that, than)
- Qui (who, which, that)
- French interrogative pronoun lequel
- Relative pronouns
- Asking quesitons
🚀 More lessons on FrenchLearner
