Interrogative adjectives

les adjectifs interrogatifs

Sometimes French grammar is much stricter than English grammar. A simple question
like "What book do you want?" is technically incorrect, because in proper English, the
question should be "Which book do you want?" In reality, the former is much more
common than the latter.

In French, however, one does not have this option: the French equivalent of which,
quel, must be used whenever there is more than one noun that you are choosing
between. Like all French adjectives, quel has to agree in gender and number with the
noun it modifies.

What is your mother tongue?

Ans: any

Which is your mother tongue?

a) Hindi
b) Malayalam
c) English
d) français

Quel is an adjective. Like any other adjective, it agrees in number and gender with the
noun it modifies. Remember to make the liaison between quels / quelles and a following
word beginning with a vowel (quels animaux).

Singular Plural
Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine
quel quelle quels quelles

The uses of quel are fairly straightforward - you need it whenever you want to ask for
specific information about a noun:

Pierre m'a prêté un livre. Quel livre ?

Pierre loaned me a book. Which book?

Nous devons partir avant midi. Quelle heure est-il ?

We have to leave before noon. What time is it?

interrogative quel

Quel is generally translated into English by 'what' or 'which'. It is always followed by a

noun or by the verb 'être' + noun.

Questions with quel may be asked with est-ce que or inversion:

Quel est le nom de ce chien ?
Quel âge a Paul ?
Quelles sont les qualités de Paul ?
Quel livre veux-tu ?
Quel livre est-ce que tu veux ?
Quelles pommes aime-t-il ?
Quelles pommes est-ce qu'il aime ?
Quels livres voulez-vous ?
Quel jour sommes-nous ?
Quel genre de musique aimez-vous ?
Quels livres aimez-vous ?
Quelles langues parlez-vous ?
What's the name of this dog?
How old is Paul?
What are Paul's good points?
What book do you want?
Which apples does he like?
Which books do you want?
What day is it?
What's the date?
What's today's date?
What kind of music do you like?
Which books do you like?
Which languages do you speak?

Quel + noun may be preceded by a preposition:

À quelle heure veux-tu partir ? / À quelle heure est-ce que tu veux partir ?
What time do you want to leave?

À quelle heure est-ce que vous déjeunez ?

What time do you have your lunch?

De quels livres parle-t-il ? / De quels livres est-ce qu'il parle ?

What books is he talking about?

De quelle ville vient-il?

From which city does he come?

Dans quelle ville est-ce que vous habitez ?

In which city do you live?

To ask "what is ...?" or "what are ...?" use quel plus the appropriate conjugation of être:

Quel est le problème ?

What's the problem?

Quel est votre prénom ?

What is your first name?

Quel est votre film préféré ?

What is your favourite film?
Quel est le nom de cette plante?
What is the name of this plant?

Quelle est votre profession ?

What is your profession?

Quelle est votre nationalité ?

What is your nationality?

Quelle est votre adresse ?

What is your address?

Quelles sont les différences ?

What are the differences?

Quelles sont vos dates de vacances ?

What are your holiday dates?

Quels sont vos loisirs ?

What are your leisure activities?