When to use it?
The interrogative adjective « Quel » is used when you want to ask a question. It means "Which" or "What".
There are different ways to say "What" when asking a question in French and you might find it difficult to know if you should use: « Qu’est-ce que », « Quoi » or « Quel ».
« Quel » is used to form questions based around a noun. In other words: questions to clarify which object.
Check the two examples below to understand what this means:
1. What do you read? Qu’est-ce que tu lis?
2. What book do you read? Quel livre lis-tu?
Here "what" refers to a noun (book).
How to use it?
« Quel » is an adjective. Just like any other adjectives, it needs to agree in gender and number with the noun it is referring to.
See table below:
Note that they all sound the same!
Interrogative Adjectives in context:
1. Quel film tu recommandes? Which film do you recommend?
« Quel » refers to the noun « film », which is masculine singular.
2. Quelle couleur préfères-tu? What colour do you prefer?
« Quelle » refers to « couleur » which is feminine singular.
3. Quels sports tu aimes? What sports do you like?
« Quels » refers to « sports » which is masculine plural.
4. Quelles technologies utilises-tu? Which technologies do you use?
« Quelles » refers to « technologies », which is feminine plural.
Interrogative adjectives with « être »
The interrogative adjective and the noun can be separated by the verb « être ».
Check the two examples below:
1. Quelle est ta chanson préférée? What is your favourite song?
« Quelle » is written in the feminine singular form because it refers to the noun « chanson ».
2. Quels étaient les meilleurs films français en 2018? What were the best French movies in 2018?
« Quels » is written in the masculine plural form because it refers to the noun « films ».
The verb « être » must be conjugated correctly depending on the subject and the tense of the sentence.
Recommendation:
For French GCSE students with any exam board:
The handbook on the left gives you easy to understand descriptions and rules for all the grammar aspects you need to know at GCSE level. The workbook on the right contains a series of activities to help you practise these aspects. Answers are provided at the back so you can check your work.
For French A Level students with any exam board:
This workbook is excellent to practise all the grammar you need to know in the first year of your A-level course.
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