Interrogative Adjective: QUEL

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.