❓Question words
What, who, where, when, why, how — the keys that open every conversation.
13 concepts
Columns follow the languages switched on at the top. Gender after the word (m/f/n); IPA beneath; notes, alternatives and origins underneath — nothing is hidden.
| Concept | English | Français | Español |
|---|---|---|---|
what pronoun | what | que also: qu'est-ce que … ?, quoi (after prepositions / alone) Que up front, quoi after prepositions (avec quoi ?). Bare 'Quoi ?' is blunt — 'Comment ?' is the polite pardon. | qué Accent ONLY as question/exclamation: ¿qué? but que = that. ¡Qué bonito! = how pretty! |
who pronoun | who also: whom (object, formal) Whom survives mostly after prepositions: to whom. | qui also: qui est-ce qui … ? Qui never elides: qui est là ? (never qu'est). | quién Accent only as a question. Plural quiénes: ¿quiénes son? |
where adverb | where | où also: où est-ce que … ? The grave accent only distinguishes it from ou 'or' — the only French word with ù. | dónde also: adónde (where to) Accent only as question: ¿dónde? vs donde = where (relative). |
when adverb | when | quand also: quand est-ce que … ? Liaison with a t: quand est-ce = /kɑ̃tɛs/. | cuándo Accent only as question: ¿cuándo? vs cuando = when (conjunction). |
why adverb | why | pourquoi Literally 'for what'. Answered by parce que. | por qué Two words + accent = why; porque (one word) = because; el porqué = the reason. Four spellings, one sound family. |
how adverb | how | comment Comment ? alone = pardon? Comment ça va ? | cómo Accent only as question: ¿cómo? vs como = as/like. ¿Cómo? = pardon? |
how much / how many adverb | how much also: how many (countables) | combien Combien de + noun: combien de temps ? C'est combien ? = how much is it? | cuánto Agrees: cuánta, cuántos, cuántas. ¿Cuánto cuesta? = how much does it cost? |
which pronoun | which | quel Agrees on paper — quel, quelle, quels, quelles — but all four sound identical. Lequel = which one. | cuál Plural cuáles. Before ser use cuál, not qué: ¿cuál es tu nombre? |
whose pronoun | whose Not who's (= who is) — the apostrophe trap natives fail. | à qui À qui est ce livre ? = whose book is this? As a relative, use dont: l'homme dont… | de quién ¿De quién es esto? Cuyo = whose as a relative — formal, fading in speech. |
where to adverb | where (to) English had whither and lost it. Now the preposition strands at the end, if it appears at all: where are you going (to)? | où The same word as 'where'. French lost the distinction too — only the verb tells you: où vas-tu ? against où es-tu ? | adónde Spanish KEPT it: dónde is where, adónde is where to. ¿Adónde vas? |
where from adverb | where from Whence is dead. 'Where are you from?' strands the preposition at the end, which no other language here does. | d'où de + où, elided. D'où viens-tu ? | de dónde ¿De dónde eres? — the first question anyone asks you. |
right? / isn't it? phrase | right? English has no fixed tag — it CONJUGATES one to match the verb: isn't it, doesn't he, won't they, hasn't she. Nearly unique, and a genuine burden on learners. 'Right?' and 'yeah?' are the escape hatches. | hein ? n'est-ce pas ? is the textbook form and sounds written. Speech uses hein ?, non ?, or just a rising tone. | ¿verdad? ¿No? is shorter and commoner. ¿Vale? checks agreement rather than fact. |
what kind of determiner | what kind of Three words. 'What sort of' is the same thing. | quel genre de quel agrees: quel/quelle/quels/quelles. Quelle sorte de is identical in use. | qué tipo de Also qué clase de. |