What in French: quoi, que, qui, où, quand, pourquoi

What in French is que or quoi, and the rest of the basic question words are qui (who), où (where), quand (when) and pourquoi (why) [1][2][3][4][5][6]. This page gives each word in a table, then answers the questions people type most, including where are you from in French. For the answer words, see Yes in French. To practise saying them, see French pronunciation practice and French speaking practice.

Sources: Dictionnaire de l’Académie française, 9th edition (2024), entries opened 23 October 2026 [1][2][3][4][5][6].

What is “what” in French?

There is no single word for “what”. The Académie française gives two interrogative pronouns for a thing, que and quoi [2][3]. Que is used in direct questions and in indirect ones with an infinitive: “Qu’écris-tu ?” (What are you writing?) and “Que dire, que faire ?” [3].

Quoi is the form used after a preposition. The Académie says that when a preposition comes before the pronoun, one uses quoi and not que: “À quoi pensez-vous ?” (What are you thinking about?) and “De quoi accuse-t-on mon client ?” [2][3]. It also gives “Quoi de neuf ?” for “What’s new?” [2].

The words ce que also turn up in sentences that are not direct questions, such as “Dites-moi ce qu’il en est” (Tell me how things stand) [8].

What do qui, où, quand and pourquoi mean?

Qui is “who”, and it always stands for a person [1]. The Académie’s examples are “Qui a sonné ?” (Who rang?) and “Qui êtes-vous ?” (Who are you?) [1]. After a preposition it stays qui: “À qui pensez-vous ?” [1].

Quand asks “at what moment”, and the Académie’s examples are “Quand arriverez-vous ?” and “Quand partir ?” [5]. Pourquoi is “for what reason”: “Pourquoi riez-vous ?” [6]. Two short forms are worth knowing. “Pourquoi ?” can stand alone as a whole question, and “Pourquoi pas ?” is how one accepts a suggestion [6].

How do you say why in French?

You say pourquoi. The Académie defines it as the interrogative adverb meaning for what cause, reason or intention [6]. Its examples are “Pourquoi riez-vous ?” and “Pourquoi attendre ?” (Why wait?) [6].

Pourquoi is also used to report a question: “J’ignore pourquoi il a échoué” (I don’t know why he failed) [6]. It can introduce a conclusion with c’est pourquoi and voilà pourquoi [6].

How do you say where in French?

You say où, with the grave accent. The Académie defines it as “in what place” and gives “Où suis-je ?” (Where am I?) and “Où demeurez-vous ?” (Where do you live?) [4]. Larousse translates the interrogative adverb où as “where” [9].

The same word also works inside a sentence. The Académie’s example is “La maison où il est né” (the house where he was born) [4]. [[word-break]]

How do you say where are you from in French?

You say d’où venez-vous ? The Académie’s entry for où lists “D’où venez-vous ?” as an example where a preposition comes before the word [4]. Larousse translates “d’où viens-tu ?” as “where have you come from?” [9]. Use venez-vous when you are polite or speaking to more than one person, and viens-tu with a friend.

French builds this with venir (to come), so it is closer to “where do you come from?” than to a word-for-word “where are you from”. For a friendly reply, the pattern is je viens de followed by the place. That reply is our own building, not an Académie example.

How do you say where are you in French?

You say où êtes-vous ? with someone you address politely, or où es-tu ? with a friend. Neither sentence is a dictionary example. They follow the Académie’s pattern of putting où before the verb: “Où suis-je ?” [4]. In writing, the Académie’s usage note prefers inversion, as in “Viendrez-vous demain ?” over “Vous viendrez demain ?” [10].

Which form is correct in casual French?

Casual French often puts the question word last, as in “Tu fais quoi ?” or “Vous allez où ?” The Académie’s usage note lists the form “Vous allez où ?” among those it does not recommend, and prefers the inverted order [10]. Its entry for quoi also says that, in place of casual forms like “C’est quoi ?” and “Tu veux quoi ?”, one should prefer “Qu’est-ce ?” and “Que veux-tu ?” [2].

The Académie makes the same point about est-ce que. It says to avoid combining it with an interrogative adverb, so “Quand partirez-vous ?” and not “Quand est-ce que vous partirez ?” [8]. The est-ce que form is still very common in speech. Treat the Académie’s notes as the careful, written standard.

How do you ask someone to repeat?

Say Pardon ? or Comment ? The Académie’s entry for quoi says that, to invite someone simply to repeat what they said, one should avoid Quoi ? and say Pardon ? or Comment ? [2]. In plain terms, a bare Quoi ? can sound abrupt.

Quick quiz on the question words

Answer five questions from the entries above.

Common mistakes

• Using que after a preposition. The Académie says to use quoi there: “À quoi pensez-vous ?” not “À que pensez-vous ?” [3].
• Leaving the accent off où. The Académie writes the question word “where” as où, with the grave accent [4].
• Splitting pourquoi in two. One word means “why”. Pour quoi in two words is a different group, as in “pour quoi dire ?” [6].
• Saying Quoi ? when you did not hear. The Académie suggests Pardon ? or Comment ? [2].
• Relying on a vocabulary page from a blog, including this one. Dictionary entries change between editions. Compare each entry’s edition and date with the date at the top of this page.

See also: what does it mean in French.

See also: French prepositions.

See also: French sentence structure.

Sources