French Grammar Explained /
Which - How to use "quel / quelle / quels / quelles"
Imagine you are standing in front of the huge array of products in the refrigerated isle at the grocery store and are struggling with the decision of which yogurt/cheese/... we should choose.
Mmmmhhh cheese, my favorite!
This doesn't just happen at the supermarket. We always need to make decisions in our everyday lives. Fortunately, we have our friends, family or colleagues who we can ask.
Which/What country do you recommend for holidays?
Which/What route should I take today to go back home?
Which/What yoga school is the best one?
...
All these questions...
While in English we always use the unchangeable interrogative pronouns which/what, in French we have more variety. As we have seen with the adjectives, the interrogative (=question) pronoun quel changes as well, depending on the word it is referring to. Observe:
Quelles langues parles-tu ?
Which languages do you speak?
Je ne sais pas quels amis inviter.
I don't know which friends I should invite.
Quel jour es-tu libre ?
Which day are you free?
Tu préfères quelle couleur ?
Which colour do you prefer?
Two for masculine and two for feminine?
That's right! Have a look at the following table.
| masculine | feminine |
|---|---|---|
singular | quel jour ? | quelle couleur ? |
plural | quels amis ? | quelles langues ? |
I ask a lot of questions, so I'll probably need these a lot...
Practice makes perfect!