French Grammar Explained /
What? - How to use "quoi"
The English word "what" can be translated in two different ways in French.
What?!
There is the common and a bit more formal "what":
Qu'est-ce que tu fais ?
What do you do?
(Lit: What is this that you do?)
There is the very informal "what":
Tu fais quoi ?
What do you do?
(Lit.: you do what?)
It seems to be very complicated...
Not at all! The main difference between both is that the first one always comes at the beginning of the sentence and the second one always comes at the end.
I don't think I can even pronounce the first one. Can I just use quoi all the time?
I wouldn't recommend it. It's better to reserve this one for friends and family as it can be a bit too informal for the office.
Qu'est-ce que
is pronounced
[kay-ss-k-uh]