Qui est-ce qui or qui est-ce que? Ask who does what

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated · About the library

Ask who is calling and who someone is calling. Compare qui est-ce qui with qui est-ce que through an outing scene, role pairs and four questions.

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In short

Qui est-ce qui appelle ? asks who is calling: the unknown person is the subject. Qui est-ce que tu appelles ? asks who you are calling: tu is the subject and the unknown person is the object. Both questions ask about a person.

Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn

Friends waiting outside a cinema, one taking a phone call.
A ringing phone prompts qui est-ce qui appelle. Illustration: Atelier

What is the difference between qui est-ce qui and qui est-ce que?

Nora invite Samir.

Nora is inviting Samir.

Nora gives the invitation. Samir receives it.

Qui est-ce qui invite Samir ?Who is inviting Samir?

Focus: the person giving the invitation

qui est-ce qui + verb

Nora invite Samir.
Nora is inviting Samir.

Qui est-ce que Nora invite ?Who is Nora inviting?

Focus: the person receiving the invitation

qui est-ce que + subject + verb

Nora invite Samir.
Nora is inviting Samir.

The final qui fills the subject slot. After the final que, the subject is already there: Nora, tu or another name or pronoun. Before a vowel, que becomes qu’: Qui est-ce qu’elle invite ?

Two questions before the cinema

On attend qui ?
  1. Nora

    Mon téléphone sonne.

    My phone is ringing.

  2. Samir

    Qui est-ce qui appelle ?

    Who is calling?

  3. Nora

    C’est Léa. Elle nous attend devant le cinéma.

    It’s Léa. She’s waiting for us outside the cinema.

  4. Samir

    Et toi, qui est-ce que tu attends ?

    And you, who are you waiting for?

  5. Nora

    J’attends Hugo. Il arrive dans cinq minutes.

    I’m waiting for Hugo. He’ll be here in five minutes.

Keep the action, change the missing person
StatementAsk for the subjectAsk for the object
Léa appelle Hugo.Qui est-ce qui appelle Hugo ?Qui est-ce que Léa appelle ?
Samir aide Nora.Qui est-ce qui aide Nora ?Qui est-ce que Samir aide ?
Nora attend Léa.Qui est-ce qui attend Léa ?Qui est-ce que Nora attend ?

French uses attendre quelqu’un directly. English says “wait for someone”, but the French question is Qui est-ce que tu attends ? With a verb that takes a preposition, keep it: Tu écris à Nora becomes À qui est-ce que tu écris ?

Keep one question structure

  • Qui est-ce qui tu invites ?Qui est-ce que tu invites ?

    Tu is already the subject. Ask for the person invited with final que.

  • Qui est-ce que appelles-tu ?Qui est-ce que tu appelles ?

    Keep statement order after est-ce que. The separate inverted form is Qui appelles-tu ?.

Qui vient ce soir ?

Who is coming tonight?

For a subject question, the shorter Qui vient ? works too. Compare it with Qui est-ce qui vient ?.

Question 1No account needed
Ask who is calling.___ appelle ?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Qui est-ce qui. The caller is the missing subject. Choose the subject-question frame, which goes immediately before the verb.

Question 2No account needed
Ask who Nora is inviting.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Qui est-ce que Nora invite ?. Nora is doing the inviting. Keep her as the subject and ask for the person receiving the invitation.

Question 3No account needed
Which person is the answer to this question?Qui est-ce que Samir aide ?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

The person being helped. Samir is the subject of the verb for helping. The question asks for the person he helps.

Question 4No account needed
Ask who she is waiting for.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Qui est-ce qu’elle attend ?. The final vowel of the question frame disappears before the subject pronoun beginning with a vowel. The third option shows this elision.

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