Qui/Qui est-ce que ... ? = Whom ... ? (French Questions)

Written by Qualified French Expert Aurélie Drouard HKH, Licence d'anglais LLCE

Last updated: 2023-01-12

Take the fastest path to fluent French

In cases when you ask whom does something, there are three ways in French

Learn how to ask questions with "whom" in French

In the following cases, the person is NOT the one doing the action, but is the object of the action -> Whom does someone meet, see...?

Note how we can ask whom in three different ways:

1-

You can use qui followed by the inverted form of the verb. (Whom does she like?)

Qui aime-t-elle ?Whom does she like?

Qui as-tu rencontré ?Whom did you meet?

2-

You can use qui after the normal sentence. (literally: She likes whom?)

Elle aime qui ?Whom does she like?

Tu as rencontré qui ?Whom did you meet?

3-

And you can use the longer form with qui est-ce que ... ? (literally: who is it whom she likes?).
This one is never followed by the inverted form.

Qui est-ce qu'elle aime ?Whom does she like?

Qui est-ce que tu as rencontré ?Whom did you meet?

ATTENTION:

You can also sometimes encounter the form c'est qui que, however, this is NOT really grammatically correct!

C'est qui qu'elle aime ?Whom does she like? (Literally: It's who whom she likes?)

C'est qui que tu as rencontré ?Whom did you meet?

Want to make sure your French sounds confident? We’ll map your knowledge and give you free lessons to focus on your gaps and mistakes. Start your Brainmap today »

Learn more about these related French grammar topics

Question/Interrogative

Examples and resources