I just want to clarify can the following be either, 'what is this' or 'what is that?' If not, how do you change the sentence to be one or the other?
Or is it it for example:
qu'est-ce que c'est : What is that?
qu'est-ce que c'est que cela: What is this?
To distinguish between "What is this?" and "What is that?" you can use:
Qu'est-ce que ceci ? -- What is this?
Qu'est-ce que cela ? or Qu'est-ce que ça ? -- What is that?
However, Qu'est-ce que c'est ? is versatile and widely used for both questions in everyday conversation.
I personally just add intonation at the end of a sentence to make it a question and to keep it simple. “Tu es là.” (You are here) becomes “Tu es là?” with the intonation going up at the end. You know how everyone says us California girls do something called upspeak where every sentence we say sounds like a question? Yeah, just do that in French when wanting to ask a question. I guess my natural inclination towards upspeak is useful for something!
I personally just add intonation at the end of a sentence to make it a question and to keep it simple. “Tu es là.” (You are here) becomes “Tu es là?” with the intonation going up at the end. You know how everyone says us California girls do something called upspeak where every sentence we say sounds like a question? Yeah, just do that in French when wanting to ask a question. I guess my natural inclination towards upspeak is useful for something!
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