Questions: Que ... = What ... ?

As an interrogative pronoun, "que" is what and "qui" is who. Therefore, in the example given, it can only be "what do they like".

Qu'aiment-ils? -- What do they like (que --> qu')Qui aiment-ils? -- Whom do they like.

As I said, the answer given by kwiziq seems wrong, because it said LOVE.  

The issue here is why LOVE was the answer.

Qu'aiment-ils is LIKE, Correct? 

When it comes to things, to "love" or to "like" is almost synonymous: I love sugar vs. I like sugar. The former is, maybe, a bit more intense than the latter. And it is similar in French. Aimer can be translated as to love or to like, depending on context.

I was expecting something more "indepth" and specific than the obvious "what aimer can be defined as."  I am well aware of the flexible use of this verb. 

Kwiziq had an incorrect/lame answer. I'm trying to help but obviously that's not what this forum seems to be about. 

Have a nice day.

I can't know what you are aware of or not, Darren. I try to help when I can. I am not part of the kwiziq team and simply volunteer my time. Sorry if you expected a better answer, I hope you'll get one.

Let’s just say my expectations for a precise answer haven’t been met, but the Kwiziq app sure knew what was “wrong” but apparently without any specific support behind it.  

Not exactly a great experience. 

Have you looked at this lesson?

Aimer = to love, like something / someone

Have you looked at this:

www.thoughtco,com/aimer-french-verb-1368805

And did it help you?

Bonjour Heena !

Samedi, je vais faire les magasins, et dimanche, je vais faire du bowling avec mes amis.

Et toi ?

For me here, the issue is not about aimer as much as que vs. qui:

 Que vs Qui. As a relative pronoun, que is a direct object (person or thing), and qui is either a subject (person or thing) or the object of a preposition (person only). * Unlike when they are interrogative pronouns, in which case qui means "who" and que means "what."

The question is about the use of the interrogative pronoun, and what that implies for the application of the verb aimer.  It is my understanding from reviewing the various uses for aimer is that LIKE is applicable to things and situations, whereas LOVE applies basically to people and pets. 

So, in Qu'aiment-ils the QUE is WHAT, then we are probably discussing THINGS, and what does aimer mean when we discuss THINGS?  LIKE?  

I do not agree with the Kwiziq answer, if I haven't completely forgotten why we are discussing this at this point.  

Hi M,

Without the context it is hard to tell but I suspect based on the lesson content that it would be something like:

"Que veut Paul?" ("What does Paul want?")

You could say, "Paul veut quoi?"( in spoken French) but never at the begining of the sentence.

Normally you will hear Quoi ? , used in a single word as the interrogative pronoun What? (as in 'Pardon?')

In French you will say Quoi? or more politely Comment?

It is used also in some idiomatic expressions like:

Quoi de neuf? = Wha'ts new?

À quoi bon ...? = What's the point...?

Il n'y a pas de quoi = Don't mention it

Hope this helps!

Qui is used when "who" is the subject of the clause ans que for when "who" is the direct object. Tu elucidate:

Tu connais le mec qui parle à ma sœur? -- Do you know the guy who is talking to my sister. Here the guy is doing the talking, so qui, referring to the guy, is the subject. 

Tu connais le mec, que ma sœur a rencontré hier? -- Do you know the guy who(m) my sister met yesterday? Here the guy is being bet by my sister. Hence my sister is the subject and the guy the direct object to which que refers. 

-- Chris (not a native speaker).

Hi Rebecca,

It is the other way round.

I know that is is tempting for an English student to want to prefer the inversion as it is used in English. However in French out of the three ways of forming questions, it will be the  least favoured particularly in simple questions as it sounds not only formal but pompous.

But we have to teach it...

Hope this helps!

Gotcha. So to clarify:

Qu'est-ce que vous aimez? - formal, but overly so and thus not preferred - maybe antiquated?

Qu'aimez vous? - appropriately formal, sounds current and natural

and of course the 'tu' forms are just informal.

Have I got that right?

Hi Rebecca,

'Quest-ce-que vous aimez?' is more informal and colloquial than the inversion of the subject and verb in 'Qu'aimez-vous?'.

In spoken French you will hear an awful lot of 'est-ce-que' for asking questions so you have to be able to recognise it and preferably use when appropriate.

In written French , the inversion will be preferred as more formal. It is not antiquated just more formal.

Hope this helps!

Bonjour Chris !

The answer is simple: you cannot never contract qui into qu', as it ends in 'i' and not 'e'.

I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !