There are several ways to ask something to be explained with What is it/this/that? in French.
Learn how to ask What is it/this/that? in French
1. What is it ?
Literally "what is it that it is?", it is pronounced [kess kuh say].
Note that est-ce is simply c'est inverted.
2. What is this/that ?
Literally what is it that it is that that? (quite a mouthful!), this is pronounced simply [kess kuh seksah] and [kess kuh sek sullah].
Note that ça is the shortened form of cela.
Cela is quite formal, so you'll hear ça used much more frequently.
This shorter form of the question is actually more formal in French, and will therefore require the more elegant cela.
You wouldn't say Qu'est-ce que ça ?
You wouldn't say Qu'est-ce que ça ?
ATTENTION:
When asking What is this/that? in the context of a choice, as in Which one is that?, you will then use Quel/quels/quelle/quelles ? = Which/what? (French Question Words).
3. What is [thing]?
C'est quoi [chose] ? or Qu'est-ce que c'est [chose] ?If you want to ask what something is by name, simply add the name of the thing after c'est quoi or qu'est-ce que c'est.
These are not the most elegant questions, but probably the most commonly used.
These are not the most elegant questions, but probably the most commonly used.
Qu'est-ce que c'est que + [something] :
Note: que appears three times in this construction!
If you want to ask what something is by name, simply replace ça/cela with the name of the thing.
Remember to contract que into qu' if followed with a vowel or silent h.
Remember to contract que into qu' if followed with a vowel or silent h.
Qu'est-ce que + [chose] :
Once again, if you want to ask what something is by name, simply replace cela with the name of the thing.
Remember to contract que into qu' if followed with a vowel or silent h.
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