French Note 8 - " use of Quoi "

French note 8

Today I want to explain to you the use of " quoi "  as an interrogative pronoun. In other words, how to use " quoi " to ask questions in French.

" quoi " means " what " .

Remember that this is not used for persons . " quoi" will always indicate things or ideas. Never persons.

Except in certain idiomatic expressions, " quoi" is always preceded by a preposition.
The following examples will illustrate the use of " quoi" in asking questions.

Preposition +quoi

1. À quoi sert cet instrument ?

What is the use of this instrument ?

The verb employed here is " servir à "

Note that this verb is an indirect transitive verb as it is followed by the preposition "à".

" servir à " means " to be useful in "

2. De quoi parlez-vous?

What are you speaking about ?

The verb employed here is , " parler de"  which means " to speak about "

Note that this verb is an indirect transitive verb followed by the preposition ,à .

3.De quoi est-ce que vous avez besoin ?

Of what are you in need ?
What do you need ?

The verbal expression employed is , " avoir besoin de " which means " to be in need of ".

4.De quoi est-qu'il rêve ?

What is he dreaming about ?

The verb employed is , " rêver de" which means " to dream about "

5. De quoi souffert -il ?

From what does he suffer ?

The verb employed here is , " souffrir de" which means , " to suffer from "

6.Avec quoi est-ce que vous avez couvert de cet objet ?

With what have you covered this object ?

The verb employed is , " couvrir de " which means ," to cover with "

7. Sur quoi on peut mettre cette carafe ?

On what can we keep this jug ?

Where can we keep this jug ?

The relevant verb is , " mettre sur " which means , " to keep on "

Note that in all the above examples  the preposition which you use depends on the verb.

Suppose you want to ask the following questions,

About whom are you talking  ?

To whom are  you talking ?

Please don't use " quoi". Say in the following manner.

De qui est-ce que vous parlez ?

À qui est-ce que vous parlez ?

Hope you understood . There will be a separate note on the use of " quoi" as a relative pronoun , along with a preposition .

Happy learning !

Bonne journée !

Sayee Jayaraman