"Qu'aimez-vous?" means who or what?

Rebecca L.B2Kwiziq community member

"Qu'aimez-vous?" means who or what?

How can you tell that the qu'  in "Qu'aimez-vous?" means que rather than qui?  I.e., why isn't it "who do you like?" instead of "what do you like?"

Asked 2 years ago
Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

Maarten and Jameson already explained that the "i" in qui never contracts. That's the reason you absolutely know that the first word in Qu'aimez-vous? must be que.

The next thing to keep in mind is the difference between qui/que as an interrogative pronoun (like in this sentence) and qui/que used as a relative pronoun.

Interrogative pronoun:
qui -- used for people ("who")
que -- used for objects ("what")

Qui vous aime ? -- Who loves you?
Qui aimez-vous ? -- Whom do you love?
Qu'aimez-vous ? -- What do you love?

Relative pronoun
qui -- used for people and objects as the subject of a relative clause ("who", "which", "that")
que -- used for people and objects as the direct or indirect object of a relative clause ("whom", "which", "that")

Je ne sais pas qui est venu. -- I don't know who came.
Je ne sais pas ce qui s'est passé. -- I don't know what happened.
Je connais cette personne, que tu m'as montrée. -- I know that person whom you showed me.
Je connais le livre que tu m'as montré. -- I know the book which you showed me.

Maarten K.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Qui never contracts - see point towards end of lesson. Qui = Who/which/that (French Relative Pronouns)

J. L.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Because QUI is never truncated. It is always QUI. So if you see qu'ils/qu'aimez IT IS alway QUE.

"Qu'aimez-vous?" means who or what?

How can you tell that the qu'  in "Qu'aimez-vous?" means que rather than qui?  I.e., why isn't it "who do you like?" instead of "what do you like?"

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