Three ways of asking the same question?

J. B.C1Kwiziq community member

Three ways of asking the same question?

Hi

There are three phrases which the lesson translates into the same expression “What is a pen?”

Qu’est-ce que / Qu’est-ce qu’un stylo ?

Qu’est-ce que c’est / Qu’est-ce que c’est un stylo ?

Qu’est-ce que c’est que / Qu’est-ce que c’est qu’un stylo ?

What is the difference between the 3 questions?   When should each one be used?

Thanks

Asked 3 years ago
CécileKwiziq Native French TeacherCorrect answer

Hi John, 

There is little difference between the three ways suggested to say -

'What is a pen ?'

But in terms of informal and formal language I would rate them as follows -

C'est quoi, un stylo ?

Qu'est-ce que c'est, un stylo ?

Qu'est-ce que c'est qu'un stylo ?

Qu'est-ce qu'un stylo ?

So, pick and choose the one you prefer.

Bonne Continuation!

Carol W.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

what about c'est quoi un stylo, is that very informl, or just as acceptable?

Jeremy H.C1Kwiziq community member

This is the second time this question has been asked! This is partly because the lesson lacks clarity. My suggestion is that an explicit statement that these three are equivalent is included in the lesson. Also when the word something and chose appear in brackets and in successive examples, I suggest you use both with a slash in between,  i.e. (chose/something). Otherwise you have people like me thinking why are you saying ‘something’ for one example and ‘chose’ for the other.  The same applies where you use a simple noun ‘pen’ in one example and a proper noun  ‘le Sacré Coeur’ a place in the other. It would have been clear clearer to use both nouns as examples for all the forms of question to make it clear that those forms of question are equivalent. However, a clear statement that these three ways of asking a ways of asking a question are completely equivalent within the lesson would be helpful and would’ve avoided this question being asked twice already in the discussion. I hope my comments are useful.

CélineKwiziq Native French Teacher

Bonjour Jeremy,

Thank you for your comment!  You're right about the need for more clarity in the lesson. We have made changes to avoid any ambiguity regarding chose/something in the lesson and added more examples in the lesson to avoid any more confusion.

Merci de votre contribution !

Bonne journée !

J. B. asked:

Three ways of asking the same question?

Hi

There are three phrases which the lesson translates into the same expression “What is a pen?”

Qu’est-ce que / Qu’est-ce qu’un stylo ?

Qu’est-ce que c’est / Qu’est-ce que c’est un stylo ?

Qu’est-ce que c’est que / Qu’est-ce que c’est qu’un stylo ?

What is the difference between the 3 questions?   When should each one be used?

Thanks

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