# FR: qu'est-ce qui / qu'est-ce que / qui est-ce qui / qui est-ce que



## MiguelHidalgo1986

Could someone please explain how you can distinguish between "qu'est-ce que" and "qu'est-ce qui". (For example: "qu'est-ce qui te fait mal"/ "qu'est-ce que vous voulez".) I'm not sure when to use which. And what about "qui est-ce qui" and "qui est-ce que"? Cheers!


*Moderator note*: Multiple threads merged to create this one. This is a confusing topic, in part because it is hard to understand it without considering all four expressions at the same time and also because they look very similar! A summary has been included below. For more details, please read the whole thread.

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_Qui_ and _que_ may be interrogative pronouns (who? what?) or relative pronouns (who, whom, which, that). The choice between _qui_ and _que_ is however different in each case…

*Interrogative pronoun*

For a *person*: _Qui ?_ ↔ Who? / Whom?
whether as subject: _*Qui* te regarde ?_ ↔ *Who* is watching you?
or as object: _*Qui* regardes-tu ?_ ↔ *Who[m]* are you watching?
OTHERWISE: _Que ?_ ↔ What?
whether as subject (rare!): _QUE me vaut l'honneur de ta visite ?_ ↔ To what do I owe the honor of your visit?
or as object: _QUE regardes-tu ?_ ↔ WHAT are you watching?
*Relative pronoun*

As subject: _qui_ ↔ who (never "whom"!) / which / that
whether for a *person*: _l'ami *qui* te regarde_ ↔ the friend *who* is watching you
or NOT: _le lion QUI te regarde_ ↔ the lion THAT/WHICH is watching you
As object: _que_ ↔ who[m] / which / that
whether for a *person*: _l'ami *que* je regarde_ ↔ the friend *(who[m])* I'm watching
or NOT: _le lion QUE je regarde_ ↔ the lion (THAT/WHICH) I'm watching

The most confusing part is that questions are commonly phrased by combining both an interrogative _*qui*/QUE_ and a relative _qui/que_!

*Qui*_ est-ce qui te regarde ?_ (=_ *Qui* te regarde ?_) ↔ *Who* is watching you?
*Qui*_ est-ce que tu regardes ?_ (= _*Qui* regardes-tu ?_) ↔ *Who[m]* are you watching?
_QU'est-ce qui te regarde ?_ (= Ø {usually no equivalent phrase with subject-verb inversion}) ↔ WHAT is watching you?
_QU'est-ce que tu regardes ?_ (= _QUE regardes-tu ?_) ↔ WHAT are you watching?

In a nutshell, in an common _Qui/Qu'est-ce qui/que_ question, the former _qui_ or _que_ indicates whether the question is about a person or something else (animal, thing, etc.), respectively, while the latter indicates whether that entity is the subject or object of the question, respectively.


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## Aupick

Qu'est-ce qui will be the subject of the sentence
- Qu'est-ce qui te fait mal ? - What hurts you? 
[Subject = Qu'est-ce qui/What ; object = te/you]

Qu'est-ce que will be the direct object
- Qu'est-ce que vous voulez ? - What do you want? 
[Subject = vous/you; object = Qu'est-ce que/what]


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## jemappellekelly

The first _que/qui_ tells you whether the answer to your question will be a person (_qui_) or an thing (_que_). 
The second _que/qui_ tells you whether the answer to your question will be the subject or the object.

*QUI*
SUJET: Qui est-ce qui mange? Il mange.
OBJECT: Qui est-ce que vous aimez? J'aime James.

*QUE*
SUJET: Qu'est-ce qui te fait mal? Mon dos me fait mal.
OBJET: Qu'est-ce que vous voulez? Je veux un chaton.

When it is _Qui...qui_ or _Que...que_, you can get rid of the _est-ce_ part:
Qui est-ce qui mange? --> Qui mange?
Qu'est-ce que vous voulez? --> Que voulez-vous?


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## sensa

What does "qu-est-ce qui?" mean? I thought it would mean "who?" because of the word "wui", but in this sentence, it means "why?":

Qu'est-ce qui vous a retardé?


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## jierbe31

I'm afraid you got it all wrong!
Qu'est-ce qui just stands for what.
Qu'est-ce qui vous a retardé ? = What delayed you?
Do not mistake it for* Qui *est-ce qui, meaning who.
Qui est-ce qui vous a retardé ? = Who delayed you?
Hope it helps.


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## Kelly B

I'm not sure if this will help or not, but I think of this structure as
What is it that (slowed you down?)


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## juliobenjimino

try this link http://french.about.com/b/a/015046.htm
it really helped me when I was trying to work out the diff between _ce que_ and _ce qui_ (and _ce dont_ and _ce quoi_).

Basically-

qu est-ce qui = what (when "what" is the subject _ie_ doing something)
qu est-ce que = what (when "what" is the object)

qu est-ce qui vous derange.... whats bothering you
qu est-ce que tu fais ... what are you doing

bonne chance!


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## sensa

What is the difference between qui est-ce qui and qui est-ce que?

My book says in _qui est-ce que, _the *qui* is the person and the *que* is the complement of the verb.

what is a complement du verb?

My book also says "qui est-ce qui" is the subject and "qui est-ce que" is the complement direct but both are under the heading of "*personnes*"

so, tell me if I have this straight:
*qui-est-ce qui* est à la porte? *sujet-person
qui est-ce que *vous avez-vu? *objet direct-person*


while "qu'est-ce qui" is the subject and "qu'est-ce que" is the complément direct under the heading "*choses*".

*qu'est-ce qui* te dérange? *sujet-thing
qu'est-ce que *tu veux*? objet direct- thing
* Is qui-est-ce qui just a long way of saying "qui"?


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## Bisou82

"qui est-ce qui" is definitely the equivalent of "qui".

"Qui est-ce qui" will be subject since it can be replaced by "qui".

"Qui est-ce que" is complement direct indeed: "qui est-ce que ca dérange?" for example. So: "ca derange qui?". qui is then cpt direct.


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## timpeac

"Qui est-ce qui" is the equivalent of "qui" when performing the verb. So

"Qui est à la porte" equals "qui est-ce qui est à la porte".

However, when you are asking "who" is having the verb done to them you have to use the longer form "qui est-ce que" only.

"Qui est-ce que tu as vu à la porte ?" not (in standard grammar) "qui tu as vu à la porte ?".


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## omahieu

sensa said:


> what is a complement du verb?



It's another term for an object (here direct object, but you can also have _À qui est-que tu as prêté ce livre ? _although I would prefer _ À qui as-tu prêté ce livre ?) 

_We often use the terms COD (complément d'objet direct) or COI (complément d'objet indirect.)


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## itka

sensa said:


> so, tell me if I have this straight:
> *qui-est-ce qui* est à la porte? *sujet-person
> qui est-ce que *vous avez-vu? *objet direct-person*
> 
> *qu'est-ce qui* te dérange? *sujet-thing
> qu'est-ce que *tu veux*? objet direct- thing*



You perfectly got it.

Some examples :

_*Qui*/*Qui est-ce qui* arrive ? -  mon ami arrive._ (person, subject =  My friend is arriving)
_*Qui* vois-tu ?/*Qui est-ce que* tu vois ?_ - _Je vois mon ami_ (person, object = I'm seeing my friend )

_*Qu'est-ce qui* arrive ?_ -_ L'autobus arrive _(thing, subject = the bus is arriving)

_*Qu'est-ce que* tu vois ? -_ _je vois l'autobus._ (thing, object = I'm seeing the bus)

The "long forms" are equivalent of "short forms" but much more used specially in spoken language.


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## juninho8

Qu’est-ce que t’inspire leur mauvais début en Ligue des champions?

I came across this sentence in an interview i was reading. I can read it basically says "What do you think of their bad start to the championship?"

But what I don't get is "Qu'est-ce que" is not the subject Qu'est-ce qui would mak more sense so why use inspire and te pronoun?

thanks


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## Monsieur Hoole

because the subject of the sentence is leur mauvais début which is causing a certain reaction on the part of the interviewee.

M.H.


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## sylphid dust

Hi,

can someone PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE explain to me IN DETAIL the difference between these two phrases?  I have an exam tomorrow and I'm getting tested on this and I am SO confused- my teacher says one is for the subject and one is for the object but that doesn't make it any clearer! I need a very detailed explanation please, with many examples if you can.

thanks, 
Sylphid


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## Gil

Examples:
Qui est-ce qui te fait pleurer?  Ted makes you cry (subject)
Qui est-ce que tu as rencontré?  You met Ted (object)
...and Good luck with your exam
Hope this helps


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## sylphid dust

no it doesn't really help because if I get fill-in-the-blanks for the exam, I get confused and don't know which one to use- French is not like English where I can easily identify an object or a subject


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## tilt

_Qui _and _que _are puzzling for English people, because they can be two much different thing in French.

-> When they are *interrogative pronouns*, the way to use them is _qui _for people and _que _for things.
-> In your sentences, they are *relative pronouns*, that introduce a subordinate clause. The rule to remember is that _qui _is subject of the subordinate, whereas _que _is its object. In other words, if the subordinate shows a subject, use _que _; and if not, use _qui_. Now, if you can't identify subjects and objects, I'm not sure we can help you more than this ! __


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## pyan

Here is a link to a site which has a lesson on "qui" and "que": http://french.about.com/library/weekly/aa092799.htm

I hope this helps.

If you look up "que qui" in the dictionary you will find a number of old threads.

This forum can't provide lessons for you, which is what you need .


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## OrelYY

Gil said:


> Examples:
> Qui est-ce qui te fait pleurer? Ted makes you cry (subject)
> Qui est-ce que tu as rencontré? You met Ted (object)
> ...and Good luck with your exam
> Hope this helps


 
That really well explained! But some more sentences can help you:

"Qui est-ce qui" always used for the subject
_ Max (subject) a frappé à la porte. Qui est-ce qui a frappé à la porte? (Who knocked at the door?)

"Qui est-ce que" always used for the object
_ Tu as embrassé Elise. Qui est-ce que tu as embrassé? Who did you kiss? You kissed Elise (object)


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## jann

OrelYY said:
			
		

> "Qui est-ce que" always used for the object
> _ Tu as embrassé Elise. Qui est-ce que tu as embrassé? Who *Whom* did you kiss? You kissed Elise (object)


 Exactly, and the "object" status will be even easier to see if you use the (correct but falling out out of use) English object pronoun *whom*. 




			
				sylphid dust said:
			
		

> get confused and don't know which one to use- French is not like English where I can easily identify an object or a subject


Actually French subjects and objects work much the same as English ones.  Regardless of the language, one clue that you will have an object is if you can already find the subject, the part the controls the verb. 

_Qui est-ce ___ tu as embrassé ?  
_Who is it ___ you kissed?

The verb = _embrasser_, "to kiss."  We already know who did the kissing (you did), so we have the subject = _tu_.  This means that you aren't going to need a subject because you already have one.  Therefore you need an object.  And the pronoun for an object is _que.  
--> __Qui est-ce que tu as embrassé ? / _Who is it whom you kissed?

Compare to another example:

_Qui est-ce ___ a embrassé Elise ?
_Who is it ___ kissed Elise?

Again, the verb = _embrasser_, "to kiss."  But this time though we know who got kissed (Elise did, the object), we don't know who did the kissing.  So we don't have the subject.  Therefore you are going to need the subject pronoun, _qui_.  
--> _Qui est-ce qui a embrassé Elise ? / _Who is it who kissed Elise?


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## ngeorgiev

bongbang said:


> _Qu'est-ce que vous dites ? _= What is it that you're saying?
> _Qu'est-ce qui se passe ? _= What is it that's happening?



why in the first sentence is que and in the second qui?

merci


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## Merpero

To understand this nGeorgiev, the difference between "*qui*" and "*que*", you have to know about the grammatical concept of *SUBJECT AND* *OBJECT.*  May I ask whether you have come across this concept of subject and object at all, before I (or perhaps somebody else!) decides how to explain it to you?


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## Merpero

Firstly, I agree with Kelly B that it really helps to make things clearer if you break down "*Qu'est-ce que*", or "*Qu-est-ce qui"* into its constituent parts, that is, "*WHAT-IS-IT-THAT*?...".  That really helped me when I was first learning French.

Secondly, It can be confusing when you're first learning French, because you're told that *QUI means WHO*.  Then, later on, you are told that "*qui*" *doesn't always mean who.*  It is also sometimes used to mean *THAT*, as in "*Qu'est*-*ce *_qui_?..."("*what-is-it-that..?).*

Thirdly, as the others have already explained above:
*Que - is used when* the "*that*" part of the phrase is an *object/the thing* *having the verb done to it*.  Thus, in *"Qu'est-ce que vous dîtes*", we use *que*(and not *qui*), because the "*that*" that we are asking about is, the *thing that you're saying*, and the thing that you're saying is an *OBJECT* because it is having the *verb* "*say"/dîtes*" _done_ to it.

Fourthly *- Qui- is used when* the "*that*" part of the phrase is a *SUBJECT/the thing doing the verb.* Thus, in "*Qu'est-ce qui se passe*?", we use *qui*(and not *que*)because the "*that*" that we are asking about is the thing that is doing the verb. I suppose the *subject* here is "*something*", because it is "*so*mething" that is "doing" the "happening" (of course, we don't know exactly what that "something" is yet)


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## ngeorgiev

heya guys there is something that has been bothering me.

Qui est-ce qui a casse la fenetre?
Qui est-ce que vous avez vu?

I know that we use qui when we have a question directed to the subject and que when have question directed to direct object. It seems to me that in these two questions above both should use qui, no??

merci d'avance


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## Donaldos

Why?

*Who* broke the window? (subject) => _Qui est-ce *qui* ..._
*Who(m)* did you see? (object) => _Qui est-ce *que* ..._


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## sun-and-happiness

_When subject of the sentence, the question form is expressed by qu'est-ce qui:_
_Délicieux? Qu'est-ce qui est délicieux? _

_Who, whom...is expressed as follows:_
_When subject of the sentence, by qui or qui est-ce qui:_
_Qui est-ce qui a réservé la table?_
_When object of the sentence, by qui or q__ui est-ce que:_
_Qui est-ce que vous avez payé?_ 

Je voudrais savoir si la forme "qu'est-ce qui" est la même chose que "qui est-ce qui" et si est utilisé la forme abrégée pour la reconnaître. Merci beaucoup d'avance.


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## itka

"qu'est-ce qui" ==> the answer is a thing (*_que / quoi_ est-ce qui...)
"qui est-ce qui" ==> the answer is a person (never shortened)


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## Krom le Barbare

Exact. 
Mais dans les livres, tu trouveras le plus souvent la question sous la forme "Qui avez-vous payé ?", qui est (théoriquement) plus correcte. 
La forme "Qui est-ce que vous avez payé ?" appartient au langage parlé, même si tu peux tout à fait l'écrire.


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## oxcigene

Please help me understanding these two words ("qu'est que" and "qu'est qui") correctly and completely. Though i could understand, i am not able to use them correctly?

What is their exact meaning and when to use them.

For example, i came across this sentence:

Japan:un an après le séisme, qu'est-ce qui a changé ?

What is the literal translation in english?


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## paysage

qu'est-ce que/qui = what 

Qu'est-ce qui se passe? What's going on?
Qu'est-ce qui ne va pas? What's wrong?
Qu'est-ce que tu fais? What are you doing?
Qu'est-ce qui a changé? What has changed?


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## snarkhunter

Basically, you need to understand that "qui" is related to the _subject_ of the coming verb, whereas "que" is related to an _object_.


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## oxcigene

Thanks snarkhunter.
That's a helpful tip.
I have some clarity now.


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## paysage

oui mais cela ne marche pas avec la tournure "qu'est-ce que/qui"


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## snarkhunter

paysage said:


> oui mais cela ne marche pas avec la tournure "qu'est-ce que/qui"


... Mais bien sûr que si, voyons !

"Qu'est-ce *que*... ?" : "que" est complément (d'un verbe qui est exprimé ensuite)

"Qu'est-ce *qui*... ?" : "qui" est le sujet du verbe à venir

_... C.Q.F.D. !_


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## atcheque

Oui,

"Qu'est-ce *que* tu vois ? un lampadaire
"Qu'est-ce *qui* éclaire la rue ? un lampadaire.


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## persona67

Mais attention ! Qu'est-ce *qu'il* se passe ( et non qu'est-ce qui se passe).


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## hydras15

I'm having a really hard time understanding when to use each. I know that Qui refers to a person, and that Que refers to a thing, but when do you use the endings of these questions? I have a native french speaker as a teacher, and she doesn't know how to explain it to me, it seems like. She grasps for how to explain it in English, and my book isn't very clear either.


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## J.F. de TROYES

In the common usage _qui... ?_  is replaced by the phrase _qui est-ce qui ... ?_  when the interrogative pronoun is a subject and by _qui est-ce que ... ?_  when the interrogative is an object :

Referring to a person : _Qui / Qui est-ce qui téléphone ?_ ( subject )       _Qui attends-tu ? _ / _Qui est-ce que tu attends ?
_ 

Referring to a thing :  _Que_ is replaced by the phrase  by_ qu'est-ce que... ? _ :

_Qu'est-ce que tu comptes faire ? _/ _Que comptes-tu faire ?_ ( or even : _Tu comptes faire quoi  ? _)

_Qu'est-ce qui _ is used only to refer to an impersonal subject :

_Qu'est-ce qui est arrivé ?  ( il est arrivé un accident )  ; Qu'est-ce qui ne va pas ? - Mais ça va bien !
Qu'est-ce qui se passe ? = Que se passe-t-il ?

_These pronominal forms take the place of the impersonal forms _il_ or _ça_ : _Il ne s'est rien passé ; ça se passe bien.

_Hope it helps.


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## Oddmania

Hi,

I see where your confusion comes from (it's hardly surprising). The thing is, the first _Qui.../Que..._ and the last _...qui/...que_ stand for different things.

*** The first ones refer to the "gender" of the noun (is it a person or a thing?), so it should be _Qui est-ce..._ with people and _Qu'est-ce..._ with things.
.
*** The last ones refer to the function of the noun (is a subject or a complement of a verb?), so it should be _...est-ce qui_ with a subject and _...est-ce que _with 
...a complement. For instance:

*Qui *est-ce *qui *fait X ? → Who is doing X?
The first _qui _implies you're talking about a person (_"who"_) while the second _qui _implies it performs the action of the verb: this person is doing X (_Who is doing X? "WHO"_ _is_).

*Qui *est-ce *que *tu as vu ? → Whom _or _Who did you see?
The _qui _implies you're talking about a person (_"who" _or _"whom"_) while the _que _implies it is the complement of the verb _to see_: you saw someone. Note that the English language requires (theoretically, in formal contexts) two different words too: _*Who *= Qui + qui_ while *Who**m*_ = Qui + que._

*Qu'*est-ce *qui *marche ? → What is working? 
The _que _implies you're talking about a thing (_"what"_) while the _qui _implies it performs the action of the verb: the thing is working (_What is working? "WHAT"_ _is_).

*Qu'*est-ce *que *tu as vu ? → What did you see? 
The first _que _implies you're talking about a thing (_"what"_) while the second _que _implies it is the complement of the verb _to see_: you saw something.


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## Nino83

For persons: 
subject: qui/qui est-ce qui --> _Qui téléphone? Qui est-qui téléphone?_ --> _Who is calling_? 
direct object: qui/qui est-ce que --> _Qui as-tu vu? Qui est-ce que tu as vu?_ --> _Who did you see?_ 
prepositional object: qui/qui est-ce que --> _À__ qui penses-tu? __À__ qui est-ce que tu penses?_ --> _Who(m) are you thinking about? _

For things: 
subject: qu'est-ce que --> _Qu'est-ce qu'il se passe?_ --> _What's happening?_ 
direct object: que/qu'est-ce que --> _Que as-tu vu? Qu'est-ce que tu as vu?_ --> _What did you see?_ 
prepositional: quoi/quoi est-ce que --> _À_ _quoi penses-tu? __À_ _quoi est-ce que tu penses? --> What are you thinking about?_ 

Hope it helps


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## lebanna

Ma réponse est pour TROYES, ODDMANIA. MAIS SURTOUT NINO83;

Comme Hydras, j'ai trouvé ce sujet très difficile à comprendre. Après avoir serré lu les premier deux réponses à Hydras, je commence à comprendre, mais quand j'ai lu ta réponse j'ai trouvé une irrégularité. Ci-dessus tu as dit For things: qu'est-ce que, e.g. Qu'est-ce qu'il se passé? J'ai compris que pour le sujet, on doit écrire *qui *à la fin, pas qu...     Est-ce que tu peux me dire si c'est correct?   Si tu es d'accord, peut-être c'est un petit signe que finalement je comprends plus.

Merci Troyes, Oddmania et Nino83,    lebanna


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## Oddmania

lebanna said:


> Comme Hydras, j'ai trouvé ce sujet très difficile à comprendre. Après avoir serré lu les premier deux réponses à Hydras, je commence à comprendre, mais quand j'ai lu ta réponse j'ai trouvé une irrégularité. Ci-dessus tu as dit For things: qu'est-ce que, e.g. Qu'est-ce qu'il se passé? J'ai compris que pour le sujet, on doit écrire *qui *à la fin, pas qu...     Est-ce que tu peux me dire si c'est correct?   Si tu es d'accord, peut-être c'est un petit signe que finalement je comprends plus.



You're right, that's because impersonal verbs are sort of exceptions. You can write _qui se passe_ or _qu'il se passe_ indifferently. Here's what I've found on the web:

*** When the verb is always impersonal (such as _falloir _for example), only _qu'il_ is correct. Thus, you need to write _Qu'est-ce* qu'il* faut...?_ instead of _Qu'est-ce *qui* faut...?_
*** When the verb is being impersonal but can be "personal" in other contexts (such as _se passer_), then you can write both.

When you say _Qu'est-ce qu'il/qui se passe? _("What's going on?"), the verb is being used impersonally, but it can be used like any other verb if you say _Tout se passe comme prévu_ ("Everything is going as planned"), with _tout _as the subject. Thus, both ways are possible according to the rule.


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## Nino83

It's true that it is an exception, but in interrogative sentences it's usual to use _qu'est-ce_ as subject with impersonal verbs. 
The other use I know is with verbs which take the _dative construction_, like_ faire mal, plaisir_. 
For example: _Qu'est-ce qui te fait mal?_ or _Qu'est-ce qui te plaî__t_? 

Oddmania, est-ce que vous connaissez autres cas où est obligatoire employer _qu'est-ce qui_? 

Merci


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## JimiBlue

Can: Qui est-ce qui êtes-vous (the long form of Qui êtes-vous) be considered grammatically correct? I tried googling this phrase, but it doesn't show up. I assume it's just never used if it is correct.

Est la phrase "Qui est-ce qui êtes-vous?" grammaticalement correcte? J'ai essayé de la rechercher sur google mais sans résultat. Si c'est correct, je présume qu'elle n'est jamais utilisée.


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## Kelly B

Nope, if you wanted a phrase with this type of structure it would be _qui est-ce qu*e* vous êtes ?_ It's pretty rare, though, I think.
_Who is it that you are? _i.e._ Who is [this person] that you are?_ where _this person_ is a direct object - so it's an interrogative form of_ you are this person, _more or less_._


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## Maître Capello

_Qui est-ce qui êtes-vous ?_  (A verb can have only one subject but here you used two, namely the relative pronoun _qui_ [which is always a subject, never an object] and _vous_.)
_Qui est-ce que vous êtes ?_  (correct, not the most natural way to put it, but not that uncommon either)
_Qui êtes-vous ?_  (Note: here _qui_ is an interrogative predicative pronoun.)


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## Oddmania

J'ai eu la même impression que Kelly. Je ne me souviens pas avoir jamais entendu "_Qui est-ce que vous êtes ?_" et cette tournure ne me viendrait jamais à l'esprit. En revanche, _"*Qu'*est-ce que vous êtes ?"_ (= _What are you?_) ne m'interpelle pas plus que ça, et ça s'entend souvent dans les films fantastiques ou de science-fiction.


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## FreddieFirebird

I think I understand the difference between qui est-ce que and qui est-ce qui...

If I want to say "Whom do you find pretty", can I then say "Qui est-ce que tu trouves belle?"
Qui, because I need a person, and que because that person is the object (the person whom you find pretty).

Qui est-ce qui est belle = who is pretty.  Qui for a person, 2nd qui for the subject (that person herself is beautiful)


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## Oddmania

Yes, that's correct


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