in an age where machine translation is getting better and better I BEG you to keep learning languages and keep your brain sharp and keep an open mind. learning a language is so much more than memorizing a bunch of words, it opens up ways of seeing the world you hadn't considered before that are inherent to the way things are phrased in another language. it gives you a new lens through which you'll view life. it will make your life fuller, more well-rounded, more fulfilling. please learn languages other than your own.
I just wanted to give my answer in the comments, but I thought that replying in another post would be more practical, and it might also help other people :) So, I'll try my best to explain, don't hesitate to tell me if it's not clear! First of all, in your list, only "Qui est-ce ?" can be used as a question in this form. For the others, you need to add other words. Also : - que = what and que + est = qu' - qui = who and qui + il = qu' • Qu'est-ce que... ? This is used to ask "What is..." with a direct object - Qu'est-ce que c'est ? — What is it?/What is this? - Qu'est-ce que tu fais ? — What are you doing? - Qu'est-ce que tu veux faire ce soir ? — What do you want to do tonight? → You can replace "qu'est-ce que" with "quoi" as a direct object (more informal form) - Qu'est-ce que c'est ?/C'est quoi ? - Qu'est-ce que tu fais ?/Tu fais quoi ? - Qu'est-ce que tu veux faire ce soir ?/Tu veux faire quoi ce soir ? • Qu'est-ce qui... ? This is used to ask "What..." where "what" is the subject - Qu'est-ce qu'il se passe ? — What is happening? - Qu'est-ce qui est rouge ? — What is red? - Qu'est-ce qui t'intéresse ? — What interests you?
→ You can replace "qu'est-ce que" with "quoi" as the subject (more informal form)
- Qu'est-ce qu'il se passe ?/ Il se passe quoi ? - Qu'est-ce qui est rouge ?/C'est quoi qui est rouge ? - Qu'est-ce qui t'intéresse ?/C'est quoi qui t'intéresse ? • Qui est-ce ? This is correct as it is, it's used when asking about someone's identity - (Knock on the door) Qui est-ce ? — Who is it? - (Showing someone in a photo) Qui est-ce ? — Who is he/sher? • Qui est-ce qui... ? This is used to ask "Who..." where "who" is the subject - Qui est-ce qui a fait ça ? — Who did this? - Qui est-ce qui chante ? — Who is singing? - Qui est-ce qui cuisine ? — Who is cooking? → You can replace "qui est-ce qui" with "qui" as the subject (more informal form) - Qui est-ce qui a fait ça ?/Qui a fait ça ? - Qui est-ce qui chante ?/Qui chante ? - Qui est-ce qui cuisine ?/Qui cuisine ? • Qui est-ce que... ? This is used to ask "Who..." with a direct object - Qui est-ce que tu as vu ? — Who did you see? - Qui est-ce que tu cherches ? — Who are you looking for? - Qui est-ce que tu écoutes ? — Who are you listening to? → You can replace "qui est-ce que" with "qui" as a direct object (more informal form) - Qui est-ce que tu as vu ?/T'as vu qui ? - Qui est-ce que tu cherches ?/Tu cherches qui ? - Qui est-ce que tu écoutes ?/Tu écoutes qui ?
• To sum up: - Qu'est-ce que... → What... (direct object) - Qu'est-ce qui... → What... (subject) - Qui est-ce ? → Who is it? - Qui est-ce qui... → Who... (subject) - Qui est-ce que... → Who... (direct object)
Hope this helps! Feel free to tell me if you still have questions!
French teachers, please help with these chaos of questions!!!!
Qu'est-ce que?
Qu'est-ce qui?
Qui est-ce?
Qui est-ce qui?
Qui est-ce que?
My poor head! Its crazy!
PLEASE explain me the meaning of all of these.
You need to be looking for sewing and drawing tutorials in Spanish, to watch baking tutorials in Russian or read the wikipedia article about the insect you've just discovered on your balcony in German ! You cannot watch Peppa pig in your target language forever.
Will knowing how to say "aiguille à tricoter" in French be useful for your exam ? Probably not, but who cares ? You're listening to spoken French AND you're learning a manual skill !
Youtube is full of wonderful tutorials in many languages, everything is there just waiting for you ...
And why stop at manual skills ? Philosophy ? History ? Astrology ? Hop hop hop, in your target language ! Want to learn something about Egypt ? The Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona has a coursera course on it.
"But I won't understand anything" I personally prefer to understand 20% of a lecture about a sacred temple in the middle of the desert than understand 60% of the most boring standard "what do you like to eat for breakfast" textbook learning material.
more uncommon topics for vocab lists in your target language:
astronomy
mythology
folklore
obsolete professions
specialized medicine
linguistics
history and artifacts
botany
art styles and periods
oceanography
cryptozoology
esoteric hobbies
etymology
logical fallacies
It’s crazy when you start thinking about how ancient many common names are. I’ve known 15+ people named John. My ancestors 100 years ago would have known 15+ people named John. My ancestors 1,000 years ago would have known 15+ people named John. I’ve known several dudes named Marcus, someone in 100 BC probably knew a few too. The name Alexander is over 3,000 years old.
Internet vernacular has completely altered what some words and expressions mean to me. Forevermore, I will hear the words "hear me out" will only and exclusively as "before you cast your judgements prematurely, please pause and allow me to explain how and why I should be allowed to fuck this thing".
People might wonder why I love etymology so much and the reason is simple — our everyday language is full of poetry. The English word "clue"? It comes from a Middle English word for "a ball of yarn", "clewe", which is a reference to the myth about Theseus and the Labyrinth. The Czech word "potkat" — "to meet"? The "tkat" part actually comes from "tkát" — to weave. To meet someone is literally to get interwoven with someone in Czech. How am I supposed to not love this?
Reblogs were turned off but I wanted to be able to find this again
Can I once again suggest the app Polygloss for language practice?
You watch with other users to describe and guess pictures and it theoretically supports all languages as long as there are active users. Especially if you're a minority language learner or speaker, spread the word to get fellow learners or community members signed up!
love saying "ich krieg die krise" for i'm losing it / i'm freaking out / etc because it translates directly to "I'm getting the crisis". you know the one. THE crisis. the one and only baby. ye ol reliable
If you could instantly be granted fluency in 5 languages—not taking away your existing language proficiency in any way, solely a gain—what 5 would you choose?
A shy little ghost who has fallen in love with languages and wants to become a polyglot. A jumble of discovery and random information. Oh, and also a conlanger :)
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