Interrogative Adjective quel | Usage Rules and Examples

In French, when you want to ask questions such as “Which book?”, “What movie?”, or “Which day of the week?”, you use the interrogative adjective quel.

The form of quel changes depending on the gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural) of the noun that follows.

In this lesson, I will explain the forms and uses of quel, how to construct questions with it, and common conversational expressions, with practical examples.

1. What Is the Interrogative Adjective quel?

The interrogative adjective quel is used with a noun to mean “which” or “what kind of.” It corresponds to the English word “which.”

The form of quel changes to match the gender and number of the noun:

All forms are pronounced the same (kel); only the spelling distinguishes them.

2. Quel + Noun in Inverted Questions

Quel is often used in interrogative structures with subject–verb inversion.

Structure: Quel + noun + verb–subject ?

Alternatively, you can use the est-ce que construction:

This structure mirrors declarative word order and is therefore common in spoken French.

3. Quel + être (est, sont, etc.)

Another important structure is quel + être. Here, quel functions to specify or identify the noun:

In this construction, the form of quel must match the noun that follows être.

4. Exclamatory Sentences with quel

Beyond questions, quel is also used in exclamations to express surprise or admiration. In this case, it still agrees with the noun in gender and number, and means “What a …!” or “How …!”

Such expressions are frequent in both spoken and written French and demonstrate the flexibility of quel.

5. Summary

泉（Izumi）

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