French Grammar – Ce Qui vs Ce Que

Ce qui me plaît, ce que j’aime…

Qu’est-ce que tu aimes en France ? = What do you like/love in France?

Ce que j’aime, c’est la langue, elle est tellement belle ! = What I love is the language, it’s so beautiful!

You have probably heard the French start sentences with ce qui/ce que, especially when answering a question which starts with qu’est-ce qui… or qu’est-ce que... In French grammar, these are called indefinite relative pronouns. They are used to refer to an idea that has already been mentioned. Using them not only makes you sound more like a French native person, but you will see how easy they are to use.

Again, ce qui and ce que both mean “what.”

Ce que is used when it is the direct object of a verb.

Ce qui is used when it is the subject of a verb.

1.One way to know if you have to used ce que or ce qui is to check the word that follows:

─If the word that follows is a verb or a pronoun that is not a subject pronoun (me, te, la, le/l’, lui, nous, vous, leur, les), then you will use ce qui.

Examples:
Ce qui est beau est une vue sur les montagnes. = What is beautiful is a view of the mountains.
Ce qui me rend heureuse est de passer du temps avec ma famille. = What makes me happy is to spend time with my family.

─If the word that follows is a subject pronoun (je, tu, il/elle/on, vous, nous, ils/elles), then you will use ce que.

Examples:

Ce que je préfère, c’est d’aller à la plage. = What I prefer is to go to the beach.

Ce que nous faisons en ce moment est très important. = What we’re doing now is very important.

Je ne savais pas ce que je devais faire. = I didn’t know what I had to do.

Note that ce que becomes ce qu’ in front of a vowel.

Example:
Ce qu’on aime. = What we love.

2. Another clue is the question itself.

If you hear qu’est-ce qui….’, then you can respond with ce qui…

If you hear qu’est-ce que/qu’…, then you can respond with ce que or ce qu’.

Let’s clarify with these examples, with answers following the questions:

Qu’est-ce que vous faites le matin ? = What do you do in the morning?
– Ce que je fais change selon le jour. = What I do changes according to the day.

You will notice the ce que is followed by a subject pronoun and a verb: je fais.

 Qu’est-ce qu’elle aime faire ? = What does she likes to do?
– Ce qu’elle aime faire est de la planche à voile. = What she likes to do is windsurfing.

Qu’est-ce que tu dis ? = what are you saying?
– Je dis ce que je pense ! = I say what I think!

Qu’est-ce qui te motive à vivre en France ? = What motivates you to live in France?
– Ce qui me motive est la qualité de vie qu’on peut avoir avec la famille. = What motivates me is the quality life that we can have with family.

You will notice how ce qui is followed by the pronoun me.

Qu’est-ce qui vous rend heureux dans la vie ? = What makes you happy in life?
– Ce qui me rend heureux est de donner aux autres. = What makes me happy is to give to others.

Qu’est-ce qu’on va apporter chez nos amis ? = What are we going to bring to our friends?
– Ce qu’on va apporter à nos amis dépend de ce qu’on va trouver. = What we’re going to bring to our friends depends of what we’ll find.

Often, French native speakers will add a second phrase after ce que or ce qui, which starts with c’est, when responding to these types of questions. It makes it even easier to construct the sentence.

Examples:
Qu’est-ce que tu prends pour le petit déjeuner ? = What do you have for breakfast?
– Ce que je prends, c’est un café, un yaourt et des fruits. = What I have, it’s a coffee, yogurt and fruit.

Qu’est-ce que tu sais sur cette pièce que nous allons voir ? = What do you know about the play that we are going to see?
– Ce que je sais, c’est qu’il y aura beaucoup d’humour. = What I know is that there will be lots of humor.

Qu’est-ce qui t’intéresse dans ton travail ? = What interests you with your job?
– Ce qui m’intéresse, c’est le salaire ! = What is interesting to me, it’s the salary!

Qu’est-ce qui vous stresse ? = What stresses you?
– Ce qui me stresse, c’est de ne pas avoir assez de temps pour mes enfants. = What stresses me is to not have enough time for my children.

Céline Van Loan

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