Interrogative and Exclamatory Determiners For Intermediate learners
What Are Interrogative and Exclamative Determiners in French?
Interrogative and exclamative determiners (les déterminants interrogatifs et exclamatifs) are words placed before a noun to introduce either a question (interrogative use), or an exclamation expressing emotion such as surprise, admiration, anger, or intensity (exclamative use).
They always accompany a noun and must agree in gender and number with that noun.
Forms of Interrogative and Exclamative Determiners
French has four main forms, depending on gender and number. The forms are identical; only the function (question vs exclamation) changes.
Form | Gender | Number |
|---|---|---|
quel | masculine | singular |
quelle | feminine | singular |
quels | masculine | plural |
quelles | feminine | plural |
Interrogative Determiners
Interrogative determiners are used to ask about the identity, choice, or nature of a noun. They can appear in:
direct questions
indirect questions
Direct Questions
In direct questions, the determiner introduces a noun the speaker wants to identify. The structure is quel + noun + verb + subject pronoun. Quel remains directly before the noun.
Quel livre lis-tu ?
Which book are you reading?
Quelle heure est-il ?
What time is it?
Quels films aimes-tu ?
Which movies do you like?
Quelles langues parles-tu ?
Which languages do you speak?
Question with être
The noun phrase is the subject, so no inversion is used. Quel comes before the verb, not the noun. The structure is quel + être + noun phrase.
Quel est ton livre préféré ?
Which is your favorite book?
Quelle est ta profession ?
Indirect Questions
In indirect questions, the sentence is no longer a question grammatically, but the meaning remains interrogative.
Je ne sais pas quel film il regarde.
I don't know what movie he's watching.
Explique-moi quelles solutions sont possibles.
Explain to me what solutions are possible.
Exclamative Determiners
Exclamative determiners are used to express strong emotion, such as surprise, admiration, disappointment, and intensity. They usually appear in exclamatory sentences, often with an exclamation mark.
They often correspond to English expressions like what a…, what…, how….
Quel talent !
What talent!
Quelle belle journée !
What a beautiful day!
Quels enfants adorables !
What adorable children!
Quelles belles fleurs !
What beautiful flowers!
Tip!
In French typography, the exclamation mark (!) and the question mark (?) are preceded by a space. For example:
Quelle belle journée ! (not Quelle belle journée! )
What a beautiful day!
Agreement Rules
Interrogative and exclamative determiners always agree with the noun they introduce.
Quel problème ? (masculine singular)
What problem?
Quelle idée ! (feminine singular)
What an idea!
Quels élèves ? (masculine plural)
Which students?
Quelles fleurs ! (feminine plural)
What flowers!
Determiners and Adjectives
With adjectives the structure is quel / quelle / quels / quelles + adjective + noun. For example:
Quelle belle robe !
What a beautiful dress!
Quels nouveaux projets proposes-tu ?
What new projects are you proposing?
Determiners vs. Pronouns
Do not confuse interrogative determiners with interrogative pronouns. Determiners are followed by a noun, but pronouns replace the noun.
Quel livre veux-tu ?
Which book do you want?
Lequel veux-tu ?
Which one do you want?
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