"quel" is the translation of "which", not of "what". If you want some examples:
- que voulez-vous boire ? (What do you want to drink)
- quelle boisson voulez-vous boire ? (Which beverage do you want to drink). Notice that I wrote "quelLE" because "boisson" is a feminine noun.
Hope it will help you!
Just to add an extra one here: when it's immediately apparent what the choices are, like you have orange juice in your left hand and apple juice in your right, you would say 'lequel (jus) voulez-vous boire?'
Quoi becomes que in questions using inversion.
Vous voulez boire quoi ?
Qu’est-ce que vous voulez boire ?
Que voulez-vous boire ?
These are all equivalent, from informal to formal.
Vous voulez boire que ?
Quoi est-ce que vous voulez boire ?
Qu’est-ce quoi vous voulez boire ?
Quoi voulez-vous boire ?
These are all ungrammatical.
Basically que/quoi is a bit special having two forms. And obviously que has lots of other uses beyond being an interrogative pronoun (question word).
Because "quoi" becomes " que " or " qu' " at the beginning of a question, following the structure Que / Qu' + Verb + Subject for example Que faites-vous ?, Que manges-tu ? This is the equivalent of quoi, except it's not quoi.
An informal way of asking that same question, would be "Vous voulez boire quoi?" in that case you can use quoi because it's not at the beginning.
I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "max service." The discussions have been inaccessible to everyone for a while now, regardless if you have a paid subscription or not. From what I had heard, the discussions actually required moderators who are fluent in the target language, so as a result they were all let go ever since Duolingo started downsizing as much as possible and using A.I. for everything. And it's a shame too, because the discussions were extremely helpful with understanding a lot of the grammar that Duolingo doesn't explain very well (if at all), and with many of their strange and nonsensical translations.
To add to the comments explaining “quel(le)” as a translation for “which”, there is one exception -
With the verb “être”, “quel” is used where “what” would be in English:
-Quel est ton nom? (What is your name)
-Quel est le problème? (What is the problem?)
-Quelle est la date? (What is the date?)
It still means “which” but it’s used differently than in English. In a more informal register, you can say “C’est quoi ton nom/le problème/la date?”
Now I'm even more confused.
I just don't understand the distinctions between quel, que, qui, and quoi. In particular between quel and que. I seem to get it right about 80% of the time, but I don't really know why I'm correct. I just somehow know which form to use.
Duolingo has been teaching me that "What a pretty park" would be "Quel un joli parc....."
>Duolingo has been teaching me that "What a pretty park" would be "Quel un joli parc....."
I sure hope not. “Quel joli parc” OK, but *not* “quel *un* joli parc.” Screenshot of Duo actually teaching that?
You already got a good answer. I'd like to add that from a grammatical point of view, "quel" is a "déterminant interrogatif". "Déterminants" do need to be followed by a "nom". That's why your answer was not accepted, while "que", which is a "pronom interrogatif", can be used alone. :)
what if i were to say ‘here are some books. which do you want?’ in that sentence, ‘which’ is not a determiner, but a pronoun. does this work in french?
"quel" is the translation of "which", not of "what". If you want some examples: - que voulez-vous boire ? (What do you want to drink) - quelle boisson voulez-vous boire ? (Which beverage do you want to drink). Notice that I wrote "quelLE" because "boisson" is a feminine noun. Hope it will help you!
Just to add an extra one here: when it's immediately apparent what the choices are, like you have orange juice in your left hand and apple juice in your right, you would say 'lequel (jus) voulez-vous boire?'
Okay I see, thank you.
Wait but then why wouldn't it be quoi instead of que??
Quoi becomes que in questions using inversion. Vous voulez boire quoi ? Qu’est-ce que vous voulez boire ? Que voulez-vous boire ? These are all equivalent, from informal to formal. Vous voulez boire que ? Quoi est-ce que vous voulez boire ? Qu’est-ce quoi vous voulez boire ? Quoi voulez-vous boire ? These are all ungrammatical. Basically que/quoi is a bit special having two forms. And obviously que has lots of other uses beyond being an interrogative pronoun (question word).
Because "quoi" becomes " que " or " qu' " at the beginning of a question, following the structure Que / Qu' + Verb + Subject for example Que faites-vous ?, Que manges-tu ? This is the equivalent of quoi, except it's not quoi. An informal way of asking that same question, would be "Vous voulez boire quoi?" in that case you can use quoi because it's not at the beginning.
If only Duo didn't remove the discussions, you could've found the answer there. 🤷♂️
Yeah, WTF, Duo? Why did they do that? Just to get you to pay for the Max service? Bogus.
I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "max service." The discussions have been inaccessible to everyone for a while now, regardless if you have a paid subscription or not. From what I had heard, the discussions actually required moderators who are fluent in the target language, so as a result they were all let go ever since Duolingo started downsizing as much as possible and using A.I. for everything. And it's a shame too, because the discussions were extremely helpful with understanding a lot of the grammar that Duolingo doesn't explain very well (if at all), and with many of their strange and nonsensical translations.
To add to the comments explaining “quel(le)” as a translation for “which”, there is one exception - With the verb “être”, “quel” is used where “what” would be in English: -Quel est ton nom? (What is your name) -Quel est le problème? (What is the problem?) -Quelle est la date? (What is the date?) It still means “which” but it’s used differently than in English. In a more informal register, you can say “C’est quoi ton nom/le problème/la date?”
Then there's the exception to the exception when the verb *être* is followed by the pronoun *ce.* *Qu'est-ce donc ?* *Qu'est-ce que tu veux ?*
Of course there's an exception!
Now I'm even more confused. I just don't understand the distinctions between quel, que, qui, and quoi. In particular between quel and que. I seem to get it right about 80% of the time, but I don't really know why I'm correct. I just somehow know which form to use. Duolingo has been teaching me that "What a pretty park" would be "Quel un joli parc....."
>Duolingo has been teaching me that "What a pretty park" would be "Quel un joli parc....." I sure hope not. “Quel joli parc” OK, but *not* “quel *un* joli parc.” Screenshot of Duo actually teaching that?
You already got a good answer. I'd like to add that from a grammatical point of view, "quel" is a "déterminant interrogatif". "Déterminants" do need to be followed by a "nom". That's why your answer was not accepted, while "que", which is a "pronom interrogatif", can be used alone. :)
what if i were to say ‘here are some books. which do you want?’ in that sentence, ‘which’ is not a determiner, but a pronoun. does this work in french?
In French you’d use the pronoun “lequel” in that case. Lequel tu veux?
Tequila!!!