French grammar - Which - quel, quelle, quels and quelles

Which - quel, quelle, quels & quelles

The Interrogative adjectives quel, quelle, quels and quelles mean 'which'.

And in French these must agree in gender and number with the object being referred to:

• quel - masculine singular

• quelle - feminine singular

• quels - masculine plural

• quelles - feminine plural

Normally as question words, these should come at the start of the phrase. But colloquially, they can go anywhere.

When used with the verb être ('to be'), quel etc. can simply mean 'what'.

Examples:
	Quel film veux-tu voir ? What movie do you (familiar) want to see?
	Quelle jupe veux-tu ? What skirt do you (familiar) want?
	Quelle ville est la plus jolie : Annecy ou Nancy ? Which city is the prettiest: Annecy or Nancy? le (or la) plus means 'the most' la plus jolie therefore is 'the most pretty' or 'the prettiest'
	Quels livres veut-elle ? What books does she want? livres is masculine plural so use quels
	Quel plat veux-tu ? What dish do you (familiar) want?
	À quel théâtre allez-vous demain ? Which theatre are you (formal) going to tomorrow? théâtre (m) means 'theatre'
	Quels pays d'Europe sont montagneux ? Which countries in Europe are mountainous? pays is masculine but the number is ambiguous, but sont implies plural so use quels pays (m) means 'country' montagneux (m) means 'mountainous'
	Dans quelle boîte est la récompense ? In which box is the reward (prize)? recompense (f) means 'reward'
	Sur quelles montagnes est-ce qu'il y a des chèvres de montagne ? On which mountains are there mountain goats? montagnes is feminine plural so we use quelles montagne (f) means 'mountain chèvre (f) means 'goat'
	Quels types de bagues y a-t-il dans la bijouterie ? What types of rings are there in the jewelry store? bague (f) means 'ring' (jewelry)
	Quel jour es-tu libre ? What day are you (familiar) free? libre (m) means 'free'
	Quelle est la solution ? What is the solution? Here quelle with the verb être is 'what is' rather than 'which is'
	Quels sont les cours les plus intéressants ? What are the most interesting courses? cours (m) means 'course' or 'subject' or 'lesson'
	Quelle est la plus belle princesse du royaume ? Who is the most beautiful princess in the kingdom? princesse (f) means 'princess' royaume (m) means 'kingdom'
	Quel jour sommes-nous ? What day of the week is it? This is a standard to ask what day of the week it is.
	Quelle heure est-il ? What time is it? This is one standard to ask the time of day.
	Quelle est l'adresse du bureau ? What is the address of the office? Here quelle with the verb être is 'what is' rather than 'which is'
	Quelle est la capitale de l'Allemagne ? What is the capital of German? Here quelle with the verb être is 'what is' rather than 'which is' allemand (f) means 'German' capitale (f) means 'capital city'
	Quels sont les pays francophones ? What are the French-speaking countries? Here quels with the verb être is 'what are' rather than 'which are' francophone (m) means 'French speaking'