"What is impossible?"
Translation:Qu'est-ce qui est impossible ?
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1386
But it says bellow in this thread that qui means who and que means what. So why use qui here? Shouldn't that mean who is impossible and not what is impossible?
Que and Qui can be either interrogative pronouns or relative pronouns:
As interrogative pronouns:
FORMAL:
- qui est là ? = who is there?
- que fais-tu ? = what are you doing?
VARIANTS:
- qui est-ce qui est là ? = who is it that is there?: the 1st "qui" is interrogative subject and the 2nd "qui" is relative subject
- qu'est-ce qui est là ? = what is it that is there?: "qu'" is interrogative subject and "qui" is relative subject
- qui est-ce que tu vois ? = whom do you see?: "qui" is interrogative subject and "que" is relative object
- qu'est-ce que tu fais? = what is it that you do?: "qu'" is interrogative subject and "que" is relative object
As relative pronouns:
- "qui" is subject and can represent masculine or feminine, singular or plural nouns:
-- l'homme / la femme qui est là = the man who is there
-- le chien qui dort ici = the dog that is sleeping here
-- la chose qui est impossible = the thing that is impossible
--- les vêtements qui sont lavés = the clothes that are washed
- "que" is object and can represent masculine or feminine, singular or plural nouns:
--- l'homme que je vois = the man whom I see
-- le chien que je promène = the dog that I walk
-- la chose que je veux faire = the thing that I want to do
-- les vêtements que je lave = the clothes that I wash
Sitesurf, I can't reply to your question for some reason so am replying to myself. The app is the only problem. If someone replies I get an email alert then I can click the link and view it on the Web. The Web based pages I can follow easily but not when I'm on the app, as I invariably am when I find a useful comment. The only way to save it for later is to reply to it.
2862
So could this question vary according to context?
- He's doing the impossible.
-- What's the impossible?
- He's trying to win the marathon.
-- That's impossible. He can't do it.
Can we translate that second sentence to "qu'est ce qu'est impossible ?"
Well, you actually changed the question. "What is impossible?" is different from "What is the impossible?"
In the Duolingo sentence, "impossible" is a predicate adjective modifying "What." In the second sentence, "impossible" is actually the subject, and "What" is the object. (You can rewrite it as "The impossible is what?").
So in the second case the translation would be, « Qu'est-ce que c'est l'impossible? »
1562
A useful tip is that the "qui" in "Est-ce qui" is usually immediately followed by a verb (because it is the subject), whereas the que in "Est-ce que" is usually followed by the subject and then the verb.
Hi there! You are right, "quel" can be used in front of verb "être", when there is no specific frame of reference:
-
quel/qui est ton chanteur préféré ? = quel/qui chanteur est ton préféré ? = who is your favorite singer?
-
quel est son nom ? = comment s'appelle-t-il/elle ? = what is his/her name?
You will use "lequel est ton chanteur préféré ? = which one is your favorite singer? when the frame of reference is more closely defined, like "between X, Y a,d Z..."
Some people use "non-words" to complement their speech, like "you know?" every now and then, in English (in French: tu sais ? or vous savez ?).
Among these non-words, some use "quoi" without any intention to mean anything with it (below, non-words are in italics):
- bon, alors, tu sais, je lui ai dit : "c'est impossible, quoi !" tu sais, il exagère, quoi ! alors, bon, il n'a qu'à faire un effort, quoi !
See what I mean?
2862
But you stated above that "quoi est impossible ?" is a casual way to ask the question.
So, can we use it in written conversations? not formally, of course.
this sentence has confused me a lot :)
115
Oh i see so i was supposed to put another est in front of the impossible .. But why aren't qui and eat become qu'est ?
"what is impossible?" means "what thing is impossible?" and it is a question.
So your question has to start with the translation of "what is?".
All questions starting with "what is" can be translated to "qu'est-ce qui est" (lit. what is it that is). This is an idiom that you have to learn as is.
In speech, you may hear people say "quoi est impossible ?" but it is not proper French, for "quoi" should not start a question.
Let's parse this:
qu' = what
est = is
ce = it
qu' = that
il = it
est = is
impossible = impossible
Actually, you have used "qu'il" (conjunction + a new subject in the form of an impersonal pronoun = that it) instead of "qui" (relative pronoun = that).
As a consequence "qu'est-ce qu'il est impossible... " misses something like "... de faire ?", as if the English were "what is it that is impossible... to do?"
371
qui
is subject, before le verbe: qu'est-ce qui est
hard?
que
is object, complete a transitive verbe: qu'est-ce que tu veux
?
Qui est-ce qui est arrivé ? = Who has arrived? - the subject is a person
Qu'est-ce qui fait ce bruit ? = What makes this sound? - the subject is a thing
Qui est-ce que tu cherches ? Marie ? - Who are you looking for? Marie? - the object is a person.
Qu'est-ce que vous voulez ? Du café ? - what do you want? Coffee? - the object is a thing
"Qui" can be two things:
- an interrogative word meaning "who", as in "who's there?" = Qui est là ?
- a relative subject pronoun meaning "that/who/which", as in "I know the man who is here" = "je connais l'homme qui est ici", or "There are things that worry me" = "Il y a des choses qui m'inquiètent"
"What is impossible?" translates to "qu'est-ce qui est impossible ?", literally "what is it that is impossible", where "qui/that" is a relative pronoun, representing "qu'/what" and the subject of "est/is".
576
Doesn't 'qui' mean 'who'?? Why is the word 'qui' in the sentence "What is impossible?"
1415
Not when it is part of the question stem "qu'est-ce qui". This stem is always followed by a verb and then it means "What" A good phrase to learn is "Qu'est-ce qui se passe?" which means WHAT is going on?