The word who in french


These examples may contain rude words based on your search.


These examples may contain colloquial words based on your search.


He was also the judicial officer who convicted the appellant.



Il a été également l’autorité judiciaire qui a condamné le requérant.


Such marriages are carried out by agents, who collect commissions.



Ces mariages sont arrangés par des agents qui perçoivent des commissions.


Those who have already been identified should be released without delay.



Ceux qui ont déjà été identifiés doivent être libérés sans délai.


Students who complete their elementary training receive an official certificate.



L’élève qui a terminé sa formation élémentaire reçoit une attestation officielle.


See how he punishes those who refuse to sacrifice the innocent.



Vois comment il punit ceux qui refusent de sacrifier les innocents.


The people who live there genuinely seek to improve their communities.



Ceux qui habitent là veulent réellement améliorer leur milieu de vie.


We have many clients who have discovered and appreciated our difference.



Nombreux sont nos clients qui ont découvert et apprécié notre différence.


We wish to express our solidarity with all those who are fighting.



Nous souhaitons exprimer notre solidarité avec tous ceux qui combattent.


The spectator is a prince who everywhere rejoices in his incognito.



L’observateur est un prince qui jouit partout de son incognito.


Those who are going through a creative crisis do weird suggestions.



Ceux qui traversent une crise de créativité font des suggestions bizarres.


The cowards who committed these treacherous crimes have been defeated.



Les lâches qui ont commit ces actes de trahison ont été défait.


What’s important is choosing someone who understands your problems.



Il est important que vous élisiez quelqu’un qui comprenne vos problèmes.


For the couple who has everything… two matching burner phones.



Pour un couple qui avait tout… deux portables jetables identiques.


Others were legal immigrants who could apply for permanent residence.



D’autres sont des immigrés légaux qui peuvent demander la résidence permanente.


The ultimate weapon for power players who want to control anything.



L’arme ultime pour de puissants joueurs qui veulent tout contrôler.


Cameron took patients who suffered a wide range of mental problems.



Cameron s’occupait de patients qui souffraient de divers problèmes mentaux.


And the mysterious girl who seems to hesitate between several roles.



Et la mystérieuse jeune fille qui semble hésiter entre plusieurs rôles.


A partial indulgence is attached to those who pray this litany.



Une indulgence partielle est attachée à ceux qui prient cette litanie.


Immediate enhanced assistance will be made available for those who qualify.



Une aide accrue immédiate sera disponible pour ceux qui se qualifient.


The juries who awarded these prizes were themselves literary translators.



Les jurés qui ont décerné ces prix étaient eux-mêmes des traducteurs littéraires.

Formes composées
who | WHO | World Health Organization Anglais Français anybody who’s anybody pron informal (anyone who is important) (familier) tout le gratin pron anyone who’s anyone pron (important person) les gens importants nmpl determine whether/what/why/who vtr (facts: ascertain) déterminer si/ce qui/ce que/pourquoi/qui vtr + conj   «We must determine what exactly happened that night,» said Inspector Brown.   «Nous devons déterminer ce qui s’est passé exactement cette nuit-là», dit l’Inspecteur Brown. dread to think what/how/who v expr (find unpleasant to imagine) ne pas oser imaginer ce que/comment/qui/… loc v   I dread to think how the victim’s family must be feeling.   Je n’ose pas imaginer ce que ressent la famille de la victime. Heaven helps those who help themselves. expr (Take action.) Aide-toi et le Ciel t’aidera. expr   She prayed that he would notice her, but Heaven helps those who help themselves. inquire as to whether/when/how/who/what,
enquire as to whether/when/how/who/what
vtr formal (with clause: ask) demander si/quand/comment/qui/ce que vtr + conj   I am writing to to inquire as to whether your company has any vacancies. know that,
know who,
know what,
know why
vtr (be aware) (être conscient de) savoir que/qui/quoi/pourquoi vtr   Does he know that we’ve arrived?   Sait-il que nous sommes arrivés ? learn who,
learn what,
learn why
vtr + pron (details, reasons: ascertain) découvrir⇒, apprendre⇒ vtr   After weeks of work, the detective finally learned who the killer was.   Après des semaines de travail, le détective a fini par découvrir (or: apprendre) qui était le meurtrier. no matter who expr (with clause: whoever) peu importe qui     quiconque pron   No matter who says that the sky is green, they are still wrong.   Peu importe qui a dit que le ciel est vert, il a tort.   Quiconque a dit que le ciel est vert a tort. realize how/what/who,
also UK: realise how/what/who
vtr + conj (be aware) se rendre compte de comment/combien/ce que/qui/… v pron     réaliser comment/combien/ce que/qui/… vtr   He doesn’t realize how important this is for me.   Il ne se rend pas compte à quel point cela est important pour moi.   Il ne réalise pas à quel point cela est important pour moi. run [sth] up the flagpole,
run [sth] up the flagpole to see who salutes it
expr figurative (present [sth] to gauge interest) tâter le terrain loc v    (une idée) lancer⇒ vtr who cares,
who cares?
interj informal (I don’t care) et alors ?, quelle importance ? interj     c’est pas grave interj    (un peu familier) on s’en fiche interj     qu’est-ce que ça peut faire interj   So you’ve made a few teeny mistakes – who cares!   Tu as fait quelques petites fautes ? Et alors ? who knows interj (expressing that [sth] is unknown) qui sait interj   I wonder why she said such a weird thing — who knows!   Cette phrase n’est pas une traduction de la phrase originale. Il existe peut-être un autre monde parallèle au nôtre, allez savoir !     va savoir, allez savoir interj   Cette phrase n’est pas une traduction de la phrase originale. Il existe peut-être un autre monde parallèle au nôtre, allez savoir ! who on earth pron informal (who, what person) qui adv    (vieilli) qui diable expr who would have thought it?,
who would have thought?
interj (expressing surprise) qui l’eût cru interj   Wow, that’s really interesting – who would’ve thought?   Voilà qui est intéressant ! Qui l’eût cru ? who’d contraction colloquial, abbreviation (who would) qui + [conditionnel]   Who’d want a job like that? Who’d be able to afford to buy such an expensive pair of shoes?   Qui voudrait d’un travail comme ça ? Qui pourrait se payer une paire des chaussures aussi chère ? who’d contraction informal, abbreviation (who did) qui + [passé composé/passé simple]   Who’d you say that man was? who’ll contraction colloquial, abbreviation (who will) qui sera   Who’ll be at the party?   Qui sera à la fête ? who’re contraction colloquial, abbreviation (who are) (avec «tu») qui es    (avec «nous») qui sommes    (avec «vous») qui êtes    (avec «ils» ou «elles») qui sont   Who’re those people over there?   Qui sont ces gens là-bas ? who’s contraction colloquial, contraction (who is) qui est     qui   Who’s knocking at the door?   Qui frappe à la porte ? who’s who expr (identities) qui est qui   I’m not sure who’s who in these old family photos.   Je ne suis pas sûr de qui est qui sur ces vieilles photos de famille. who’ve expr contraction (who have) (avec «tu») qui as    (avec «nous») qui avons    (avec «vous») qui avez    (avec «ils» ou «elles») qui ont you-know-who n informal ([sb] unnamed but understood) (familier) tu sais qui nm

1. qui

Cette phrase inspira à un petit enfant l’idée de mettre des punaises dans le lit de ses parents ce qui eut pour résultat une plainte contre l’auteur de cette anodine juxtaposition de mots.

Savez-vous qui c’est ?

Sophie aimait les bêtes : elle avait déjà eu un poulet, un écureuil, un chat, un âne ; sa maman ne voulait pas lui donner un chien, de peur qu’il ne devînt enragé, ce qui arrive assez souvent.

Pour savoir si une phrase n’est probablement pas licite, la recette est simple: Il suffit d’écrire un algorithme qui génère des phrases en prenant des mots au hasard dans le dictionnaire, puis de chercher si elle se trouve dans Tatoeba.

Qu’il plaise à Dieu que je sois parmi les roses, qui pour t’embrasser se penchent tandis que tu balances, alors que sur la plus basse branche un bourgeon se déploie, un bourgeon se déploie, pour te toucher, ma Reine.

Qui est plus utile, le soleil ou la lune ? La lune, bien entendu, elle brille quand il fait noir, alors que le soleil brille uniquement quand il fait clair.

« Cesse de me supplier pour avoir un biscuit, Tim », dit sa mère. « Rappelle-toi, les enfants qui demandent avec trop d’insistance sont exclus de la distribution de biscuits ».

Il y a une règle qui fonctionne pour chaque calamité. Que ce soit la peste, la guerre ou la famine ; les riches s’enrichissent et les pauvres s’appauvrissent. Les pauvres y contribuent, même.

Le voisinage s’est embourgeoisé. Désormais, ça grouille de pseudo-branchés qui sucent des latte écrémés au Starbucks. Ils s’agglutinent autour du café et du WiFi gratuit comme des abeilles autour d’un pot de miel.

French word «who»(qui) occurs in sets:

Questions words — Mots interrogatifs
MOTS DE LIAISON

I was recently revising the English-French entry for the word who and felt that, in addition to the dictionary entry, some words of explanation may help. Who is one of those awkward little words that feels like it should be simple, but sometimes things aren’t that straightforward. It’s also a frequently searched-for word in the dictionary.

Who when used to ask a question

When used to ask a question, the French word for who is practically always qui. But as with asking questions in French generally, what happens to the rest of the sentence can be more tricky.

In informal speech, a very common way to ask a question is to use what’s technically called an in situ question. This is a question with «normal sentence order». In English, in situ questions are generally only used for emphasis or to suggest surprise («you saw who yesterday?»). But in French, at least in informal speech, they’re a common, neutral way of asking a question:

(1) T’as vu qui?
Literally: «You’ve seen who?»
Who did you see?
Vous voyez qui ce soir?
Literally: «You are-seeing who this evening»
Who are you seeing this evening?

(2) Elle vient avec qui?
Literally: «She comes with who?»
Who’s she coming with?

(3) Qui est là?
Who’s there?
Qui vient demain?
Who’s coming tomorrow?

When qui is the subject of the verb, as in the last example, the verb generally takes the il/elle (3rd person singular) form. As in English, a common exception is qui sont…? for who are…?. Notice too that the abbreviated form t’as is common in this informal style, whereas in more formal/careful speech and writing, the form would be tu as. To give you an idea of level of formality, (1) and (2) would be acceptable when talking with or writing an e-mail to a friend (or in an on-line chat session). (3) is pretty much always acceptable: when qui is the subject, there’s really no other place in the sentence to move it to…!

Qui can also be used with est-ce que, often used as a general «question marker» in French. However, as the subject, the form is qui est-ce qui. (If you’re not familiar with the notions of subject and object, then roughly speaking, qui is the subject when it is asking about who is doing the action, and the object when asking about who is receiving it; another way of looking at things is that it’s probably the subject if there isn’t some other subject[1]!) Here are some example sentences with qui est-ce que and qui est-ce qui:

Qui est-ce qui vient?
Who’s coming?
Qui est-ce que tu as vu hier?
Who did you see yeterday?
Avec qui est-ce qu’il vient?
Who is he coming with?

These forms are not particularly informal or formal: they would generally be acceptable in most spoken and written contexts. Notice how in French, you would never split up avec qui, whereas in English, it sounds quite unnatural not to use the formula who … with?.

In formal French, if qui is the object of the verb (or of a preposition), then it can be used with inversion: qui invitez-vous?; avec qui vient-il?. When inversion is acceptable, which form is used and how formal it sounds is quite a complex issue. At GCSE/SAT level, try and make sure you understand inversion, but you’ll generally not need to use it.

Who in relative clauses

Something that occurs in various languages is that the words used to ask questions are also used to introduce relative clauses: in other words, a description that is a «sentence inside a sentence», as in the man who I saw yesterday.

In these cases, French uses qui for the subject and que for the object. For example:

L’ami qui vient demain…
The friend who’s coming tomorrow…
L’homme qui m’a aidé.
The man who helped me.
(qui is the subject of ‘vient‘/’aider‘)

L’ami que je vois ce soir…
The friend who I’m seeing tonight…
L’homme que j’ai vu hier.
The man who I saw yesterday.
(que is the object of ‘vois‘/’ai vu‘: notice how there’s another subject, je, as a clue that qui/que can’t be the subject in this case)

However, qui is still used for the object of a preposition:

L’ami avec qui je sors ce soir.
The friend who I’m going out with tonight.

Notice that in standard French, avec qui is not split up, whereas in English the usual formula is to split up who … with. Some French speakers might actually sometimes say «…que je sors avec», but this is definitely non-standard, would be consider «uneducated» by many speakers, and would be avoided in more careful speech and writing. For more details about this construction, see Ball, R. (2000) referenced below.

[1] A more formal definition is that the subject is the part of the sentence that the verb «agrees» with.

Further reading

For an overview of the standard question forms with qui, see Price (2007), A Comprehensive French Grammar, pages 194 onwards.
For information about various non-standard question forms and relative clauses that occur in colloquial speech, I recommend Ball, R. (2000), Colloquial French Grammar. See pages 26-55.

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