French Grammar Tips: How To Use ‘Quel’

Quel is an interrogative adjective used in questions to mean ‘which’ or ‘that’. It has to agree with the noun that it precedes, and the different forms are as follows:

masculine singular – quel
masculine plural – quels
feminine singular – quelle
feminine plural – quelles

Here are some examples of questions using quel:

Quelle heure est-il? – What time is it?
Il est dix heures vingt. – It’s ten twenty.

Quel temps fait-il? – What’s the weather like?
Il fait du soleil mais il fait froid. – It’s sunny but cold.

Quel âge avez-vous? – How old are you?
J’ai trente-cinq ans.

Quels fruits aimez-vous? – Which fruits do you like?
J’aime les fraises et les framboises. – I like strawberries and raspberries.

Ils prennent quel train? – Which train are they taking?
Ils prennent le prochain train. – They’re taking the next train.

Quel can also be used in indirect questions, as follows:

Elle m’a demandé quel film j’avais vu. – She asked me which film I’d seen.

Je voulais savoir quels pays il avait visités. – I wanted to know which countries he had visited.

Tu sais quelle robe j’ai achetée. – You know which dress I bought.

Quel can also be used to mean ‘what a…’

Quel dommage! – What a pity!

Quelle belle dame! – What a beautiful lady!

With thanks to Elizabeth Allen