Est-ce que vs. Qu'est-ce que: Which One to Use?

Est-ce que vous aimez le chocolat ? asks yes or no. Qu'est-ce que vous aimez ? asks what. One extra word, que, changes the entire kind of answer the question is asking for. This page covers how each one works, and how they combine with other question words.

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1. Est-ce que : signalling a yes/no question
2. Qu'est-ce que : opening the question up
3. Building other questions on the same base

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Est-ce que : signalling a yes/no question

Est-ce que has no natural English translation, though it literally breaks down as « is it that », which is part of why it works the way it does: it's asking for confirmation, so the only sensible answers are oui or non.

Est-ce que tu bois du vin rouge ? (Do you drink red wine?)

Est-ce que vous travaillez le samedi ? (Do you work on Saturdays?)

English signals this kind of question by flipping the subject and an auxiliary verb (do you, are you). French can do something similar with inversion, but in everyday conversation, est-ce que is used far more often than inversion.

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Qu'est-ce que : opening the question up

Add que (equivalent to « what ») in front of est-ce que and the question stops being a yes/no question altogether. Que shortens to qu' before a vowel sound, which is why it's written qu'est-ce que rather than que est-ce que.

Qu'est-ce que tu manges ? (What are you eating?)

Qu'est-ce que Clément préfère ? Le foot ou le rugby ? (What does Clément prefer? Football or rugby?)

A yes/no answer no longer makes sense here, the question is now genuinely open.

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Building other questions on the same base

Que isn't the only word that combines with est-ce que this way. Any other question word can slot in front of it the same way.

Quand est-ce que tu pars au Japon ? (When are you leaving for Japan?)

Pourquoi est-ce que tu as peur ? (Why are you afraid?)

Combien d'amis est-ce qu'il invite ? (How many friends is he inviting?)

Où est-ce que vous avez acheté ce vase ? (Where did you buy this vase?)

Comment est-ce que vous voyagez ? (How do you travel?)

Same pattern every time: question word, then est-ce que, then the statement you'd otherwise make. That said, once a word like combien or quand is already signalling a question this way, est-ce que becomes optional in informal spoken French, combien d'amis est-ce qu'il invite ? and combien d'amis il invite ? ask exactly the same thing, the second is just how people actually talk.