who

who

❢ Who is translated by qui. In questions qui on its own as the object of a verb requires inversion of the verb : who did he call? = qui a-t-il appelé? but qui followed by est-ce que or est-ce qui needs no inversion : qui est-ce qu'il a appelé? Note, however, that the form il a appelé qui? is also used in spoken French.

For particular usages see the entry below.pron

1 (interrogative) (as subject) qui (est-ce qui) ; (as object) qui (est-ce que) ; (after prepositions) qui ; who knows the answer? qui connaît la réponse? ; who did you invite? qui est-ce que tu as invité?, qui as-tu invité? ; who's going to be there? qui sera là? ; behind/next to who? derrière/à côté de qui? ; who was she with? elle était avec qui?, avec qui était-elle? ; who does he live with? il habite avec qui?, avec qui est-ce qu'il habite? ; who did you buy it for? pour qui l'as-tu acheté? ; who did you get it from? qui te l'a donné? ; ‘I gave it away’-‘who to?’ ‘je l'ai donné’-‘à qui?’ ; do you know who's who? est-ce que tu sais qui est qui? ; I was strolling along when who should I see but Diane je me promenais et devine qui j'ai rencontré…Diane ; who shall I say is calling? (on phone) ‘c'est de la part de qui?’ ;

2 (relative) (as subject) qui ; (as object) que ; (after prepositions) qui ; his friend who lives/who he sees son ami qui habite/qu'il voit ; he/she who celui/celle qui ; they ou those who ceux/celles qui ; those who have something to say should speak up now quiconque a quelque chose à dire doit le dire or ceux qui ont quelque chose à dire doivent le dire maintenant ;

3 (whoever) bring who you like tu peux amener qui tu veux ; who do you think you are? tu te prends pour qui? ; who do you think you're talking to? à qui est-ce que tu crois parler? ; who's he to tell you what to do? de quel droit est-ce qu'il te donne des ordres?

Big English-French dictionary. 2003.