Aide Memoire: Quel in its many forms

In this aide mémoire we will look at Quel and its many forms as these will factor into 2-3 questions on the grammar exam and will aid with both the oral exam and the reading exam.  Using one or two of these constructions on the oral exam will demonstrate a B level of speaking.  This aide mémoire will highlight the types and levels of questions that will be found on the test.  There are more complex uses of these words you may find in daily writing, but these exercises will suffice to accelerate your ability to do well on the exam.

The following tables show the various forms.

Pro-Tip: The key in understanding which one to use is determining the reference point—the thing that Quel is referring to then matching the gender and determining if it is plural.

Some examples of de which are often followed by Quel and change to become one of the above de examples include, but are not limited to these:

Please note that dont, from another aide mémoire, appears to be similar to the duquel constructions.  The general rule is:  Use dont if you are using a verbal phrase and duquel for a prepositional phrase.  There are some exceptions.

Dont will appear in other settings.  The second tip is that if a Quel solution doesn’t fit, it is likely dont.  These situations include where possession is indicated.  This is unlikely to be found on the test and won’t be with a B level.

Examples:

Je parle de l’entreprise./I speak of the business.

L’entreprise dont je parle./The business of which I speak of.

In these two phrases, dont is followed by a subject (je) and verb (parle).

L’élève à côté duquel vous êtes assis./ The student you are sitting next to.

In this phrase à côté de changes to à côté duquel because of the preposition de as seen the prepositional phrase chart.