quoi
Bourguignon
Alternative forms
- quei (Morvan)
Etymology
From Latin quid; ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷid, compare *kʷis. Cognate to French quoi.
Pronoun
quoi
Usage notes
In some parts of Bourgogne, quoi is often confounded with quei, originally meaning which?. For example, it is not uncommon to hear aivoi de quei instead of aivoi de quoi ('to have enough').
Further reading
- “quoi”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
French
Alternative forms
- quoy (obsolete)
Etymology
From Latin quid; ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷid, compare *kʷis. Cognate to English what, which differs due to changing under Grimm’s law.
Pronoun
quoi
- (interrogative; for things) what
- (after a preposition)
- De quoi parle-t-il ? ― What is he talking about?
- À quoi penses-tu ? ― What are you thinking about?
- À quoi cela sert-il ? ― What is this used for?
- Avec quoi cela se mange-t-il ? ― What is this supposed to be eaten with?
- En vue de quoi fais-tu cela ? ― What are you doing this for?
- (attributive or direct object; colloquial)
- (after a preposition)
- (relative; for things) what, (that) which
- (direct object)
- Je sais quoi faire.
- I know what to do.
- Je ne sais pas quoi faire.(more formal French: Je ne sais que faire.)
- I don't know what to do.
- (after a preposition)
- Laisse-moi te montrer ce sur quoi je travaille en ce moment.
- Let me show you what I am working on at the moment.
- (literally, “...that on which I am working...”)
- Et voilà à quoi nous avons passé notre temps.
- And that's what we've spent our time on.
- Ils ont perdu beaucoup d’argent, en conséquence de quoi ils ont dû fermer le magasin.
- They've lost a lot of money, in consequence of which they've had to close the shop.
- (direct object)
- (after de and before an infinitive verb)
- enough (of something specific)
- Il y avait de quoi remplir trois boîtes. ― There was enough to fill three boxes.
- nothing
- Il n’y a pas de quoi en faire tout un plat ! ― There's nothing to make a big thing out of!
- Merci !
—Il n’y a pas de quoi [me remercier].- Thanks!
—Don't mention it. - (literally, “There is nothing [to thank me for].”)
- Thanks!
- enough (of something specific)
- (before a subjunctive verb) whatever
- (direct object)
- Quoi que je fasse, rien ne changera. ― Whatever I may do, nothing will change.
- (subject of an impersonal verb)
- Quoi qu’il arrive, je serai là. ― Whatever may happen, I will be there.
- (direct object)
Derived terms
- à quoi bon
- comme quoi
- de quoi
- de quoi je me mêle
- dire quoi
- en foi de quoi
- et puis quoi encore
- il n’y a pas de quoi
- il n’y a pas de quoi fouetter un chat
- n’importe quoi
- pas de quoi
- pour quoi faire
- quoi de neuf
- quoi encore
- quoi faire
- quoi que
- quoi qu’il en ait été
- quoi qu’il en coûte
- quoi qu’il en eût été
- quoi qu’il en fût
- quoi qu’il en soit
- tout et n’importe quoi
- tu sais quoi
- vous savez quoi
Adverb
quoi
Further reading
- “quoi”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Latin
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /kʷoi̯/, [kʷɔi̯]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /kwoj/, [kwɔj]
References
- “quoi”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Manx
Etymology
From Old Irish cía, from Proto-Celtic *kʷēs, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷis.
See also
Middle French
Etymology 1
Old French, from Latin quietus.
Adjective
quoi m (feminine singular quoie, masculine plural quois, feminine plural quoies)
References
- coi on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500) (in French)
Etymology 2
See quoy.
Old French
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