Ce qui vs ce que
The short answer
Exactly the test you already use for qui and que. If a verb comes next, it is ce qui. If a subject comes next, it is ce que. Both translate as “what” with no noun in front, and the ce in front of them is what makes learners forget to apply the test at all.
Or skip ahead and practise it now: pronoms relatifs, free, no signup.
At a glance
Ce qui or Ce que?
| Compare | Ce quiA verb comes next. It is the subject. | Ce queA subject comes next. It is the object. |
|---|---|---|
| What follows | A verb: ce qui compte | A subject: ce que je veux |
| Its job | Subject of the following verb | Object of the following verb |
| English | what, which | what, which |
| Before a vowel | No change: ce qui est | Becomes ce qu’: ce qu’il dit |
| After tout | tout ce qui reste | tout ce que je sais |
| Summarising a clause | …, ce qui est étrange | …, ce que je ne comprends pas |
How to choose
Ask these, in order
- 1
What is the very next word?
A verb means ce qui. Ignore the meaning entirely at this stage.
Ce qui m’inquiète, c’est le délai.
What worries me is the deadline.
- 2
Is the next word a subject, je, il, mon frère?
Ce que.
Ce que je veux, c’est une réponse claire.
What I want is a clear answer.
- 3
Is there a tout in front?
Same test, unchanged. Tout ce qui, tout ce que.
Tout ce que je sais, c’est qu’il est parti.
All I know is that he left.
NBJe is a subject, so ce que, the tout changes nothing.
- 4
Are you commenting on the whole previous clause?
Still the same test, applied to what comes after.
Il a refusé, ce qui m’a surpris.
He refused, which surprised me.
NBM’a surpris is a verb, so ce qui.
Side by side
Each one, in full
When to use ce qui
A verb comes next. It is the subject.
Ce qui is the subject of the clause that follows it, so a verb comes next. Ce qui compte, ce qui reste, ce qui s’est passé. Because it is already the subject, no other subject can appear before the verb.
It never elides. Ce qui est, ce qui arrive: the qui stays whole before a vowel, which gives you a visual check: if you have written ce qu’ before a vowel, you have written ce que.
Je ne sais pas ce qui s’est passé.
I don’t know what happened.
Ce qui compte, c’est d’essayer.
What matters is trying.
Elle est arrivée en retard, ce qui n’est pas dans ses habitudes.
She arrived late, which isn’t like her.
When to use ce que
A subject comes next. It is the object.
Ce que is the object, so the clause supplies its own subject: ce que tu dis, ce que nous avons vu, ce qu’elle pense. It shortens to ce qu’ before a vowel.
As with que, the past participle agrees with it when a compound tense follows, but only in careful writing, and many native speakers skip it. Ce que j’ai vu stays flat because ce is not marked for gender.
Ce que tu proposes me semble raisonnable.
What you’re suggesting seems reasonable to me.
Fais ce qu’il te dit.
Do what he tells you.
NBCe qu’ before a vowel.
Tout ce que nous avons, c’est ce message.
All we have is this message.
Mistakes to avoid
What learners actually get wrong
Je ne comprends pas ce que se passe.
Je ne comprends pas ce qui se passe.
Se passe is a verb, so it takes ce qui. Learners who apply the test correctly to qui and que stop applying it here, because the ce in front makes the phrase feel like a single unanalysed word.
Tout ce qui je veux, c’est du calme.
Tout ce que je veux, c’est du calme.
Je is a subject, so ce que. Tout in front changes nothing about the test. It is easy to assume the fixed-sounding tout ce qui is a set phrase, and it is not.
Ce qu’est important, c’est la sécurité.
Ce qui est important, c’est la sécurité.
Ce qui never elides. Writing ce qu’ before a vowel means you have chosen que, and here est is a verb, so it should have been qui.
Il a démissionné, ce que a surpris tout le monde.
Il a démissionné, ce qui a surpris tout le monde.
When ce qui or ce que summarises a whole preceding clause, the test still applies to what comes after. A surpris is a verb, so ce qui.
Now use it
Pronoms relatifs
qui, que, dont, où: join two clauses with the right one. Reading a rule and being able to apply it are different skills, and only one of them shows up when you speak.
- 20 questions
- Instant feedback
- No ads, no signup
Questions
Asked and answered
- Why is there a ce at all?
- Because qui and que normally refer back to a noun, and here there is none, the “what” has no antecedent. Ce supplies a placeholder for it, which is why the pair means “the thing which” rather than simply “which”.
- What about ce dont?
- It is the third member of the set, used when the verb takes de: ce dont j’ai besoin, avoir besoin de. If you can see a de underneath the English “what”, the answer is ce dont rather than ce qui or ce que.
- Is “c’est ce que” different from “c’est ce qui”?
- Only by the same test. C’est ce qui m’étonne, étonne is a verb. C’est ce que je pensais, je is a subject. The c’est in front is a separate construction and does not affect the choice at all.