qu'en est-il de
The English phrase "what about" is translated into French as qu'en est-il de.
The phrase qu'en est-il de is used to make a suggestion.
Meaning: used to make a suggestion (adv)
Which one should you use?
While qu'en est-il de is formal, in casual conversation, English speakers should use Et toi ? or Et vous ? to mean "What about you?" For a different nuance, En ce qui concerne can be used to mean "As for" and Et si on parlait de can be used to mean "What about talking about".
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
The form qu'en est-il de is formal and is typically used in written or professional contexts. In contrast, the informal way to say "How about" is Ça te dit de and for "What about talking about", you should use the informal Et si on parlait de.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase qu'en est-il de is always followed by a noun or a pronoun to indicate the subject being questioned.
Did you know?
- If you use qu'en est-il de to suggest going for a coffee with a friend, you will sound like a 19th-century philosopher or a judge conducting a formal inquiry.
- The preposition de in this expression can be traced back to the Latin 'dē', which originally meant 'away from' or 'down from'.
- In professional emails, rather than using the heavy qu'en est-il de, French speakers frequently switch to the much shorter et pour to mean 'what about' when listing items or requirements.
Examples in context
- Qu'en est-il de nous ?What about us?This sentence shows how to use qu'en est-il de when asking about a group of people.Tatoeba #1542348 by sacredceltic, translation #1542297 by Spamster
- Qu'en est-il de Jack ?What about Jack?This sentence shows how to use qu'en est-il de when asking about a specific person.Tatoeba #10921287 by Micsmithel, translation #53136 by CP
- Et qu'en est-il de vous ?And what about you?This sentence shows how to use qu'en est-il de when asking about someone directly.Tatoeba #8420891 by Aiji, translation #5241201 by AlanF_US
- Et si on parlait de l'environnement ?What about talking about the environment?
- En ce qui concerne votre demande, je vous contacterai demain.As for your request, I will contact you tomorrow.
- Qu'en est-il de votre voyage prévu en Italie ?What about your planned trip to Italy?
- Et si on parlait de nos vacances d'été ?What about talking about our summer vacations?
- Ça te dit de sortir ce soir ?How about going out tonight?
- 4 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Chloé and Gabriel are planning their weekend trip.
- ChloéOn peut aller à la plage samedi.We can go to the beach on Saturday.
- GabrielC'est une bonne idée, Chloé.That is a good idea, Chloé.
- ChloéEt qu'en est-il de dimanche ?And what about Sunday?
- GabrielOn pourrait visiter le musée, Gabriel suggère.We could visit the museum, Gabriel suggests.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries de, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
