Quelle est ta matière préférée ?
What is your favorite subject in French is Quelle est ta matière préférée ?, a question about which school subject someone likes most.
Quelle est ta matière préférée ? is asked about school, for example to a classmate or a child.
What does it mean word for word?
Quelle means which or what. ta means your. matière literally means matter or material, but at school it means subject. préférée means favorite.
Which one should you use?
Quelle est votre matière préférée ? uses votre instead of ta. Use it with a teacher, an adult you don't know or a group of people.
How does it change in a sentence?
Quelle is the feminine form because it agrees with the feminine noun matière. préférée takes an extra e for the same reason.
When do people say it?
A natural answer starts with Ma matière préférée est… followed by the name of the subject.
Did you know?
- The French school system distinguishes between matières littéraires and matières scientifiques, often leading students to identify as either 'literary' or 'scientific' as a core part of their identity.
- The word matière is a direct loan from the Latin word materia, which originally referred to the trunk of a tree or timber.
- While matière is the standard word for a school subject, a French student might describe their favorite subject as their point fort, which literally means 'strong point'.
Examples in context
- Quelle est votre matière préférée, madame?What is your favorite subject, ma'am?
- Quelle est votre matière préférée, monsieur Dupont?What is your favorite subject, Mr. Dupont?
- Excusez-moi, mademoiselle, quelle est votre matière préférée?Excuse me, miss, what is your favorite subject?
- Quelle est ta matière préférée?What is your favorite subject?
- Dis-moi, quelle est ta matière préférée?Tell me, what is your favorite subject?
- Salut, quelle est ta matière préférée?Hi, what is your favorite subject?
Example conversation
Two students are chatting during a break at school.
- NathanSalut Chloé, quelle est ta matière préférée ?Hi Chloé, what is your favorite subject?
- ChloéJ'adore l'histoire, et toi, Nathan ?I love history, and you, Nathan?
- NathanPour moi, c'est la géographie.For me, it is geography.
- ChloéC'est une très bonne matière.It is a very good subject.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries est, matière, ta, CC BY-SA 4.0.
