French Phrase
Tu veux dire quel gratte-ciel ?
Meaning
The sentence is a clarification question meaning ‘Do you mean which skyscraper?’ It is used when the listener mentioned a skyscraper but the speaker needs to know exactly which one is being referred to.
When to use
Use this phrase in informal conversations when someone mentions a skyscraper in a city (e.g., Paris, New York) and you need to pinpoint the exact building. It works well in casual settings like a tour guide chat, a friend’s story, or a quick text exchange.
✦Grammar Breakdown
Tuveuxdirequelgratte-ciel?
Subject pronoun (Tu)
‘Tu’ is the informal second‑person singular pronoun used with friends, family, or peers.
Verb ‘vouloir’ (veux)
‘Veux’ is the present‑tense form of ‘vouloir’ for ‘tu’, meaning ‘you want’.
Infinitive complement (dire)
After ‘vouloir’, the infinitive ‘dire’ (to say) expresses what the speaker wants to say.
Interrogative adjective (quel)
‘Quel’ asks for a specific item and must agree in gender and number with the noun that follows.
Compound noun (gratte‑ciel)
‘Gratte‑ciel’ is a masculine noun meaning ‘skyscraper’; the hyphen is part of the standard spelling.
🗨In Conversation
J’ai vu un gratte-ciel incroyable hier soir.
I saw an incredible skyscraper last night.
Tu veux dire quel gratte-ciel ?
Which skyscraper do you mean?
✕Common Mistakes
Tu veux dire quelle gratte-ciel ?
‘Quel’ must stay masculine because ‘gratte‑ciel’ is masculine; using ‘quelle’ would be incorrect.
Tu veux dire quel gratte‑ciels ?
The noun stays singular in this question; adding an ‘s’ changes the meaning and sounds unnatural.
Tu veux, dire quel gratte-ciel ?
Do not separate ‘veux’ and ‘dire’ with a comma; they form a verb phrase.
↔Alternatives
Quel gratte-ciel veux‑tu dire ?
Which skyscraper are you talking about?
De quel gratte-ciel parles‑tu ?
Which skyscraper are you referring to?
Lequel des gratte-ciels ?
Which one of the skyscrapers?
Cultural Tip
In French, ‘gratte‑ciel’ is a masculine noun, even though the literal translation ‘sky‑scraper’ might feel neutral in English. In Paris, the most famous ‘gratte‑ciel’ is the Tour Montparnasse, while in other French‑speaking cities you’ll hear locals refer to the Tour de la Bourse in Lyon or the Tour Perret in Grenoble. Using the informal ‘tu’ signals familiarity, so reserve this phrasing for friends or peers rather than formal business contexts.