French Questions (L’Interrogation)
French offers multiple ways to ask questions, ranging from informal spoken patterns to formal written inversions. The choice of form signals register (formal vs. casual).
1. Yes/No Questions: Three Methods
Method 1: Rising Intonation (Spoken, Informal)
The simplest method — keep the word order of a statement, raise your voice at the end:
Tu parles français? — You speak French? Elle est venue? — She came? Vous avez fini? — You finished?
Perfectly acceptable in conversation; too informal for writing.
Method 2: Est-ce que… (Universal)
Place est-ce que (est-ce qu’ before a vowel) at the beginning — no word-order change needed:
Est-ce que tu parles français? — Do you speak French? ***Est-ce qu’*elle est venue? — Did she come? Est-ce que vous avez fini? — Have you finished?
Works in all registers, both spoken and written. The most versatile method.
Method 3: Inversion (Formal, Written)
Invert the subject pronoun and verb; connect them with a hyphen:
Parles-tu français? — Do you speak French? Est-elle venue? — Did she come? Avez-vous fini? — Have you finished?
Rules:
- Only pronoun subjects invert (je, tu, il, elle, on, nous, vous, ils, elles)
- Noun subjects require a double subject — keep the noun, add a pronoun copy:
Marie vient-elle ce soir? — Is Marie coming tonight? (not
vient Marie?) Les enfants ont-ils mangé? — Have the children eaten?
Euphonic -t-: when the verb ends in a vowel and the pronoun begins with a vowel (il, elle, on), insert -t- to avoid hiatus:
| Without -t- (wrong) | With -t- (correct) |
|---|---|
| Parle*-t-*il? — Does he speak? | |
| A*-t-*elle mangé? — Has she eaten? | |
| Va*-t-*on? — Are we/they going? |
Inversion with je: used only with a handful of common verbs (suis-je?, ai-je?, puis-je?). Generally avoided in favour of est-ce que for je questions.
2. Negative Questions
With est-ce que:
Est-ce que tu ne parles pas français? — Don’t you speak French?
With inversion:
Ne parles-tu pas français? — Don’t you speak French? ***N’*a-t-elle pas fini? — Hasn’t she finished?
ne precedes the inverted verb+pronoun unit; pas follows the pronoun.
3. Information Questions: Interrogative Words
Qui — Who / Whom
Who (subject of question):
Qui parle? — Who speaks? Qui est-ce qui parle? — Who is speaking? (est-ce qui = long form for subject person)
Whom (object):
Qui tu vois? (informal) | Qui est-ce que tu vois? | Qui vois-tu? — Whom do you see?
Whom after preposition:
À qui parles-tu? — To whom are you speaking? Avec qui est-ce qu’elle sort? — With whom is she going out? De qui parle-t-il? — Whom is he talking about?
Que / Quoi — What
What (object of verb):
| Register | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Formal | Que + inversion | Que fais-tu? — What are you doing? |
| Standard | Qu’est-ce que + normal order | Qu’est-ce que tu fais? — What are you doing? |
| Informal | Tu fais quoi? | — |
What (subject of verb):
Qu’est-ce qui se passe? — What is happening? Qu’est-ce qui t’a surpris? — What surprised you?
What after preposition: use quoi:
À quoi penses-tu? — What are you thinking about? De quoi parle-t-on? — What are we talking about? Avec quoi tu écris? — What are you writing with? (informal)
Summary: Qui / Que / Quoi Matrix
| Refers to person | Refers to thing | |
|---|---|---|
| Subject | qui | qu’est-ce qui |
| Direct object | qui est-ce que / qui + inv. | que + inv. / qu’est-ce que |
| After preposition | qui | quoi |
Quel(le)(s) — Which / What (Adjective)
Agrees with the noun it modifies:
Quel film tu regardes? — Which film are you watching? Quelle heure est-il? — What time is it? Quels livres tu préfères? — Which books do you prefer? Quelles langues parlez-vous? — What languages do you speak?
Also used in exclamations: Quel dommage! — What a pity!
Lequel / Laquelle / Lesquels / Lesquelles — Which one(s)
Pronoun form of quel — replaces a noun already mentioned:
J’aime ces deux robes. — Laquelle préfères-tu? — Which one do you prefer? Tu as lu ses romans. — Lesquels? — Which ones?
Contracts with à and de: auquel, auxquels, duquel, desquels, etc.
Où — Where
Où habites-tu? | Où est-ce que tu habites? | Tu habites où? — Where do you live? D’où viens-tu? — Where are you from? Par où est-il passé? — Which way did he go?
Quand — When
Quand pars-tu? | Quand est-ce que tu pars? | Tu pars quand? — When are you leaving? Depuis quand? — Since when? | Jusqu’à quand? — Until when?
Comment — How
Comment allez-vous? — How are you? Comment est-ce que ça marche? — How does that work? Comment t’appelles-tu? — What is your name? (lit. How do you call yourself?)
Pourquoi — Why
Pourquoi tu pleures? | Pourquoi pleures-tu? | Pourquoi est-ce que tu pleures? Parce que… — Because… (answers pourquoi) C’est pour ça que… — That’s why…
Combien — How much / How many
Combien ça coûte? — How much does it cost? Combien de livres as-tu? — How many books do you have? Combien de temps faut-il? — How much time is needed?
With de: combien de + noun (no article after de):
Combien d’étudiants y a-t-il?
4. Indirect Questions
An indirect question is embedded inside a statement — it is NOT itself a question and uses normal word order (no inversion):
Direct: Où vas-tu? — Where are you going? Indirect: Je ne sais pas où tu vas. — I don’t know where you’re going.
Direct: Qu’est-ce qu’elle veut? — What does she want? Indirect: Je me demande ce qu’elle veut. — I wonder what she wants.
Direct: Est-ce qu’il vient? (yes/no) Indirect: Je ne sais pas s’il vient. — I don’t know whether he’s coming. (si = if/whether)
Direct: Qui est venu? Indirect: Je veux savoir qui est venu. — I want to know who came.
Rule: qu’est-ce que → ce que in indirect questions; qu’est-ce qui → ce qui.
5. Tag Questions
French has simple tag questions to seek agreement:
-
n’est-ce pas? — isn’t it? / right? (general)
Tu viens, n’est-ce pas? — You’re coming, aren’t you?
-
non? (informal)
C’est bien, non? — It’s good, isn’t it?
-
hein? (very informal spoken)
T’as vu ça, hein? — You saw that, right?
6. Register Summary
| Method | Register | Use when |
|---|---|---|
| Intonation: Tu viens? | Informal, spoken | Everyday conversation |
| Est-ce que | Neutral, both spoken/written | Safe default in any situation |
| Inversion: Viens-tu? | Formal, written | Letters, exams, formal speech |
| Word + intonation: Tu pars quand? | Very informal | Casual conversation only |