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A1 Grammar

Questions

Concept – Questions  

(French A1 · Interrogative structures)

Questions in French — Overview

In French, there are three main ways to form yes/no questions:

  1. Intonation (rising tone)  
  2. Est-ce que  
  3. Inversion  

For questions that require specific information (not just yes/no), we use interrogative words (wh-questions).

1. Intonation questions (spoken, informal)

👉 The easiest way to ask a question.  

You keep the normal sentence order and raise your voice at the end.

Structure:  

Statement + ?

Examples:

Vous travaillez ici ?  

(Do you work here?)  

Tu parles français ?  

(Do you speak French?)

✅ Very common in spoken French  

⚠Mostly informal (not used in formal writing)

2. Est-ce que questions (easy, neutral)

👉 Add est-ce que at the beginning of a statement.

Structure:  

Est-ce que + subject + verb + …

Examples:

Est-ce que vous travaillez ici ?  

(Do you work here?)  

Est-ce qu’il aime le café ?  

(Does he like coffee?)

✅ Works in almost all situations  

✅ Very good for beginners  

✅ No word order change

3. Inversion questions (formal / written)

👉 The verb comes before the subject.

Structure:  

Verb – subject + rest of the sentence

Examples:

Parles-tu français ?  

(Do you speak French?)  

Avez-vous fini ?  

(Have you finished?)

⚠ More formal  

⚠ Used in writing and formal speech  

⚠ Hyphen (-) is required

4. Wh-questions (interrogative words)

Use wh-words when you need specific information, not just yes/no.

Common interrogative words:

  • qui — who  

  • que / quoi — what  

  • où — where  

  • quand — when  

  • pourquoi — why  

  • comment — how  

They can be used with est-ce que or inversion.

Examples:

Où est-ce que tu vas ?  

(Where are you going?)  

Quand arrives-tu ?  

(When are you arriving?)  

Qui est-ce que tu vois ?  

(Whom do you see?)

Comparison

| Type        | Difficulty | Usage   | Example |

|-------------|------------|---------|---------|

| Intonation  | Easy       | Spoken  | Tu viens ? |

| Est-ce que  | Easy       | Neutral | Est-ce que tu viens ? |

| Inversion   | Medium     | Formal  | Viens-tu ? |

Common mistakes

❌ Est-ce que parles-tu français ?  

❌ Parles tu français ?  

❌ Qui tu vois ?

✅ Est-ce que tu parles français ?  

✅ Parles-tu français ?  

✅ Qui est-ce que tu vois ?

Summary

  • Use intonation for casual spoken French.  

  • Use est-ce que for simple, clear questions.  

  • Use inversion for formal or written French.  

  • Use wh-words when you need specific information.

#question