1. Est-ce que
literally “is it that,” can be placed at the beginning of any affirmative sentence to turn it into a question:
Est-ce que vous dansez ?
Do you dance?
Est-ce que tu veux voir un film ?
Do you want to see a movie?
Est-ce qu'il est arrivé ?
Has he arrived?
Place any question words in front of est-ce que: (eg. quand, quel, où)
Quand est-ce que tu veux partir ?
When do you want to leave?
Pourquoi est-ce qu’il a menti ?
Why did he lie?
Quel livre est-ce que vous cherchez ?
Which book are you looking for?
2. Inversion
A more formal way to ask questions is with inversion.
Invert the conjugated verb and subject pronoun and join them with a hyphen:
Dansez-vous ?
Do you dance?
Veux-tu voir un film ?
Do you want to see a movie?
Est-il arrivé ?
Has he arrived?
Again, place any interrogative words at the beginning of the question:
Quand veux-tu partir ?
When do you want to leave?
Pourquoi a-t-il menti ?
Why did he lie?
Quel livre cherchez-vous ?
Which book are you looking for?
You can use inversion to ask negative questions.
Ne dansez-vous pas ?
Don’t you dance?
N'est-il pas encore arrivé ?
Hasn’t he arrived yet?
3. Statement as question
A very simple but informal way to ask yes/no questions is to raise the pitch of your voice while pronouncing any sentence:
Vous dansez ?
You dance?
Tu veux voir un film ?
You want to see a movie?
Il est arrivé ?
He arrived?
You can also use this structure to ask negative questions:
Tu ne danses pas ?
You don’t dance?
Il n'est pas encore arrivé ?
He hasn’t arrived yet?
4. N'est-ce pas?
If you’re pretty sure the answer to your question is yes, you can just make an affirmative statement and then add the tag n'est-ce pas ? to the end. This is also informal:
Tu danses, n'est-ce pas ?
You dance, right?
Tu veux voir un film, n'est-ce pas ?
You want to see a movie, right?
Il est arrivé, n'est-ce pas ?
He arrived, right?
Notes
The French equivalent of the verb “to ask” is demander, but “to ask a question” is “poser une question.”
There are two main types of questions:
- Yes/no questions, also known as polar questions or closed questions (questions fermées), ask for a simple yes or no answer.
- Information questions, also known as WH questions, constituent questions, or open questions (questions ouvertes), ask for information with question words, like who, what, when, where, why, which, how, how much/many.
When using inversion with the third person singular (il, elle, or on) and a verb that ends in a vowel, you must add t- between the verb and subject pronoun:
Aime-t-il les films ? - Does he like movies?
A-t-on décidé ? - Have we decided?
Écoute-t-elle la radio ? - Does she listen to the radio?
There is a special French word, si, that is used only when responding in the affirmative to a negative question.
- Vas-tu au ciné ? - Oui !
- Are you going to the movies? - Yes! - Ne vas-tu pas au ciné ? - Si !
- Aren’t you going to the movies? - Yes (I am)!
- Est-ce que tu veux venir ? - Oui !
- Do you want to come? - Yes! - Tu ne veux pas venir ? - Si !
- You don’t want to come? - Yes (I do)!
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