[Originally posted on 12/16/18 on the Duolingo French for English speakers forum by CommeuneTexane]
Inversions
The most formal way of asking a question is to use an inversion, where the verb appears before its pronoun and the two are connected by a hyphen.
- Boit-il ? — Does he drink? / Is he drinking? / He drinks?
- Boivent-ils du lait ? — Do they drink milk? / Are they drinking milk? / They drink milk?
However, if the subject of the sentence is a noun, then the noun should appear before the verb, although a pronoun still needs to appear afterwards.
- Le lait est-il froid ? — Is the milk cold?
- Les voitures sont-elles bleues ? — Are the cars blue?
If the verb ends in a vowel, the letter T must be inserted between the verb and the pronouns il or elle for euphony. This T is chained onto the pronoun and is meaningless.
- A-t-il un chien ? — Does he have a dog?
- Parle-t-elle anglais ? — Does she speak English?
Inverted forms still obey other grammar rules, like those for il est vs. c’est. However, the pronoun in an inversion cannot elide.
- Est-ce un problème ? — Is it a problem?
- Est-elle médecin ? — Is she a doctor?
- Puis-je aider les enfants ? — Can I help the children?
Note: Puis-je comes from the verb pouvoir. Inverted, it always takes the form of puis-je, and not peux-je. This is the equivalent of “may I” in English and it is a formal register of speech.
Est-ce Que
Est-ce que (pronounced [ɛs kə]) can be added in front of a statement to turn it into a question. This interrogative format is the standard way of asking a close-ended question (answer: yes/no) both in writing and in speech. Remember that que elides in front of vowel sounds.
- Est-ce qu’il boit ? — Does he drink? / Is he drinking?
- Est-ce que c’est un problème ? — Is it a problem?
- Est-ce qu’elle a un chien ? — Does she have a dog?
Intonation
In informal speech, one of the most common ways to ask a question is simply to raise your intonation at the end of a statement, like you’d do in English.
- Il boit ? — Is he drinking?
- C’est un problème ? — Is it a problem?
- Elle a un chien ? — Does she have a dog?
Interrogatives
An interrogative word introduces an open-ended question. French has interrogative adjectives, pronouns, and adverbs.
Interrogative Adjectives
French has one interrogative adjective with four forms. It translates to “which” or “what” depending on the context.
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine | quel | quels |
| Feminine | quelle | quelles |
An interrogative adjective cannot stand alone. It must modify (and agree with) a noun, and that noun must either be adjacent to it or separated by a form of être. Use “quel” whenever you are choosing between two or more nouns or you are asking specific information about a noun. The answer to the question is limited by the preexisting frame of reference.
- Quelle fille ? — Which girl?
- Quel est le problème ? — What is the problem?
- Quelles fleurs achetez-vous ? — Which flowers are you buying?
- Quels sports aiment-ils ? — What sports do they like?
Quel is also an exclamatory adjective in statements.
- Quelle chance ! — What luck!
- Quel grand garçon il est ! — What a tall boy he is!
Interrogative Pronouns
Unlike an adjective, an interrogative pronoun can stand alone. For instance, the interrogative pronoun lequel can replace quel + noun. Note that it agrees with the noun it replaces.
| Quel Form | Lequel Form |
|---|---|
| Quel cheval ? — Which horse? | Lequel ? — Which one? |
| Quels hommes mangent ? — Which men eat? | Lesquels mangent ? — Which ones eat? |
| Quelle robe est rose? — Which dress is pink? | Laquelle est rose ? — Which one is pink? |
| Quelles lettres ? — Which letters? | Lesquelles ? — Which ones? |
The difference between quel and lequel is a matter of how wide the frame of reference is. Quels livres lis-tu ? has a wide-open choice of possible answers, whereas *Lesquels de ces livres lis-tu ?” suggests that the choice has already been narrowed and there are no more than a couple of books.
The most common interrogative pronouns are qui (for people) and que (for everything else). However, the construction changes based on a number of factors. Qui is the only pronoun that can start a question by itself, but both qui and que can be used with inversion.
- Qui parle ? — Who is speaking?
- Qui es-tu ? — Who are you?
- Que fait-il ? — What is he making?
After prepositions and at the end of informal questions, que becomes quoi.
- À quoi pensez-vous ? — What are you thinking about?
- Vous faites quoi ? — What are you doing?
Qui and que can be very confusing because they can also be relative pronouns. Que can also be a subordinating conjunction. You will learn these uses later.
Interrogative Adverbs
A number of interrogative adverbs can be used to request information.
- Pourquoi (“why”): Pourquoi manges-tu du pain ? — Why are you eating bread?
- Comment (“how”): Comment allez-vous ? — How are you?
- Quand (“when”): Quand vas-tu manger ? — When are you going to eat?
- Combien (“how many/much”): Combien d’eau veux-tu ? — How much water do you want?
- Où (“where”): Où suis-je ? — Where am I?
Note that when these adverbs are used with intonation-based questions, they can appear at the beginning or the end of the sentence (except pourquoi).
- Pourquoi tu manges du pain ?
- Vous allez comment ?
- Tu vas manger quand ?
- Tu veux combien d’eau ?
- Je suis où ?
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Selected comments on original post
Inqstv_Canadian [host]
Small error:
Under the section “Inversions” the “?” isn’t spaced after the question:
- Les voitures sont-elles bleues?
Duolinguists 