How to Ask Questions in French

8 min read

Learn how to ask questions in French with this guide. Discover the different ways to frame your questions in French. Check it out here.

On this page

I. TURNING A STATEMENT INTO A QUESTIONII. USING EST-CE QUEIII. CHANGING THE ORDER OF THE WORDS TO FORM A QUESTION (INVERSION)IV. USING N’EST-CE PAS OR NONV. USING QUESTION WORDS

Difficulty: Beginner

Questions are an essential part of any conversation, and being able to properly formulate a question in French is an extremely important part of your learning. Especially if you are naturally curious, asking questions in French is something you will want to learn more about. In this article, we will look into the different ways that you can ask your questions using the French language.

There are five ways in which questions are phrased in French. These are the following:

1. By turning a statement into a question
2. By using est-ce que
3. By changing the order of the words in the sentence
4. By using n’est-ce pas or non; and
5. By using question words

I. TURNING A STATEMENT INTO A QUESTION

The easiest way to ask a question in French is simply to take any statement and make it a question by changing the pitch of your voice. In writing, this can be done by adding a question mark at the end of the sentence. This type of asking questions is deemed informal but is still widely acceptable in regular, everyday type of conversations. This method of asking questions is also commonly used in English, and like in French, the expected reply is either a yes or a no. For example, “You are a dancer?” “She told you I’m not interested?” “You saw the movie?” All of which are regular statements-turned-questions. Some examples in French: 

• Il est arrivé. – He arrived.
• Il est arrivé?   – He arrived?
• C’est vrai. –  That’s true.
• C’est vrai?  –  Is that true?
• Vous aimez la France. –  You like France.
• Vous aimez la France?  –  You like France?

II. USING EST-CE QUE

Another simple way to ask a question in French is to add est-ce que in the beginning of a sentence. Est-ce que literally means “is it that” in English, and is inserted before a regular statement to turn it into a question. The rest of the sentence structure stays the same.

For example:

• Tu connais Ingrid.  – You know Ingrid.
• Est-ce que tu connais Ingrid?  – Do you know Ingrid?
• Est-ce  qu’il est arrivé? – Has he arrived?

Extra tip in using est-ce que:

You can put many question words, such as quand, où, and pourquoi, before est-ce que to ask a more specific question. For questions about the subject, use qui est-ce qui (who) or qu’est-ce qui (what), as shown below.

Here is the structure:

Question word + est-ce que + regular statement.

More details and examples will be given on this when we discuss the question words later.

III. CHANGING THE ORDER OF THE WORDS TO FORM A QUESTION (INVERSION)

Inversion, or changing up the structure of a sentence, is the more formal way of asking questions in French. With a subject pronoun such as tu or vous, the verb is placed before the pronoun and joined to it by a hyphen. With a noun subject in a yes/no question, keep the noun first and add the matching pronoun after the verb: Marie aime-t-elle la France?

For example: 

• Vous aimez la France.        You like France.
• Kindly note that in this sentence, the subject precedes the verb.
• Aimez-vous la France?       Do you like France?

The subject and verb switch places and are linked by the hyphen.

• Just like in using est-ce que, you can also add a question word before the inverted question to further specify your query.
• In cases where the tenses consist of two or more words, the part of the verb which comes from avoir or être is the one to be used in the inversion and placed before the pronoun.

Example:

As-tu vu mon sac?                          Have you seen my bag?

Est-elle restée longtemps?          Did she stay long?

• For a verb form ending in a written vowel, insert -t- before il, elle, or on in an inverted question, making it easier to say. For example, a-t-il and aime-t-elle. Do not add another t if the form already ends in t or d, as in vient-il or prend-elle.

Example: Aime-t-il les chiens? (Does he like dogs?)

IV.  USING N’EST-CE PAS OR NON

In cases where you are very sure that the person you are talking to will agree with you, you can add n’est-ce pas at the end of the sentence. It is just similar to the English usage of “isn’t it?” or “right?” at the end of a question.

Non works the same way. It literally means “no?” and is also added at the end of the sentence. Hein is also similar. It is used just like “eh?” in English, and is often used in informal conversations.

Some examples: 

Vous aimez la France, n’est-ce pas?         You like France, don’t you?

Il est arrivé, n’est-ce pas?                          He arrived, didn’t he?

Vous aimez la France, non?                       You like France, right?

Vous aimez la France, hein?                      You like France, eh?

V. USING QUESTION WORDS

The fifth and last method of asking questions is to use interrogative words. Many question words can go at the beginning of the sentence or, in informal speech, at the end. Depending on the word and its role, it can also come before est-ce que, before est-ce qui, or before an inverted verb and subject pronoun.

Examples: When did you arrive?

Quand est-ce que tu es arrivé?

Quand es-tu arrivé?

Quand t’es arrivé?

T’es arrivé quand? 

Here is a list of  the most commonly used question words in French.

A/ Combien

• combien + verb?                how much?, how many?
• combien de + noun?        how much?, how many? 

Examples:

Combien coûte cet ordinateur?                 How much does this computer cost?

C’est combien, ce pantalon?                      How much are these trousers?

Tu en veux combien?                                 How many do you want?

Combien de personnes vas-tu inviter?      How many people are you going to invite?

B/ Comment?  (  How? )

Examples:

Comment allez-vous? or Comment vas-tu?           How are you?

Comment tu t’appelles?                                            What is your name?

C/ Où? Where?

Some French learners often confuse ou (no accent) and où (with accent). The first one means ‘or’ while the second means ‘where’.

Example: Où allez-vous? (where are you going?)

D/ Pourquoi? Why?

Example: Pourquoi est-ce qu’il ne vient pas avec nous? Why isn’t he coming with us?

E/ Quand? When?

Example: Quand est-ce que tu pars en vacances? When are you going on holiday?

F/ Qui? Que? and Quoi? 

These are pronouns which could mean who, whom, what and whose depending on how you use them: to refer to a person or thing, the subject or object, or if it follows a preposition. This is by far the most complicated of all question words, and it would be advisable if you could learn pronouns as well to get a better grasp of this topic.

Here are the basic rules:

1. Qui – can be used when talking about people, and is similar to “who” (subject) or “whom” (object) in English.

Table source: Collins Easy Learning French Grammar

2. À qui is used to mean “whose?” Example:  À qui est ce sac? (Whose is this bag?)

3. Que and quoi are used when talking about things and can mean “what?” Use quoi after a preposition, as in À quoi penses-tu?, or after the verb in an informal question, as in Tu fais quoi?. Use que before an inverted verb, as in Que faites-vous?.

Table source: Collins Easy Learning French Grammar

4.Quel, quels, quelle, or quelles?

Quel can correspond to “who?”, “which?”, or “what?” in English. It is used with a noun (quel vin) or before être to ask about the identity of a noun (Quel est ton chanteur préféré?). It agrees with that noun; it is not the standalone pronoun “which one?”—that is lequel, covered below. Que and quoi do not introduce a noun in this way.

The forms of quel are the following:

quel (masculine singular)

quels (masculine plural)

quelle (feminine singular)

quelles (feminine plural)

Examples:

• Quel est ton chanteur préféré?Who’s your favorite singer?
• Quel vin recommandez-vous?Which wine do you recommend?
• Quelle est ta couleur préférée?What’s your favorite color?
• Quelle heure est-il?What time is it?
• Quels sont tes chanteurs préférés?Who are your favorite singers?
• Vous jouez de quels instruments?What instruments do you play?
• Quelles sont tes couleurs préférées?What are your favorite colors?
• Quelles chaussures te plaisent le plus?Which shoes do you like best?

Examples source: Collins Easy Learning French Grammar  

G/ lequel? laquelle? lesquels? and lesquelles? 

Lequel is used to mean “which one?” and here are its different forms:

lequel (masculine singular)          which one?

lesquels (masculine plural)             which ones?

laquelle (feminine singular)         which one?

lesquelles (feminine plural)          which ones?

Example:

Laquelle de ces valises est à Fred?  Which of these suitcases is Fred’s?

ADDITIONAL TIPS: 

• There are two ways of answering yes to a question in French: say oui to an ordinary affirmative question, and si to contradict a negative question or statement. For example: Tu n’aimes pas le café? — Si, j’aime le café. (“You don’t like coffee?” — “Yes, I do.”)
• Pardon? is a polite way to ask a person to repeat what they just said. Comment? can also ask for repetition. Quoi? is informal and can sound abrupt, so pardon? is the safer polite choice.

Now that you have this guide, you’ll know how to ask questions in French.