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| Elle l’aime, mais est-ce qu’il l’aime ? | |
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Essential French Expression
| Meaning | (turns a statement into a question) | |
| Literally | is it that | |
| Register | normal/informal | |
| Pronunciation |  |
[ehs keu] |
| IPA | [ɛs kə] | |
Usage notes: Est-ce que is unique among French expressions in that it doesn’t actually mean anything – it’s just a way of turning a statement into a question, kind of like the word "do" in English. The difference is that the word order changes when asking a question with "do," whereas in French, it stays exactly the same, with est-ce que placed directly in front of the statement.
Est-ce que is the inversion of c’est que, literally, “it is that.” Hence the hyphen between est and ce: c’est = ce + est is inverted to est-ce.
Though est-ce que is widespread in spoken French, it’s much less common in writing because it’s slightly informal. Remember that if you’re in a formal situation, you should avoid it in favor of inversion.
Par exemple…
Tu es prêt. Est-ce que tu es prêt ? |
You are ready. Are you ready? |
| Michel l’a fait. Est-ce que Michel l’a fait ? |
Michel did it. Did Michel do it? |
| Vous voulez danser. Est-ce que vous voulez danser ? |
You want to dance. Do you want to dance? |
As always, que contracts to qu’ when it precedes a word that begins with a vowel.
Par exemple…
| Elle est sympa. Est-ce qu’elle est sympa ? |
She’s nice. Is she nice? |
| Il y a du pain. Est-ce qu’il y a du pain ? |
There’s bread. Is there any bread? |
| Arnaud va nous accompagner. Est-ce qu’Arnaud va nous accompagner ? |
Arnaud is going to accompany us. Is Arnaud going to accompany us? |
So far, these have all been yes/no questions. WH questions (which ask for information like “who” and “how”) are a bit different: they need an interrogatory pronoun, adverb, or adjective before est-ce que:
Par exemple…
| Qui est-ce que nous allons inviter ? | Whom are we going to invite? | |
| Pourquoi est-ce que tu es parti ? | Why did you leave? | |
| Quelle voiture est-ce qu’elle préfère ? | Which car does she prefer? |
Related lessons
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