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Les questions

Knowing how to ask questions is essential for making plans, shopping, traveling, getting to know people, and any other activity that requires obtaining information.

 "To ask" = demander.

Par exemple…
"He’s asking why." – Il demande pourquoi.

But "to ask a question" = poser une question.
You cannot say demander une question.

There are two different types of questions, and different ways to ask each type in French.

Closed Questions | Yes-No Questions | Simple Questions

Questions fermées | Questions totales

Questions which allow a limited selection of answers – a simple "yes" or "no" – are called closed questions. In English, closed questions always start with "do," "be," or "have," while in French they typically start either with the phrase est-ce que or with inversion.

Est-ce que

The phrase est-ce que (literally, "is it that") is the inversion of c’est que ("this is that"). In reality, est-ce que has no meaning at all – it simply goes in front of a statement to turn it into a question. This is the most common way to ask questions.

Par exemple…

  Note that a space is required in front of the question mark in French.

Inversion

In formal situations, inversion is more common: the subject pronoun and verb are inverted and joined with a hyphen:

Par exemple…

Informal Questions

In an informal situation, when you expect the answer to your question to be yes, you can ask by simply making a statement and raising your pitch at the end, just like in English.

Par exemple…

You can also use a tag question like n’est-ce pas ? for emphasis:

Par exemple…

Negative Questions

On the other hand, when you expect the answer to be no, you have two options:

• Formal: use inversion with a negative adverb
• Informal: make a negative statement and raise your pitch at the end

Par exemple…

To respond to the above, see Answering questions.

Open Questions | WH-Questions | Information Questions

Questions ouvertes | Questions partielles

When you ask for information about who, what, when, etc., you’re asking an open question. In French, just place the question word* in front of est-ce que or inversion.

Par exemple…

* The question word(s) may be any of the following:

• Interrogative adjective (quel) + noun
• Interrogative adverb (combien, comment, où, pourquoi, quand)
• Interrogative pronoun (qui, que)

** When an inverted verb ending in a vowel is followed by a pronoun beginning with a vowel, t- must be placed between them for euphony.

 Related lessons

• Informal questions
• Tag questions
• PwLF questions lessons – super list
• Answering questions
• Est-ce que
• N’est-ce pas
• Ne … pas and other negative adverbs
• No in French
• Yes in French
• Verb conjugations: demander | poser
• La question ne se pose pas
   

 En español

• Preguntas
   

 In italiano

• Domande
   

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