Share / Tweet / Pin Me!

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: e.g.,
"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…

Est-ce que vous aimez voyager ?		Do you like traveling?
Est-ce qu’il est prêt ?		Is he ready?
Est-ce qu’elles ont mangé ?		Have they eaten?

  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…

Aimez-vous voyager ?		Do you like traveling?
Est-il prêt ?		Is he ready?
Ont-elles mangé ?		Have they eaten?

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…

Vous aimez voyager ?		You like traveling?
Il est prêt ?		He’s ready?
Elles ont mangé ?		They’ve eaten?

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

Par exemple…

Vous aimez voyager, n’est-ce pas ?		You like traveling, right?
Il est prêt, n’est-ce pas ?		He’s ready, isn’t he?
Elles ont mangé, n’est-ce pas ?		They’ve eaten, haven’t they?

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…

N’aimez-vous pas voyager ? Vous n’aimez pas voyager ?		Don’t you like traveling? You don’t like traveling?
N’est-il pas prêt ? Il n’est pas prêt ?		Isn’t he ready? He isn’t ready?
N’ont-elles pas mangé ? Elles n’ont pas mangé ?		Haven’t they eaten? They haven’t eaten?

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…

Où est-ce que vous aimez voyager ? Où aimez-vous voyager?		Where do you like to travel?
Quand est-ce qu’il sera prêt ? Quand sera-t-il prêt ?**		When will he be ready?
Pourquoi est-ce qu’elles n’ont pas mangé ? Pourquoi n’ont-elles pas mangé ?		Why haven’t they eaten?

* 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
   

 Share / Tweet / Pin Me!