Asking Questions with Interrogative Expressions
When you ask for information about who, what, when, where, why, or how, you’re asking an open-ended question. This just means that the answer will require more than a simple yes or no.
Before you form questions, let’s review the main question words used in French:
- Quand → When
- Que → What
- Où → Where
- Comment → How
- Qui → Who
- Pourquoi → Why (To answer, you use parce que)
- Combien → How many (de + noun)
Note: Make sure you don’t confuse ou and où. The first one means “or,” the second means “where.” Both words are pronounced the same.
Where you put the question word depends on which question format you’re using.
For intonation, the question word goes at the end of the sentence.
| Tu vas en France quand? | When are you going to France? |
| Tu voyages avec qui? | With whom do you travel? |
For the other question formats, put the question word before est-ce que or the inversion.
| Où est-ce que vous allez? | Where are you going? |
| Comment allez-vous? | How are you doing? |
When using the question word Que with est-ce que, it contracts like this:
Qu’est-ce que
Ex:
Qu’est-ce que vous mangez? What do you eat?
Click on the audio, so you can listen to the pronunciation.
The question word Qui does not contract with est-ce que, so it will look like this:
Qui est-ce que
Ex:
Qui est-ce que vous préférez? Who do you prefer?
Click on the audio for the pronunciation.
In this lesson, you’ve discovered how to ask questions in nearly every situation. Good job
Question
How would you ask "What do you want?” using est-ce que?
Qu’est-ce que tu veux?
