There are two main types of question: yes/no questions, to which it is possible to answer simply ‘yes’ or ‘no’:
| Aimez- vous la musique pop? Oui | Do you like pop music? Yes |
| Est- ce que tu as fait tes devoirs? Non | Have you done your homework? No |
and information questions, to which it is impossible to answer simply ‘yes’ or ‘no’, but which require a piece of information in response:
| Quand partira Jean? Demain | When will Jean leave? Tomortr |
| Qui a- t- il rencontré? Jeanette | Who did he meet? Jeanette |
Information questions involve the use of a question word or phrase like qui, que, quand, comment, où, pourquoi, pour quelle raison, avec quel ami, de quoi, and so on.
There are three ways in which yes/no questions can be asked in French. Each is characteristic of a particular style of French, ranging from the informal to the formal.
The simplest way to form a yes/no question in French is to add rising into nation to the final syllables of a declarative sentence:
| Tu as quelque chose à dire? | Do you have anything to say? |
| Elle va rester ici? | Is she going to stay here? |
| Pierre est venu? | Has Pierre come? |
| Je peux mettre mes photos au mur? | Can I put my photos on the wall? |
This kind of yes/no question is very common in informal spoken French, but less common in more formal spoken French and not normally used in written French (unless direct speech is being recorded, or an informal style is being imitated).
Yes/no questions may also be formed by placing the question formula est-ce que at the beginning of a declarative sentence:
| Est- ce que tu as quelque chose à dire? | Do you have anything to say? |
| Est- ce qu'elle va rester ici? | Is she going to stay here? |
| Est-ce que Pierre est venu? | Has Pierre come? |
| Est-ce que je peux mettre mes photos au mur? | Can I put my photos on the wall? |
Yes/no questions formed with est-ce que can be used in all styles of French, informal and formal, spoken and written.
Yes/no questions may be formed by inverting the subject and the verb which agrees with it. Such inversion takes two forms, depending on whether the subject is an unstressed pronoun or not.
If the subject is an unstressed pronoun, it changes places with the verb which agrees with it:
| Es-tu content? | Are you happy? |
| Est-ce le facteur? | Is it the postman? |
| Avez-vous bien compris? | Have you really understood? |
| Peut-on se changer dans les vestiaires? | Can you change in the changing rooms? |
| Avaient-ils reçu de ses nouvelles? | Had they had news of him? |
| Avait-il pu réunir les actionnaires? | Had he been able to assemble the shareholders? |
Such subject-verb inversion is possible with all verbs in French, whereas in English it is only possible with ‘auxiliary’ verbs like ‘have’, ‘be’, ‘can’, ‘will’, ‘do’, etc.:
| Aime-t-il le Roquefort? | Does he like Roquefort? |
| Descend-elle en ville? | Is she going down into town? |
| Fumez-vous depuis longtemps? | Have you smoked for long? |
| Prennent-ils le train? | Are they taking the train? |
If the subject is anything other than an unstressed pronoun, i.e. a proper noun, noun phrase or stressed pronoun, then the subject is placed first, followed by the verb and an unstressed subject pronoun agreeing with the subject is inserted to the right of the verb:
| Pierre est-il content? | Is Pierre happy? |
| Les joueurs peuvent-ils se changer dans les vestiaires? | Can the players change in the changing rooms? |
| Cela est-il vrai? | Is that true? |
| Personne ne veut-il m'accompagner? | Doesn't anyone want to come with me? |
| Les élèves avaient-ils reçu les résultats? | Had the pupils received the results? |
| Julie viendra-t-elle demain? | Will Julie come tomortr? |
NB: It is impossible to invert a subject which is not an unstressed pronoun with an agreeing verb:
Yes/no questions formed with inversion are typically used in more formal spoken and in written French.
When the inversion of subject and verb results in two vowels becoming adjacent, the consonant -t- is inserted between them:
| A-t-il 17 ans? | Is he 17? |
| Aura-t-elle faim? | Will she be hungry? |
This rule also applies where the verb ends in -e, even though in the spoken language the -e is not pronounced:
| Epouse-t-il Marie? | Is he marrying Marie? |
| Dîne-t-elle au palais ce soir? | Is she dining at the palace this evening? |
Where a verb already ends in a -t or a -d in the written language, it is pro nounced as ‘t’ in questions:
| Est-elle contente? | Is she happy? |
| Boivent-ils du cidre? | Are they drinking cider? |
| Vos amis sont-ils partis? | Have your friends left? |
| David vend-il sa voiture? | Is David selling his car? |
| Le voyage te rend-il malade? | Is the journey making you feel ill? |
Inversion of the verb with first person je to form a yes/no question is charac teristic of only the most formal French. Many speakers and writers these days would avoid it and use est-ce que. Furthermore, there are idiosyncratic restric tions on its use.
In the present tense, inversion between je and some very common verbs of one syllable is frequent:
| Ai-je le droit? (avoir) | Am I allowed to? |
| Dois-je vous téléphoner? (devoir) | Should I phone you? |
| Puis-je vous déranger? (pouvoir) | May I disturb you? |
| Suis-je heureux? (être) | Am I happy? |
| Vais-je me laisser tromper? (aller) | Am I going to let myself be deceived? |
| Ne dis-je pas la vérité? (dire) | Am I not telling the truth? |
but with most other verbs such inversion is impossible:
| NOT *Mens-je? | Am I lying? |
| NOT *Prends-je le bus? | Am I taking the bus? |
In future and conditional tenses, however, inversion with these same verbs is more acceptable (but again only in the most formal styles):
| Mentirais-je? | Would I lie? |
| Prendrai-je le bus? | Shall I take the bus? |
Some grammars suggest that where a verb ends in -e and it is inverted with je, the -e becomes -é:
| Demandé-je? | 1Am I asking? |
This, however, is extremely rare in modern French.
n’est-ce pas? is the invariable French equivalent of English ‘tag’ question forms like ‘doesn’t he?’, ‘haven’t you?’, ‘mustn’t I?’, etc.:
| Il habite à Paris, n'est-ce pas? | He lives in Paris, doesn't he? |
| Vous avez vendu le terrain, n'est-ce pas? | You've sold the land, haven't you? |
| Je dois m'adresser au sous-directeur, n'est-ce pas? | I must speak to the assistant director, mustn't I? |
In questions, jamais, rien, aucun and personne may mean ‘ever’, ‘anything’, ‘any’ and ‘anyone’:
| Est-ce que vous avez jamais visité le | Have you ever been to the Louvre? |
| Louvre? | |
| A-t-il rien fait de meilleur? | Has he done anything better? |
| A-t-elle eu aucune réponse? | Has she received any reply? |
| Est-ce que vous avez vu personne? | Have you seen anyone? |
NB: qui que ce soit ‘anyone’ is used more than personne:
non is the normal way of saying ‘no’ to yes/no questions, both affirmative and negative:
| Tu viens? | -Non |
| Tu ne viens pas? | -Non |
oui is used to say ‘yes’ to affirmative yes/no questions, but si is used to say ‘yes’ to negative questions:
| Tu viens? | -Oui |
| Tu ne viens pas? | -Si |
In each case the force of the response may be increased by adding mais, or bien sûr que:
| Tu viens? | -Mais oui | -Mais non |
| -Bien sûr que oui | -Bien sûr que si | |
| Tu ne viens pas? | -Mais si | -Mais non |
| -Bien sûr que non | -Bien sûr que non |
merci ‘thank you’ used alone as a response to a yes/no question is normally treated as a response of ‘No, thank you’:
| Voulez-vous du fromage? | -Merci |
| Would you like some cheese? | -No, thank you |
To reply ‘Yes, please’ one can say (Oui), je veux bien, S’il vous (te) plaît or Volontiers:
| Voulez-vous du fromage? | -Je veux bien |
| -S'il vous plaît | |
| -Volontiers | |
| Would you like some cheese? | -Yes, please |
There are four ways of asking information questions in French. Each is appropriate to a particular level of formality of style.
The simplest way to form an information question is to replace an item in a declarative sentence by a question word or phrase, and add rising intonation to the final syllables of the sentence. (For question words and phrases see 14.6.) For example, taking a declarative sentence such as:
information questions can be formed related to demain, à son député or l’étudiant simply by replacing the relevant words with a question word:
This kind of information question is very common in informal spoken French. The last example above involving qui? (where the subject is questioned) is also normal in formal styles (see 14.3.6). But the other types are less common in for mal spoken and in written styles (unless direct speech is being reported, or an informal style is being imitated).
The full range of question words and phrases (see 14.6) may be used in this way, except que? ‘what’. Instead, the stressed form of que? – quoi? – is used:
| Vous avez vu quoi? | What did you see? |
| Elle a dit quoi? | What did she say? |
| Marcel a écrit à qui? | Who did Marcel write to? |
| Elle parle de quoi? | What is she talking about? |
| Tu recommanderais quel film? | Which film would you recommend? |
| Ils ont invité combien de gens? | How many people did they invite? |
| Vous l'avez vu où? | Where did you see it? |
| Bernard reviendra quand? | When will Bernard come back? |
Another common way of forming information questions in very informal spoken styles of French involves replacing an item in a declarative sentence by a question word or phrase, and then moving the question word or phrase to the front of the sentence, without making any other changes:
| Qui vous avez vu? | Who did you see? |
| Qui c'est, celui là? | Who's he? |
| A qui Marcel a écrit? | Who did Marcel write to? |
| Quel film tu recommanderais? | Which film would you recommend? |
| Combien de gens ils ont invités? | How many people did they invite? |
| De quoi tu voulais me parler? | What did you want to speak to me about? |
| Où vous l'avez vu? | Where did you see it? |
| Pourquoi la police l'a arrêté? | Why did the police arrest him? |
Nearly all question words can be used in this way except direct object que?, quoi? ‘what?’ Instead qu’est-ce que? is used (see 14.3.3):
| Qu'est-ce qu'elle a dit? | 1What did she say? |
| Qu'est-ce que tu faisais dans ma chambre? | What were you doing in my room? |
Information questions may be formed by ‘fronting’ a question word or phrase, as described in 14.3.2, and in addition inserting est-ce que? between the question word or phrase and the rest of the sentence. Questions of this type may be used in all styles of French, formal and informal. The full range of question words and phrases (see 14.6) may be used in this construction except quoi? ‘what?’ – the unstressed variant que? is required instead:
| Qui vous avez vu? | Who did you see? |
| Qui c'est, celui là? | Who's he? |
| A qui Marcel a écrit? | Who did Marcel write to? |
| Quel film tu recommanderais? | Which film would you recommend? |
| Combien de gens ils ont invités? | How many people did they invite? |
| De quoi tu voulais me parler? | What did you want to speak to me about? |
| Où vous l'avez vu? | Where did you see it? |
| Pourquoi la police l'a arrêté? | Why did the police arrest him? |
qui est-ce qui? is used to form questions dealing with animate subjects:
| Qui est-ce qui a pris mon crayon? | Who took my pencil? |
| Qui est-ce qui va avoir le prix? | Who will get the prize? |
qu’est-ce qui? is used to form questions dealing with non-animate subjects:
| Qu'est ce qui a abîmé mon pneu? | What punctured my tyre? |
| Qu'est-ce qui s'est passé? | What happened? |
| Qu'est-ce qui a effrayé le facteur? | What frightened the postman? |
| Qu'est-ce qui lui est arrivé, à Paul? | What happened to Paul? |
qui est-ce que? is used to form questions dealing with animate direct objects:
| Qui est-ce que vous avez vu? | Who did you see? |
| Qui est-ce qu'ils ont invité à la fête? | Who did they invite to the party? |
qu’est-ce que? is used to form questions dealing with non-animate direct objects:
| Qu'est-ce que vous avez dit? | What did you say? |
| Qu'est-ce que Marie va acheter? | What is Marie going to buy? |
| Qu'est-ce qu'elle a pris dans la grange? | What did she take from the barn? |
| Qu'est-ce que c'était, ce bruit, dehors? | What was that noise, outside? |
Compare the following uses of qu’est-ce?, qu’est-ce que? and qu’est-ce que c’est?:
| Qu'est-ce? (very formal) | What is it? |
| Qu'est-ce que c'est? | What is it? |
| Qu'est-ce que c'est que ça? | What on earth is that? |
| Qu'est-ce qu'une 'jonque'? | What's a 'jonque'? |
| Qu'est-ce que c'est qu'une 'jonque'? | What on earth is a 'jonque'? |
| Qu'est-ce que ça veut dire 'jonque'? | What does 'jonque' mean? |
Information questions may be formed by ‘fronting’ a question word or phrase (as described in 14.3.2), and in addition inverting the subject and the verb which agrees with the subject. This kind of question is usually found in formal spoken and in written French. It takes two forms depending on whether the subject is an unstressed pronoun or not.
If the subject is an unstressed pronoun, it changes places with the verb which agrees with it:
| Qui avez-vous vu? | Who did you see? |
| Qui est-ce? | Who is it? |
| A qui a-t-elle écrit? | To whom did she write? |
| Quel film recommanderais-tu? | Which film would you recommend? |
| Combien de personnes ont-ils invitées? | How many people have they invited? |
| Où l'avez-vous vu? | Where did you see it? |
| Quand reviendra-t-il? | When will he come back? |
| Pourquoi l'ont-ils arrêté? | Why have they arrested him? |
(For inversion with je see 14.2.5.)
If the subject is not an unstressed pronoun, i.e. if it is a proper noun, noun phrase or stressed pronoun, then the subject is placed first after the question word, followed by the verb and an unstressed subject pronoun agreeing with the subject is inserted to the right of the verb:
| Qui Robert a-t-il rencontré? | Who did Robert meet? |
| A qui Jean donnera-t-il l'argent? | To whom will Jean give the money? |
| Quelle robe Madame préfère-t-elle? | Which dress does madam prefer? |
| Combien de romans Camus a-t-il écrits? | How many novels did Camus write? |
| Où Marie va-t-elle faire ses courses? | Where is Marie going to do her shopping? |
| Quand le train arrivera-t-il à Limoges? | When will the train arrive at Limoges? |
(For insertion of -t- see 14.2.4.)
When the subject is animate and questioned by qui? ‘who’, there is no inversion with the verb:
| Qui parle? | Who is speaking? |
| Qui a tourné ce film? | Who made this film? |
que? ‘what’ can never be used directly as non-animate subject ‘what’, and nor can its stressed form quoi?. Instead, qu’est-ce qui? must be used:
| Qu'est-ce qui brille dans le ciel? | What's shining in the sky? |
| Qu'est-ce qui a grignoté les gâteaux dans le placard? | What has eaten the cakes in the cupboard? |
| Qu'est-ce qui plaît à Pierre? | What does Pierre like? |
| Qu'est-ce qui a été donné à Marie? | What was given to Marie? |
and
When que? ‘what’ is a direct object, it may be used with verb and subject inversion, providing that the subject is a pronoun:
| Que dit-il? | What does he say? |
| Que pense-t-elle? | What does she think? |
| Qu'ont-ils décidé? | What have they decided? |
But it may not be used with inversion when the subject is a proper noun, noun phrase or stressed pronoun:
| NOT *Que le docteur dit-il? | What does the doctor say? |
| NOT *Que Marie pense-t-elle? | What does Marie think? |
| NOT *Que le conseil municipal a-t-il décidé? | What has the council decided? |
Instead, either qu’est-ce que? must be used:
| Que dit-il? | What does he say? |
| Que pense-t-elle? | What does she think? |
| Qu'ont-ils décidé? | What have they decided? |
Or a different kind of inversion must be used involving the subject and the whole verb group, but without the insertion of an unstressed pronoun:
| Que dit le docteur? | What does the doctor say? |
| Que pense Marie? | What does Marie think? |
| Qu'a décidé le conseil municipal? | What has the council decided? |
| Que va faire Marie? | What is Marie going to do? |
| Qu'aurait dû déclarer le ministre? | What should the minister have declared? |
This kind of inversion is known by linguists as ‘stylistic inversion’.
In formal spoken and in written French, as an alternative to subject-verb inversion of the kind: Où Christine est-elle allée? ‘Where did Christine go?’, it is also possible (with many question words and phrases) to invert the subject with the whole verb group, but without insertion of an unstressed pronoun:
Notice that Christine and est allée have inverted, but without insertion of an agreeing unstressed pronoun. Stylistic inversion of this kind is possible with:
| Qu'avait dit le docteur? | What had the doctor said? |
| Qu'a décidé le conseil municipal? | What has the council decided? |
| A qui s'est adressé Jacques? | To whom did Jacques go and speak? |
| De qui aura parlé le professeur? | Who will the professor have spoken about? |
| A quoi aurait dû penser Marie? | What ought Marie to have thought about? |
| De quoi dépend la décision? | What does the decision depend on? |
| Quel plat a commandé Pierre? | Which dish did Pierre order? |
| A quelle heure partira Thomas? | At what time will Thomas leave? |
| Par quelle porte est sortie l'acteur? | Which door did the actor come out of? |
| Quand est entré François? | When did François come in? |
| Depuis quand travaille Pierre? | How long has Pierre been working? |
| Combien de kilos a perdu Philippe? | How many kilos has Philippe lost? |
| Combien de cidre produit ce verger? | How much cider does this orchard produce? |
Stylistic inversion is not possible with pourquoi:
| NOT *Pourquoi travaille Pierre? | Why does Pierre work? |
| NOT *Pourquoi est partie Marie? | Why did Marie leave? |
Stylistic inversion is also quite restricted by the type of verb with which it can be used. It occurs fairly freely with intransitive verbs which do not have complements:
| Depuis quand travaille Pierre? | How long has Pierre been working? |
And when the questioned phrase is itself a direct object:
| Quel vin recommande le patron? | Which wine does the patron recommend? |
But it is not acceptable when an intransitive verb has an adverbial complement:
or with transitive verbs when the direct object is present:
| NOT *Depuis quand connaît Pierre Marie? | How long has Pierre known Marie? |
| NOT *Où va manger Pierre des escargots? | Where is Pierre going to eat snails? |
| NOT *A qui a donné Paul ce livre? | To whom did Paul give this book? |
The order of unstressed object pronouns is unaffected by the inversion of the subject and verb in questions:
| Elle en a parlé à Charley | En a-t-elle parlé à Charley? |
| She spoke of it to Charley | Did she speak of it to Charley? |
| Il le lui avait prêté | Le lui avait-il prêté? |
| He lent it to her | Did he lend it to her? |
| Jean te le dira | Jean te le dira-t-il? |
| Jean will tell you so | Will Jean tell you so? |
| Ils me l'ont donné | Pourquoi me l'ont-ils donné? |
| They gave it to me | Why did they give it to me? |
The position of negative particles is unaffected by the inversion of the subject and verb in questions:
| Tu n'as jamais fait cela | N'as-tu jamais fait cela? |
| You have never done that | Have you never done that? |
| Vous n'avez pas vu cet homme | Qui n'avez-vous pas vu? |
| You haven't seen this man | Who haven't you seen? |
| Ils ne leur écrivent plus | Pourquoi ne leur écrivent-ils plus? |
| They don't write to them any more | Why don't they write to them any more? |
qui? typically translates English ‘who?’, ‘whom?’ whether subject, direct object or object of a preposition:
| Qui a pris le tire-bouchon? | Who took the corkscrew? |
| Qui Robert invite-t-il à dîner? | Who is Robert inviting to dinner? |
| A qui la journaliste a-t-elleposé la question? | Who did the reporter put the question to? |
| De qui parlez-vous? | Who are you talking about? |
| Contre qui avait-il joué? | Who had he played against? |
| Sur qui peut-on compter? | Who can one count on? |
que?, quoi? typically translate English ‘what?’. Que? is used to question direct objects which are moved to the front of the sentence:
| Que dit-il? | What does he say? |
| Qu'est-il arrivé? | What's happened? |
| Que sont-ils devenus? | What's become of them? |
| Que boiront les invités? | What will the guests drink? |
que? cannot be used to question subjects, rather qu’est-ce qui? is used (see 14.3.6):
| Qu'est-ce qui lui est arrivé? | NOT *Que lui est arrivé? |
| What happened to him? | |
| Qu'est-ce qui a taché le mur? | NOT *Qu'a taché le mur? |
| What made that stain on the wall? |
quoi? is used to question direct objects which are not moved to the front of the sentence. It is also used to form questions related to the objects of prepositions; in this use it can be moved to the front of the sentence:
| Elles cherchent quoi? | What are they looking for? |
| Ça ouvre quoi, ça? | What does that thing open? |
| Tu seras quoi dans un an? | What will you be a year from now? |
| A quoi pensent-elles? | What are they thinking about? |
| Avec quoi a-t-il coupé le pain? | What did he cut the bread with? |
| On peut miser sur quoi? | What can one bank on? |
| Contre quoi est-ce que les gens manifestent? | What are people demonstrating against? |
que? and quoi? can both be used with infinitives to form questions. Que? is used at the front of main clauses:
| Que faire? | What is to be done? |
| Que faire de ces valises? | What shall we do with these suitcases? |
| Que dire? | What can I say? |
quoi? is used in subordinate clauses, and in main clauses where the question word is not fronted:
| Je rentre tout de suite | -Faire quoi? |
| I'm going home immediately | -To do what? |
NB: Quoi de neuf? ‘What’s new?’
quel?, quelle?, etc are used to form questions based on nouns and noun phrases: quel livre?, quelle page?, quels manuscrits?, quelles jolies fleurs? Notice that quel? agrees in gender and number with the noun. Question phrases involving quel? can be subjects, direct objects or objects of prepositions:
NB: When a quel phrase is a subject it is not possible to invert subject and verb or use est-ce que?:
| Quel film tu recommanderais? | Which film would you recommend? |
| Quel film est-ce que tu recommanderais? | Which film would you recommend? |
| Quel film recommanderais-tu? | Which film would you recommend? |
| Quelles fleurs Josette a-t-elle cueillies? | Which flowers did Josette pick? |
| A quelle heure part Pierre? | What time does Pierre leave? |
| De quelle ville est-ce que vous parlez? | Which town are you talking about? |
| Il était arrivé dans quel train? | Which train did he arrive on? |
With the verb être, quel? is separated from the noun phrase with which it agrees:
NB: Quel est cet homme? ‘Who is this man?’, Quelle est cette femme? ‘Who is this woman?’ are alternatives to Qui est cet homme?, Qui est cette femme?
lequel?, laquelle? . . . etc. ask ‘which’ noun or noun phrase when there is a choice of more than one. The form used agrees in gender and number with the noun or noun phrase it questions, whether this is present in the same sentence, or is understood from the context:
| Laquellede ces couleurs préférez-vous? | Which of these colours do you prefer? |
| Laquelle préférez-vous? | Which do you prefer? |
| Lesquels des élèves avez-vous choisis pour l'équipe? | Which of the pupils have you chosen for the team? |
| Lesquels avez-vous choisis? | Which have you chosen? |
| Elle a enfin décidé quelle robe elle va acheter | She has finally decided which dress she is going to buy |
| Laquelle? | Which one? |
When the phrase involving lequel? is the direct object, and sometimes when it is the subject of an intransitive verb, it is possible to separate lequel? from the noun phrase it modifies:
| Laquelle préférez-vous de ces couleurs? | Which of these colours do you prefer? |
| Lequel chante le mieux de ces deux solistes? | Which of these two soloists sings the best? |
NB: When a lequel? phrase is the subject of a sentence, it is not possible to use est-ce que? or to invert subject and verb:
combien? ‘how much?’, ‘how many?’ may be used on its own:
| Combien est-ce que ça coûte? | How much does that cost? |
| Combien sont déjà arrivés? | How many have already arrived? |
Or it may be used with a following prepositional phrase:
| Combien de pain nous reste-t- il? | How much bread do we have left? |
| Combien de spectateurs assistaient au match? | How many spectators were there at the match? |
combien (de)? can be used to question subjects, direct objects and objects of prepositions:
| Combien d'invités sont déjà arrivés? | How many guests have already arrived? |
| Combien d'enfants ont-ils? | How many children do they have? |
| Avec combien d'argent est-il parti à l'étranger? | How much money did he go abroad with? |
When combien? is used alone and functions as a direct object, the pronoun en is required:
| Combien en as-tu vu? | How many did you see? |
| Combien est-ce qu'ils en ont tués? | How many did they kill? |
NB: When combien? is the subject of the sentence, it is not possible to use est-ce que or invert the subject and the verb:
Although combien? translates ‘how much’, ‘how many’, it cannot be used to translate English ‘how + adjective/adverb’ like ‘how big?’, ‘how tall?’, ‘how often?’, etc. (For these see 14.6.8.)
comment? usually translates English ‘how?’ when it is not followed by an adjective or adverb (i.e. not ‘how big?’, ‘how often?’, etc.):
| Comment allez-vous? | How are you? |
| Comment va votre mère? | How is your mother? |
| Comment est-ce qu'elle va? | How is she? |
| Comment s'étaient-ils comportés? | How had they behaved? |
| Comment allez-vous réparer le moteur? | How are you going to repair the engine? |
| Comment cela se prononce-t-il? | How is this pronounced? |
comment? also translates ‘what?’ with the verb appeler:
| Comment tu t'appelles? | What's your name? |
| Comment appelez-vous ce monument? or | What is this monument called? |
| Comment ce monument s'appelle-t-il? |
où? and quand? translate English ‘where?’ and ‘when?’ respectively, and are used in the same range of information question constructions as the other question wor ds:
| Où vous habitez? | Where do you live? |
| Où habitez-vous? | Where do you live? |
| Où est-ce que vous habitez? | Where do you live? |
| Où Pierre habite-t-il? | Where does Pierre live? |
| Quand vous partez? | When are you leaving? |
| Quand partez-vous? | When are you leaving? |
| Quand est-ce que vous partez? | When are you leaving? |
| Quand Pierre partira-t-il? | When will Pierre leave? |
When the verb is être, ‘stylistic inversion’ of the subject is normal with où? and quand? (see 14.3.7):
| Où est le portefeuille? | Where's the wallet? |
| Quand est son anniversaire? | When's his birthday? |
pourquoi? ‘why?’ is used in the same way as the other two question words except that it cannot be used with stylistic inversion:
| Pourquoi il a déménagé? | Why has he moved? |
| Pourquoi a-t-il déménagé? | Why has he moved? |
| Pourquoi est-ce qu'il a déménagé? | Why has he moved? |
| Pourquoi Pierre a-t-il déménagé? | Why has Pierre moved? |
but NOT *Pourquoi a déménagé Pierre?
Whereas English ‘how?’ can question adjectives and adverbs directly, in French there is no simple equivalent. For ‘How big is the table?’ you CANNOT say things like:
Instead, alternative expressions have to be found:
| De quelle taille est la table? | How big is the table? |
| Avec quelle fréquence y allez-vous? | How often do you go there? |
| Est-ce souvent que vous y allez? | How often do you go there? |
| Dans quelle mesure en êtes-vous certain? | How certain are you? |
| Dans quelle mesure accepteriez-vous de faire cela? | How happy would you be to do that? |
Indirect questions are questions which are reported as having already been asked. They are introduced by verbs like comprendre, demander, se demander, dire, expliquer, savoir:
| Qui est venu? | (direct question) |
| Elle a demandé qui était venu | (indirect question) |
| She asked who came | |
| Quel piège est-ce qu'on lui tend? | (direct question) |
| Il n'arrive pas à comprendre quel piège on lui tend | (indirect question) |
| He hasn't grasped what kind of trap they are setting for him | |
| Quand arrivera-t-il? | (direct question) |
| Dites-moi quand il arrivera | (indirect question) |
| Tell me when he will arrive | |
There is no subject- verb inversion in indirect questions:
Direct yes/no questions are introduced by si ‘if, whether’ when they become indirect questions:
NB: This use of si should not be confused with si used to introduce hypothetical clauses like: Si elle m’aimait, elle m’écrirait ‘If she loved me, she would write to me’. In hypothetical si clauses the verb cannot appear in future or condi tional tenses (see Chapter 10.8). In indirect questions introduced by si it may do so.
qu’est-ce qui? in a direct question becomes ce qui in an indirect question; que? or qu’est-ce que? becomes ce que in an indirect question:
All other question words remain the same:
| Elle lui demande à qui il écrivait | She is asking him who he was writing to |
| Je ne sais plus de quoi elle parlait | I no longer know what she was talking about |
| Je ne sais pas laquelle lui plaît le plus | I don't know which he likes more |
The tense of a verb in a direct question may change if it becomes an indirect question (see Chapter 10.7). This depends on the tense of the verb which introduces the indirect question (i.e. the tense of comprendre, demander, dire, etc.). If the introducing verb is in the present, future or conditional, the tense of the verb in the indirect question remains the same as in the direct question:
| Chante-t-il? | Is he singing? |
| Quand a-t-il chanté? | When did he sing? |
| Qui avait chanté? | Who had sung? |
When the introducing verb is in the past, however, the verb in the indirect question becomes imperfect or pluperfect if in the direct question it is in the present or past:
and it becomes conditional in the indirect question if it is in the future or conditional in the direct question:
| Chantera-t-il? | Will he sing? |
| Qui chanterait? | Who would sing? |
| Elle ne savait pas s'il chanterait/qui chanterait | She didn't know if he would sing/ who would sing |