Notes les septembre Les mots interrogatifs à quelle heure? – (at) what time? quand? – when? combien (de) – how much?/how many? comment? – how? où? – where? pourquoi? – why? que/qu’…? – what? qui? – who? quel(le)(s)? – which?/what? quoi? – what?

Les questions There are three ways to make a question in French. The first method is by use of intonation. Your voice rises at the end of a statement, making it a question. Tu habites à Paris. (statement) Tu habites à Paris? (question) Question words come at the end of a question that uses intonation. Ils arrivent à quelle heure? Tu t’appelles comment?

The second way of making a question is by use of inversion. Inversion involves putting the subject after the verb and connecting the two with a hyphen. Question words come at the beginning of the question with inversion. English uses inversion quite often: e.g. Is he…?, Do they…? etc. Habites-tu à Paris? À quelle heure arrivent-ils? Comment t’appelles-tu?

If a verb ends in a vowel and the subject is il, elle or on, you add a t between hyphens to separate the vowels. Combien de langues parle-t-elle? (How many languages does she speak?) Quel âge a-t-il? (How old is he?)

The third way to make a question is by using the expression est-ce que. Placing est-ce que in front of a statement converts it into a question. This is the most common way of making a question in spoken French. Est-ce que tu habites à Paris? Est-ce qu’il fait ses devoirs? (Notice the contraction between que and il)

Question words precede est-ce que. The question word que (what) contracts with est to form qu’est. Comment est-ce que vous allez à l’école? Qu’est-ce que tu fais? Que can’t be placed at the end of a question. You must use quoi instead. Tu fais quoi?