Forming questions in French - forms and structures (2024)

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Interrogatives- How to ask questions in French

1. Questions without any question word

The forming of questions in French is fundamentally similar to the wayweform questions in English. The basic principal is that the verbis placed before the subject, i.e. there is a subject/ verb inversion.
In written French, questions are usually formed byinverting subjectand verb; but how this is done depends on the type of verb (with orwithout an auxiliary) and on whether the subject is a pronoun or anoun.

Note: in cases ofinversion wherethepronouns il(s) elle(s) or on follow a verb form ending in a vowel,French adds a linking-t-between the verb and the pronoun; for example va-t-il,not va-il, or pense-t-elle,not pense-elle.

Particularly in spoken French,any question (all the typesbelow) can alteratively beexpressed by adding "Est-ce que"to the front of a statement. See Part3 below.

1.1. Verbs with no auxiliary (single word verbs)

1.1.1. When the subject is a pronoun - with the verbêtre

In the simplest statements, and when the subject is a pronoun, Englishand Frenchquestions are formed in just the same way, as in this example :

However that is where the direct similarities end.... notably becausein English the verb tobe is the only verb with which we can just invert subjectand verb to form a question.

1.1.2. When the subject is a pronoun - Other verbs

To make a question using any other Englishverb, we always need to use an auxiliary (as in do you like).Here French is a bit simpler than English, and simple inversion ispossible with all verbs whenthey are used with a pronoun subject and single-element tenses, i.e.tenses that do not require anauxiliary – which means most tenses in French (present,simple past, imperfect, future, etc).

and in the negative - note how the ne and pasare placed.

In other words , and as long as thesubject is a pronoun, in French we can ask Vivent-ils àLondres, though in English wecan't ask Live they in London ? (You could inShakespeare's time, butnot in modern English!)

1.1.3. When the subject is anoun -with êtreand otherverbs

Here there are some importantdifferences between English and French.

English:

It makes no difference whether the subject is a pronoun or anoun. The same structure verb to be> subj. > complement is possible inEnglish.
We can say Is she your sister?, butwe canalso ask Is Mary your sister? ,or Is this girl your sister ?, oreven Is this girl I'm showing you a photoof your sister? This is not possible inFrench.

French:

French uses a different structure if the subject is a noun. Instead of placing the noun subject between the verb and thecomplement, French repeats the subject- firstly as a noun, then as apronoun, on the structure:
subject noun > verb to be > subjectpronoun > complement

or to translate the last example given above for English, Is this girl I'm showing you a photoof your sister?, we will need to say in French
Cette fille dont je vous montre unephoto,est-ce votre soeur?

1.2. Verbs with two elements (auxiliary / verb)

1.2.1. When English and French are alike

When the subject of the sentence is a pronoun,and in contexts where inboth French and English the verb tense is formed with the use of anauxiliary (notably in theperfect or passécomposé tense, or with modals) English and Frenchquestions are formed in just the same way, as in these examples :

1.2.2. Cases when English and French are NOTalike

However if there is a direct or indirect pronoun object in thestatement, such as lui or leur in French, this comes beforethe initialauxiliary – which is not the same as in English

Unfortunately for students, in many other cases the question structuresinEnglish and in French will be different, for two reasons:

• a) Unlike English, French does not allow simple inversionwhen thesubject of a sentence is a noun,and
• b) Most tenses in French are formed withoutan auxiliary, whereas in English we always use an auxiliary(do, did, has, was etc.) to create the interrogativeform of a verb.

As in 1.2.1 above, instead of placing the noun subjectbetweenthe verb and thecomplement, French doubles the subject - firstlyas a noun, then as apronoun, on the structure:
subject noun > v1 > subjectpronoun> v2 > object
In which v1 is an auxiliary or modal, and v2 the mainverb(infinitive or past participle)

Compare these structures with English

A few more examples

1.3. Questions using Est-ceque....

Fortunately for students, French has another less complicated way offorming questions, which is the same in virtually all cases. It is justto add "Est-ce que" to the frontof a statement. With"Est-ce que"in front of it, any statement becomes a question. Here again are theexamples above, but this time instead of the English translation you'llfind the French alternative using est-ceque.

A question of style.

Question-forming with Est-ce queis very common in colloquial spokenFrench, less common in written French