The word question in french

What is the word question in French?

[ˈkwɛstʃən ] 1. (= query) question f. to ask a question poser une question.

How do you form a question in French?

You ask a question in French by making your voice go up at the end of the sentence, by using est-ce que, by changing normal word order, or by using a question word. When you put the verb in front of the subject, you join the two words with a hyphen. A -t- is used in the il/elle form if the verb ends in a vowel.

How do you make a French word plural?

Most French nouns form their plural by adding an -s to their singular form. If the singular noun ends in -s, -x or -z, no further-s is added in the plural. Most nouns ending in -eau or -eu add an -x in the plural.

What is the meaning of est-ce que?

Est-ce que (pronounced “es keu”) is a French expression that is useful for asking a question. Literally translated, this phrase means “is it that…,” although in conversation it rarely is interpreted that way.

Why is Qu est ce que?

Qu’est-ce que asks what when what is the object of the verb — that is, when it receives the action. In Qu’est-ce que tu veux?, tu (you) is the subject of the verb, so there can’t be another subject. Because the interrogative qu’est-ce que can’t be the subject, it must be the object.

How do you pronounce Qu est-ce que?

Qu is pronounced k in this context with the final e silent. In a phrase like qu’est-ce-que c’est, que is combined with est and pronounced k at the beginning of the phrase and kuh at the end.

Is Mon nom est correct?

Just don’t say “mon nom est …” if that’s a casual conversation it will just seem weird to your interlocutor and it could work in certain formal occasions but that can sound a bit cocky. That’s a risky choice cause that’s easy to tell that you’re not native if you use it wrong.

How do you count 70 to 100 in French?

Numbers from 70 to 100 in French

1. 70 – soixante-dix.
2. 71 – soixante-onze.
3. 72 – soixante-douze.
4. 73 – soixante-treize.
5. 74 – soixante-quatorze.
6. 75 – soixante-quinze.
7. 76 – soixante-seize.
8. 77 – soixante-dix-sept.

How do you say 9 in Spanish?

In this lesson, you’ll learn the numbers 1-10 in Spanish and practice their pronunciation….The Numbers 1-10.

Number	Spanish	Pronunciation
6	seis	says
7	siete	syay-tay
8	ocho	oh-choh
9	nueve	nway-vay

How do you say 11 in Spanish?

Click on this link to hear numbers said in Spanish….

1	uno/a (OO-noh)
8	ocho (O-cho)
9	nueve (NWAI-be)
10	diez (DYESS)
11	once (OHN-say)

How do you say 8 in Spain?

Here are the Spanish numbers:

1. 1 – uno.
2. 2 – dos.
3. 3 – tres.
4. 4 – cuatro.
5. 5 – cinco.
6. 6 – seis.
7. 7 – siete.
8. 8 – ocho.

Human communication is dynamic and multifaceted, so we can hardly engage in a dialogue without arriving at the point where we need or want to ask a question. Undoubtedly, questions matter. When learning any foreign language, learning how to ask questions in our target language is vital. So, if you’re wondering how to learn French, the situation is no different. There are several different ways to ask questions in French, some of which are more suitable for informal speech and others for formal speech. 

For example, one of the ways in which you can form a question in French is to raise the tone of your voice at the end of a sentence. Another one is to invert the verb and pronoun.

This post features a list of French question words that will help you on your language learning journey. After reading it you’ll be fully prepared to take part in a real French conversation and satisfy your curiosity.

Below, we share a list of French question words you must know if you want to have a conversation in French. We also share French question examples to help you in your language learning journey.

With these French question words and some basic French vocabulary, you’ll be ready to hit the ground running and test your French speaking skills in the real world!

How to ask a question using a French question word?

The question word introduces the question, and is followed by the verb (the auxiliary if there is one, otherwise the main verb), which is followed directly or indirectly by the subject. This is called “inversion of the subject”.

For example:

• Qui est déjà allé à Londres ? (Who’s already been to London?)
• Quand partez-vous en vacances ? (When are you going on holiday?)
• Comment te sens-tu ? (How are you feeling?)

In informal situations, the subject can be used before the verb. 

For example:

• Comment tu t’appelles ? (What’s your name?)

Main french question words + questions in French examples

In this section, we’ll walk you through each French question word and provide real-world examples of questions in French.

What are question words?

Question words are interrogative pronouns, adverbs or adjectives which are usually placed at the start of a question.

In English they are words like “who”, “where”, “why”, and “what”. In French they are words like “que”, “qui”, “pourquoi” or “combien”.

Here are the main French question words:

• Qui (who)
• Que/quoi (what)
• À qui (whose)
• À quoi (of what)
• Lequel, laquelle (which one)
• Où (where)
• Quand (when)
• Pourquoi (why)
• Comment (how)
• Combien (how much/how many)
• Quel/quels/quelle/quelles (who/which)

Qui – Who?

“Qui” refers to people, and means “who” or “whom”. “Qui” can, therefore, be a subject or object.

• Qui as a subject: Qui mange avec nous ce soir ? (Who’s eating with us tonight?)
• Qui as an object: Qui entendez-vous ? (Whom do you hear?)

Bonus tip: The word qui is also often used after the prepositions avec, pour or de.

Example: 

• Pour qui est le cadeau ? (For whom is the gift ?)
• Avec qui allons-nous au cinéma ce soir ? (Who are we going to the cinema with this evening?)
• De qui tu parles ? (Who are you talking about?)

Que/Quoi – What?

“Que” refers to objects (everything except people), and means “what”. It’s almost always the object of a sentence.

Let’s say you’re in a French shop. You might want to ask questions like:

• Que vendez-vous ici ? (What do you sell here?)
• Que pouvez-vous me recommander ? (What can you recommend me?)

When “que” is used at the end of a question with intonation, it changes to “quoi”:

• Que voyez-vous ? -> Vous voyez quoi ? (What do you see?)

Note: “Que” cannot be used after a preposition; you have to use “quoi” instead:

• À quoi penses- tu?

À Qui – Whose?

“À qui” refers to people, and means “to whom”.

• À qui parles-tu ? “(To whom are you talking?/Who are you talking to?)

Note: À qui is sometimes translated as “whose”, depending on the context.

• À qui appartient ce livre? (Whose book is this?)

French question words are often used with prepositions such as à, de and pour.

• D’où viens-tu ? (Where are you from?)
• À qui avez-vous écrit? (To whom did you write?)
• Elle travaille pour qui?

In French, we group the preposition with the interrogative expressions (question words).

À Quoi – What (about/of)?

“À quoi” refers to objects , and means “what (about/of)”. Officially, “quoi” replaces an indirect object, which means it’s supposed to follow prepositions, and it never directly follows a verb.

Note: In everyday, real French and in an informal context, it’s very common to hear something like: “Tu fais quoi ce weekend ?” (What are you doing this weekend?) where this rule isn’t respected.

• À quoi penses-tu ? (What are you thinking about?)
• À quoi servent les pronoms interrogatifs ? (What are interrogative pronouns used for?)

Lequel, Laquelle – Which one, which of them?

“Lequel”, “laquelle” (plural: lesquels, lesquelles) refer back to people or objects that have been previously mentioned, implied, or designated.

For example:

• Voici dix modèles. Lesquels préférez-vous ? (Here are ten designs. Which ones do you prefer?)
• Laquelle de ces robes est la plus belle ? (Which of these dresses is the most beautiful?)
• Lequel de ces deux bus dois-je prendre pour aller à Lyon ? (Which of these two buses do I need to take to go to Lyon?)

Où – Where?

“Où” refers to place, and means “where”.

Let’s say you’re meeting a friend for a meal.

You might want to ask them:

• Où veux-tu manger ? (Where do you want to eat?)

When they mention their family that lives abroad, you might ask:

• Où est-ce qu’ils habitent ? (Where do they live?)

Say you’re at a train station, you could ask the train station staff:

• Où va ce train ? (Where is this train going?)

Or

• Où sont les toilettes, s’il vous plaît ? (Where are the toilets, please?)

Bonus tip: Be careful not to mix up “où”, which means where, and “ou” (without an accent), which means or.

Quand – When?

“Quand” refers to time, and means “when”.

• Quand reviendras-tu ? (When will you be back?)
• Quand iras-tu en vacances ? (When are you going on holiday?)

Note: “Quand” is frequently expanded to “Quand est-ce que”.

• Quand est-ce qu’il va neiger ? (When will it snow?)
• Quand est-ce que votre cours commence ? (When does your class start?)

Pourquoi – Why?

“Pourquoi” refers to cause or reason, and means “why”.

• Pourquoi as-tu décidé d’étudier la médecine ? (Why did you decide to study medicine?)
• Pourquoi aimez-vous apprendre les langues ? (Why do you like learning languages?)
• Pourquoi sont-elles anxieuses ? (Why are they anxious?)

“Comment” refers to method or means, and means “how”. 

• Comment fait-elle ce gâteau ? (How does she make this cake?)
• Comment va ta grand-mère ? (How is your grandma?)
• Comment s’est passé ton entretien ? (How did your interview go?)

Quel/quells/quelle/quelles – Who/Which ?

You have just met someone in a coffee shop in France! But there’s only one problem… Making new friends isn’t always easy, especially in a new environment.

Here are some questions you can ask others to start getting to know them:

• Quels sont tes chanteurs préférés ? (Who are your favorite singers?)
• Quel est ton passe-temps préféré ? (What’s your favorite hobby)
• Quelles étaient vos matières préférées à l’école ? (What were your favorite subjects at school?)

Combien – How much/How many?

This sentence will be your best friend as you’re navigating designer shops or “boulangeries” (bakeries) in France.

• Combien ça coûte ? (How much does this cost?)

Say you’re meeting a friend and you’d like to ask them how much time they have for your café crème (a coffee with cream). 

• Combien de temps as-tu ? (How much time do you have?)

You might be having a dinner with your partner’s well-travelled uncle, so you ask:

• Combien de pays avez-vous visités ? (How many countries have you visited?)

Now that you know the main French question words, let’s look at how they can be used and practiced.

Bonus tip: Remember that when followed by a noun, “combien’’ requires the preposition “de”.

How to practice French question words

Chris Lonsdale’s book The Third Ear offers a deep discussion of language learning strategies he used to learn Mandarin Chinese in just 6 months. For example, Chris talks about focusing on words that are relevant to you and using the language to communicate from day one.

He also emphasises “comprehensible input”, which is the principle that we acquire language unconsciously when we understand it. Just like when children are learning to speak, if we immerse ourselves in as much comprehensible input as possible, our brains are going to do the work for us. 

This is why it’s important to immerse yourself in as much French as possible. Change your phone language to French, read your favorite childhood books in French, add French subtitles to your favourite Netflix shows, and explore top French podcasts.

However, finding the content at the right level for you can be difficult. If the content is too simple, you’ll get bored. If it’s too complex, you might get frustrated. 

This is why conversations with French teachers and native speakers are so valuable. Not only do you get to speak with advanced speakers and practice your conversation skills, but the teacher can adjust to your level, hitting that sweet spot of comprehensible input.

How to form questions using French question words

1. Use question words with “est-ce que” (registre courant)

• Qu’est-ce que c’est ? (What is it?)
• Quand est-ce que tu vas partir ? (When are you going to leave?)
• Qui est-ce qui a appelé ? (Who called? Lit. Who is it that called?)

Note: “Quoi + est-ce que” becomes “qu’est-ce que”.

2. Question words by inverting the word order (registre formel)

• Comment as-tu oublié ? (How did you forget?)
• Pourquoi est-elle venue ? (Why did she come?)

3. Replace the complement by a question word (registre familier)

• Tu vas où ? (Where are you going? Lit. You go where?)
• Elle part quand ? (When is she leaving? Lit. She goes when?)
• C’est quoi ? (What is it?)

To understand these three main ways better, let’s take a look at one sentence formed in three ways:

• Qu’est-ce que vous faites ?
• Que faites-vous ?
• Vous faites quoi ?

Bonus tip: In everyday French, it’s quite common for people to start questions with “qu’est-ce que”, “où est-ce que”, or “quand est-ce que”. This is a way to emphasize that a question is being asked!

When questions are formed using “qu’est-ce que” or a similar expression, there is no inversion of subject and verb.

Example: Instead of “Qu’aimez-vous ?,” you’d say “Qu’est-ce que vous aimez ?”

Ready to Start Practicing French Question Words?

We hope that this gives you a great starting point to discover how to use French question words. Now it’s time to go out into the world and put your French language skills into practice (if you haven’t already).

Remember to stay curious, have fun, and enjoy the journey. Happy learning!

Understanding questions in French fast is the key to a successful conversation.

In this free French lesson, I’ll explain the 4 ways of asking questions in French and give you lists of common French question words (aka interrogative expressions…)

1 – How To Ask Questions in French?

We have basically 4 ways of asking questions in French:

1. To ask a question in a relaxed, everyday conversation, we just raise our voice.
   Vous parlez français ?
2. To insist on the fact that you’re asking a question, you may use “est-ce que”.
   Est-ce que vous parlez français ?
3. When we write, or in formal situations, we tend to use “inversion”, a French concept where you invert the subject and the verb.
   Parlez-vous français ?
4. When you’re pretty sure the answer is yes, you may use the tag expressions “n’est-ce pas ?” or “non ?”

Now let’s study the different ways of asking questions in French in details.

Questions in French: the Modern “Everyday” Way

This is the most common construction, mostly used in spoken French, and it’s also the simplest – hence it’s popularity.

You just raise your intonation towards the end of the sentence!
Vous parlez français ? = Do you speak French?

If you use an interrogative expression (like when, why, where…) It goes all the way at the end of your sentence.

1. Tu vas en France quand ?
   When are you going to France?
2. Tu voyages avec qui ?
   With whom do you travel?

Questions in French: “Est-ce que”

“Est-ce que” is nowadays mostly used to ask questions that can be answered by “oui” or “non”, and with “qu’est-ce que” (what do you…).

“Est-ce que” is pronounced [S keu] and it takes elision, so when followed by a vowel or an h, it becomes “est-ce qu’il(s)” [S kil], “est-ce qu’elle(s)” [S kel] etc…

“Est-ce que” means nothing by itself (watch out! It doesn’t always translate as ‘is’), it’s like the inverted question mark Spanish uses before the question: it warns you that a question is coming

1. Est-ce que tu vas souvent à Londres ?
   Do you often go to London?
2. Est-ce que tu peux venir chez moi ?
   Can you come to my house?
3. Est-ce qu’elle est française ?
   Is she French?
4. Qu’est-ce que tu fais ?
   What are you doing?

Questions in French: Inversion

Inversion is the most formal way of asking a question in French yet it’s still very much used, especially when using an interrogative expression.

In inversion, you pretty much invert the subject verb order, placing the verb first.
Pourquoi vas-tu à Paris ? = Why are you going to Paris?
Avec qui voyagez-vous ? = With whom are you traveling?

If you are studying French to pass exams, it is essential you know how to form your questions using inversion.

However, if you are learning French to communicate, you should be able to understand a question asked using inversion, but I wouldn’t worry about using it right away.

The modern everyday way to ask questions is much easier, if you ask me!

There is more to say about asking question with inversion since the construct can be quite complex.

Inversion, the various French question words etc.. are explained in depth and then illustrated by a level-adapted ongoing novel with audio – in my intermediate level French audiobook method – À Moi Paris L3.

Questions in French: N’est-ce pas?

Grammar makes it a question, so I have to list it here. But it’s only used as a tag question, when you are almost sure the answer is “yes”.
Tu es français, n’est-ce pas ? = You are French, right /aren’t you?

Instead of using “n’est-ce pas ?”, you could also just ask no in French: non ?

Vous aimez la France, non ? = You like France, don’t you?

And now let’s see what question words are used to ask specific informations.

2 – French Question Words

Interrogative expressions – or interrogative adverbs, and sometimes interrogative adjectives – are French question words used to ask for a particular piece of information.

They combine with prepositions to form more complex French questions and this is usually the part that holds students of French back when asking a question.

You can gain a lot of speed (and therefore confidence) by knowing these French question words by heart!

Most Common French Interrogative Expressions

You probably already know these French question words:

1. Comment = how
2. Où = where
3. Quand = when
4. Pourquoi = why – Note: to answer, use: parce que (parce qu’il-s, parce qu’elle-s)
5. Combien = how many (de + noun)
6. Qui = who, whom
7. À quelle heure = at what time

Interrogative Expressions Combined with Prepositions

Basic French question words combine with prepositions (from, of, about, to, until, for…) to create more complex interrogative expressions.

Some usually confuse students, so make sure you understand these constructs.

I am going to list the most common ones below, but there are more.

1. Jusqu’où = up to where, how far
2. D’où = from where
3. Jusqu’à quand = until when
4. Depuis quand = since when
5. Pour quand = for when
6. Jusqu’à quelle heure = until what time
7. Depuis quelle heure = since what time
8. Pour quelle heure = for what time
9. Pour combien de = for how much/many
10. Avec combien de = with how much/many
11. Combien de temps = how long
12. Pendant combien de temps = for how long
13. Depuis combien de temps = since how long
14. Que or qu’ = what + verb… as in what are you doing ? Que fais-tu, qu’est-ce que tu fais ?
15. quoi = what (used mostly in Street French: tu fais quoi ? = What are you doing?)
16. À quoi = usually used with a verb that is followed by à = penser à = À quoi tu penses ?
17. De quoi = usually used with a verb that is followed by de = parler de = De quoi tu parles ?
18. Avec quoi = with what
19. Avec qui = with whom
20. De qui =of, from, about whom
21. À qui = to whom
22. Pour qui = for whom
23. Chez qui = at whose place
24. Quel = which/what + masculine singular noun
25. quels = which/what + masculine plural noun
26. quelle = = which/what + feminine singular noun
27. quelles = which/what + feminine plural noun
    all pronounced “kel”
28. Pour quel = for which
29. Avec quel = with which
30. Chez quell (ami) = At which (friend’s) place
31. De quel = of which / about which
32. À quel = at which / in which
33. Dans quel = in which / inside which

3 – Watch Out for Prepositions!

In spoken English, it is common to put a preposition at the end of the sentence. Example: Who does she work for?

It is not so in French: you HAVE TO group the preposition with the interrogative expression, in other
words, the preposition becomes part of your interrogative expression.

1. Elle travaille pour qui ?
2. Pour qui est-ce qu’elle travaille ?
3. Pour qui travaille-t-elle ?

You can never say in French: “qui elle travaille pour ?”.

4 – The Secrets to a Successful French Conversation

Asking questions fast, and being able to understand them fast as well, is an essential part of French conversation. Most students can’t answer questions fast enough because they are surprised by the word order used in French to ask a question.

You expected: “comment vous appelez-vous ? ” – which is featured in so many learning method to ask “what’s your name”, but is rather formal – and were asked “vous vous appelez comment ?” – same question, but asked in a much more casual way, or “c’est quoi votre nom ?” even more casual.

And that’s were you freeze in “surprise”. You expected one variation and got another one, which you often try to translate word by word. That’s the mistake: in most situations, you don’t need to translate the question. You need to understand it’s a question, and grab the essential parts to be able to, within the context of that particular conversation, guess the rest and answer fast.

So I dedicated a whole audiobook to this subject: secrets of French conversation. 1 hour of audio, plenty of exercises switching between the different ways of asking questions and everything you could possibly want to know about asking questions in French!

I hope this lesson helps. If you’d like to stay informed of new free lesson release, please subscribe to my newsletter.