Asking Questions in French
Les Questions
Want to know something? Whether you're working, traveling, learning, or just trying to learn
more about someone, questions are an essential part of any conversation. This handout will teach
you four different ways to ask questions in French.
1. Inflection
A very simple but informal way to ask yes/no questions is to raise the pitch of your voice while
pronouncing any sentence:
Vous dansez ?
You dance?
Tu veux voir un film ?
You want to see a movie?
Il est arrivé ?
He arrived?
You can also use this structure to ask negative questions:
Tu ne danses pas ?
You don't dance?
Il n'est pas encore arrivé ?
He hasn't arrived yet?
2. Inversion
A more formal way to ask questions is with inversion: invert the conjugated verb and subject
pronoun and join them with a hyphen:
Dansez-vous ?
Do you dance?
Veux-tu voir un film ?
Do you want to see a movie?
Est-il arrivé ?
Has he arrived?
Again, place any interrogative words at the beginning of the question:
Quand veux-tu partir ?
When do you want to leave?
Pourquoi a-t-il menti ?**
Why did he lie?
Quel livre cherchez-vous ?
Which book are you looking for?
You can use inversion to ask negative questions***
Ne dansez-vous pas ?
Don't you dance?
N'est-il pas encore arrivé ?
Hasn't he arrived yet?
3. Est-ce que . . . ?
Est-ce que, literally “is it that,” can be placed at the beginning of any affirmative sentence to turn
it into a question:
Est-ce que vous dansez ?
Do you dance?
Est-ce que tu veux voir un film ?
Do you want to see a movie?
Est-ce qu'il est arrivé ?
Has he arrived?
Place any interrogative words* in front of est-ce que:
Quand est-ce que tu veux partir ?
When do you want to leave?
Pourquoi est-ce qu'il a menti ?
Why did he lie?
Quel livre est-ce que vous cherchez ?
Which book are you looking for?
4. . . . , n'est-ce pas ?
If you're pretty sure the answer to your question is yes, you can just make an affirmative
statement and then add the tag n'est-ce pas ? to the end. This is also informal:
Tu danses, n'est-ce pas ?
You dance, right?
Tu veux voir un film, n'est-ce pas ?
You want to see a movie, right?
Il est arrivé, n'est-ce pas ?
He arrived, right?
______________________________________________________________________________
Notes
The French equivalent of the verb “to ask” is demander, but “to ask a question” is poser une
question.
*There are two main types of questions:
1. Yes/no questions, also known as polar questions or closed questions (questions fermées),
ask for a simple yes or no answer.
2. Information questions, also known as WH questions, constituent questions, or open
questions (questions ouvertes), ask for information with question words, like who, what,
when, where, why, which, how, how much/many.
**When using inversion with the third person singular (il, elle, or on) and a verb that ends in
a vowel, you must add -t- between the verb and subject pronoun (why?):
Aime-t-il les films ? - Does he like movies?
Écoute-t-elle la radio ? - Does she listen to the radio?
A-t-on décidé ? - Have we decided?
***There is a special French word, si, that is used only when responding in the affirmative
to a negative question. (I wish English had a word like this!)
Affirmative questions
Negative questions
- Vas-tu au ciné ? - Oui !
- Are you going to the movies? - Yes!
- Ne vas-tu pas au ciné ? - Si !
- Aren't you going to the movies? - Yes (I am)!
- Est-ce que tu veux venir ? - Oui !
- Do you want to come? - Yes!
- Tu ne veux pas venir ? - Si !
- You don't want to come? - Yes (I do)!
Source: Laura K. Lawless, About.com Guide. Rearranged and re-formatted by Mark A. Spalding, BA, MEd, MA (2012).