Question
Running head: QUESTION – ENGLISH AND FRENCH.
Constructing and Using Question in
English and French
Đỗ Thị Lan Phương
Class 4A06
University of Pedagogy
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Question
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Introduction
The English is a Germanic language which has been formed by a number of other
languages over centuries. Among the languages having strong influences on English is
French, an Indo-European language and part of the Romance family, along with Spanish and
Italian. According to Bill Bryson, the Norman conquest of 1066 war regarded as the “final
cataclysm which awaited the English language” (Lawless, par.3). Since the Norman invasion,
“French took over as the language of the court, administration, and culture - and stayed there
for 300 years” (Lawless, par.3). These two languages coexisted in England and were certainly
interchanged with no doubt. Therefore, French and English are related to a certain extent
because the two languages share a lot of grammatical points and include many cognates. One
of these aspects that will be analyzed in this paper is question, which plays an important
position in communication as these following linguists affirmed. Goffman emphasized that
“whenever people talk with each other, we can hear questions and answers” (as cited in Do,
p.92). According to Diller, in terms of theory of speech acts, “question is one of the three first
important speech acts of human beings” (as cited in Do, p.92). In this paper, we’ll analyze and
discuss the construction and using question in the two languages- English and French.
The first part will focus on the construction of the two types of French question, then
compare and contrast with English to draw the similarities as well as differences which can be
helpful for learners of the two languages.
In the second part, we ‘ll dig deep into using of question in French, especially notable
points, and make a comparison with English to get learners easily access to French.
The question
Definition
Le Quang Thiem, a Vietnamese linguist defined that “In communication as well as in
thought, a question is mainly aimed at finding information which isn’t known or understood.
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A question is also called interrogative sentence” (p.222). According to an article in
Wikipedia “A question may be either a linguistic expression used to make a request for
information, or else the request itself made by such an expression. This information is
provided with an answer.” A French linguist, Kerbrat-Orecchioni states in her book that
“question is a statement given with the main aim of receiving information from the person
who is asked” (as cited in Do, p.67). Actually, there are a variety of question definitions in
other materials and researches. However, we certainly get an idea that question is asked to get
information in reply.
Construction of English and French question
A number of different viewpoints are given about the method of dividing question in
both English and French. In term of syntax, English Question is classified into these following
types:
1.
Yes/ No questions
2.
Wh- questions
3.
Alternative questions
4.
Tag questions
5.
Declarative questions
Meanwhile, French grammarians following the traditional viewpoints such as Jean
Dubois and René Lagane (as cited in Do, p.94) divide question into two types based on form
including syntax and means of establishing question: general question (yes-no question) and
partial question( using interrogative words) .
In terms of Grammar, questions in French and English can be classified into two
types, depending on the way of answering questions as well as the methods and means of
constructing questions:
1.
Closed question
Question
2.
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Open question
We will analyze one by one with abundant examples, then compare and contrast types
of questions between the two languages.
Closed question
Closed questions need a yes/no, true/false or right/wrong answer. Basically, there are
three ways of making yes-no questions in French . The easiest way is to “raise the pitch of
you voice at the end of any normal sentence” (About.com: French Language). This familiar
one is often applied in informal situations.
Tu chantes?
You sing?
Tu aimes chanter ?
You like to sing?
In English, we have the same way of asking this kind of question. Particularly, in daily
talks, we don’t have to use interrogative word order which is mentioned later: “You’re
working late tonight?” Usually, we ask questions in this way, when we think we know
something, but we want to make sure : “That’s the boss?” ( = I suppose that’s the boss, isn’t
it?). Or when we express surprise: “That’s the boss? I thought he was the cleaner.”
With this kind of question, English and French question have the same form- the sentence in
affirmative form, but featuring raising tone, and perhaps similar use in informal style. While
this one is used more widely in French, it is used in some intended cases in English.
In standard French, “ est-ce que” is put at the beginning of the sentence. It should be
remembered that we not employ inversion in yes-no question with “est-ce que”.
Est-ce que tu chantes?
Do you sing?
Est-ce que tu aimes chanter ?
Do you like to sing?
“ Est-ce que” in this question works as an operator like auxiliary verbs or modal verbs
in English question. However, English question is a bit more complex than French in this
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aspect. As we know, auxiliary verbs in English are really diversified and differently applied in
various tenses. That is also the basic rule to make question in English
Auxiliary verb + subject + main verb
This detailed table illustrates this rule with particular examples
Tense
Auxiliary verb subject main verb
Answer
Present simple
Do
you
play
soccer? Yes, I do
Past simple
Did
he
play
soccer? No, he didn’t
Present progressive Is
she
playing
soccer? Yes, she is
Past progressive
Were
they
playing
soccer? No, they weren’t
Present perfect
Have
you
played
soccer? Yes, I have
Past perfect
Had
he
played
soccer? No, he hadn’t
Future simple
Will
I
play
soccer? Yes, I will
There is an exceptional with the verb “be” in the present simple and past simple tense.
Yes/No questions with the verb “be” are created by moving the verb be to the beginning of
the sentence. In other words, the subject and the verb change their positions in questions. For
instance, “Are you English?” is answered with “Yes, I am”. Or “Was he in London last
night?” can be answered with “No, he wasn’t”. This is case of subject-verb inversion and verb
“be” functions as an operator in the question. Besides, “have” belongs to this case as well.
“Have you (got) a cell phone?”
And in formal style, inversion is more popular by “inverting the verb and subject
pronoun, join by a hyphen” (About.com: French Language). Yet it isn’t common in casual
conversations.
Chantes –tu ? Chantez-vous ?
Do you sing?
Aimes-tu chanter? Aimez-vous chanter?
Do you like to sing?
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This way of creating question reminds us of English question with the case of “be, have” .
They all belong to subject-verb inversion. The only difference is a hyphen which is put
between verb and subject pronoun in French.
In addition to three basic methods to make closed question, there is another way which
is used in daily speaking. With this familiar kind, we can add the tag” n'est-ce pas, non , or
hein” to the end of the sentence.
Tu chantes, n’est-ce pas?
You sing, right?
Tu aimes chanter, n’est-ce pas?
You like to sing, right?
Rather like tag question in English, this one need the tag “n’est-ce pas” at the end of
the sentence; but the rule to make tag- question in English isn’t simple at all. In terms of form,
normally a positive statement is followed by a negative tag, and a negative statement is
followed by a positive tag.
You are a student, aren’t you?
He isn’t handsome, is he?
The statement and the tag are always separated by a comma. And the verb in the tag should be
the same tense as the verb in the statement (LEO Network).
Present tense
You are a singer,
aren't you?
Past tense
You didn't come yesterday,
did you?
Present perfect tense
You have been to London,
haven't you?
In respect of using, tag-question is intended for checking information that we think is true or
information that we aren't sure is true.
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Answering closed questions
While English questions require “Yes/ No” replies following brief form of subject and
auxiliary verb, such as “ Yes, I am” or “ No, she doesn’t”, answers for closed questions in
French are commonly “Oui/ Non”. But in formal writing, the answer can be more
complicated.
Est-ce que vous faites du sport?
Do you play sport ?
Oui, je fais du sport. / Non, je ne fais pas de sport.
Yes, I do. / No, I don’t.
In brief, the ways of making closed questions in French are more various than those in
English, and the answers for French ones are somehow simpler than those for English ones.
Open question
Open question requires a description or opinion; actually it’s useful for eliciting
information. Grasping closed question gets us easily access to the form and usage of open
question, for the construction of the two are quite similar to some extent. However, we’ll have
a nearer look at interrogative words in this type of question. On the whole, most of the
interrogative words in French have their equivalents in English with the same function. They
can be divided into three groups like the table below.
Type
French
English
Function
Interrogative
Qui
Who/
To ask about someone's identity
pronoun
whom
Que/quoi
What
To require information about something.
Lequel/
Which
To replace for noun
Which
To get information about one of a limited
Laquelle
Interrogative
Quel/Quelle
Question
adjective
Interrogative
number of things
Quand
When
adverb
To ask about the time that something
happened or will happen.
Où
Where
To ask about place or position
Pourquoi
Why
To ask for a reason
Comment
How
To ask about the way in which something
is done
The method to create open question in French is also based on three ways like closed
question, yet using “est-ce que” and subject-verb inversion are more preferred. Meanwhile,
English closed question still applies the structure Auxiliary verb + subject + main verb.
Closed question with interrogative pronoun.
“Qui “means who or whom and it is used for asking about people. When working as
the object of the question, “qui” can be followed by either est-ce que or inversion.
Qui est-ce que tu vois ? / Qui vois-tu ?
Who do you see?
If “qui” is the subject of the question, either “qui” or “qui est-ce qui” can be used, then the
word order is kept unchanged; and the verb is always third person singular.
Qui veut le faire ? / Qui est-ce qui veut le faire ?
Who wants to do it?
Qui can also follow a preposition as any prepositions can go before whom
À qui est-ce que tu parles ? / À qui parles-tu ?
To whom are you speaking?
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Que is equivalent to what and is used to refer to ideas or things. Making question with
“que” is very similar to “qui”. The only thing to notice is contracted form of “que” when
using est-ce que or est-ce qui.
Qu'est-ce que tu fais ? / Que fais tu ?
What do you do?
Qu'est-ce qui se passe ?
What's happening?
Especially, “que” changes into “quoi” when asking question in informal style or when “que”
follow a preposition
Tu fais quoi? What do you do?
De quoi est-ce que vous parlez ? / De quoi parlez-vous ?
What are you talking about?
Briefly, the method of making closed question with Interrogative pronoun in the two
languages focuses on the function of the interrogative pronoun (subject or object). It is to say,
inversion or non-inversion, using est-ce que or est-ce qui depend on these functions.
Summary of French Interrogative Pronouns (About.com: French Language)
Subject of question
Object of question
qui
qui
People
After preposition
Qui
qui est-ce qui
qui est-ce que
que
Things
qu'est-ce qui
Quoi
qu'est-ce que
Lequel that is usually the equivalent of which is arguably the most difficult French pronoun
because it has to agree in gender and number with the noun it replaces.
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Lequel replaces quel + noun.
Quel livre veux-tu ? > Lequel veux-tu ?
Which book do you want? > Which one do you want?
Je veux la pomme là-bas. > Laquelle veux-tu ?
I want the apple over there. > Which one?
Closed question with interrogative adjective.
To some extent, French grammar is much stricter than English grammar. A simple
question like "What book do you want?" is maybe technically incorrect, if put in proper
English, the question should be "Which book do you want?" In real life, the latter isn’t as
common as the former. In French, however, the case is compulsory: the French equivalent of
which, quel, “must be used whenever there is more than one noun that you are choosing
between”( About.com: French Language). Like all French adjectives, quel has to agree in
gender and number with the noun it modifies –illustrated in this table.
French Interrogative Adjectives (About.com: French Language)
Singular
Plural
Masculine
quel
Quels
Feminine
quelle
Quelles
Quel is rather straightforwardly used to ask for specific information about a noun:
Quel livre veux-tu ? / Quel livre est-ce que tu veux?
What book do you want?
To ask "what is ...?" or "what are ...?" use quel plus the appropriate conjugation of être (verb
tobe) :
Quel est le problème?
What's the problem?
Quelles sont les différences?
What are the differences?
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Closed question with interrogative adverb.
Interrogative adverbs are used for getting new information or facts. The most common
French interrogative adverbs are: quand (when), où (where), pourquoi (why), comment (how)
and combine de (how many/much). All of these can be used with either est-ce que or
inversion.
Quand est-ce que vous êtes né(e)?/Quand êtes-vous né(e)?
When were you born?
Où est-ce que vous habitez?/ Où habitez-vous?
Where do you live?
Combien de livres veut-il?/ Combien de livres est-ce que qu’il veut?
How many books does he want?
Pourquoi attendez-vous?/ Pourquoi est-ce que vous attendez?
Why do you wait?
Comment vas-tu à la mer?/ Comment est-ce que tu vas à la mer?
How do you go to the beach?
In summary, French has three basic ways of make questions (using intonation,
inversion or est-ce que) in the two types of questions and English shares several similarities
among them. However, the rule to make questions in English seems to be a little different
from that in French. Therefore, English students face a lot of difficulties when learning
French. To have a good command of French, learners should access to all forms of questions,
one by one, and draw a comparison between the two languages so that they can grasp
dissimilarities and avoid misunderstandings and misuses.
Using question in French for learning
Through the comparison between the construction of the question in the two languages
above, we can see that the general rules for question in English and French are very
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systematic and clear. However, some special cases still exist along with the rule. In this paper,
I’ll concentrate on two baffling points which French learners often encounter; they are
inversion and answers for negative questions.
Inversion
While English question always need an auxiliary verb without verb “be” in the
statement, learners may be confused with that direct inversion “verb-subject” in French
question. Besides, when using inversion, we should pay attention to this rule. That is to add
“t-“ between the verb and subject pronoun in case of using the third person singular ( il, elle,
or on) with the verb that ends in a vowel.
Parle-t-il francais?
Does he speak French?
Joue-t-elle au tennis?
Does she play tennis?
A-t-on décidé ?
Have we decided?
The reason for this rule is to avoid hiatus “the phenomenon of two consecutive vowel
sounds within a word or between words” (About.com: French Language) because
pronunciation of French makes point of the concept of agreeable or harmonious sound.
Knowing this rule well helps learners use inversion in the correct grammar in terms of writing
and produce standard French in terms of speaking. Learners should practice using inversion in
French, particularly in question with various verbs, so that they can overcome this troubling
grammar point in French.
Answering negative question
In addition to the types of French question mentioned above, negative question is
frequently asked in daily conversation. But the answer for this kind of question is a notable
point. While English negative question still demands yes or no answer, there is a special
French word for yes, “si”, which is used only when responding yes to a negative question.
Question
Vas-tu au ciné ?
Are you going to the movies?
Oui !
Yes!
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Ne vas-tu pas au ciné ? Aren't you going to the movies?
Si !
Yes (I am )!
Tu ne vas pas au ciné ? You're not going to the movies?
Si !
Yes (I am)
Answers for negative question in the two languages are based on the truth of the
proposition. In other words, answer for this one is the same as for the normal question,
expressing answerer’s agreement or disagreement. The only noticeable feature is “oui” in
French transformed into “si”. For instance, When asked “Aren’t you tired?” you are really
tired and answer “ Yes, I am”. The same question asked in French “Ne es-tu pas fatigué?”,
and you can confirm your tiredness with “ Si”. Discovering this small but important point in
French question, learners escape from wrong answers for negative questions.
Conclusion
To English and French learners, question is one of the most important but also
confusing grammatical points. Thus, having a profound knowledge of this matter in the two
languages will enable learners to overcome hindrance to accessing to English and French. As
presented above, English and French question have some points in common, but definitely are
distinct from each other. The aim of this paper is to help students who want to learn both
languages understand and apply English and French effectively in real life. To master the
question well in both languages, learners should have a good command of one language and
then make a comparison with the other language to find themselves noticeable differences and
practice them frequently in their learning as well as in reality. In my opinion, this is the best
way for learners to become expert in the two languages.
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References
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2009 from http://french.about.com/library/weekly/aa022600.htm
Lawless, Laura K.. (2009). How French has influenced English. In About.com: French
Language. Retrieved December 20th,2009 from http://french.about.com/library/blfrenchinenglish.htm
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và tiếng Việt. Tạp chí khoa học ĐHQGHN, Ngoại ngữ, 25, 67-80.
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tiếng Việt. Tạp chí khoa học ĐHQGHN, Ngoại ngữ, 24, 92-104.
LEO Network. (1999). Simple Guide to Asking Questions in English. Retrieved December
20th, 2009 from http://www.learnenglish.de/grammar/questiontext.htm
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University Publisher.
Luong, Quynh Mai & Tran,Thi Yen.(Eds.) (2006). Giáo trình ngữ pháp tiếng Pháp.
Hochiminh: Hochiminh City Publisher.
Swan, Michael. (2001). Basic English Usage. Hochiminh: Thống Kê Publisher.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (2009). Question. Retrieved December 14th, 2009 from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Question