Kilo Lingo
Part of Chapter 7

CEFR A1-A2

Test yourself (26 questions)

French Question Words

French has eight question words you'll use constantly, plus three strategies for turning a statement into a question. This page covers both.

The eight question words

WordMeaningExample
quiwhoQui parle?
quewhatQue fais-tu?
quoiwhat (after prep)C'est quoi? / Avec quoi?
quandwhenQuand pars-tu?
oùwhereOù habites-tu?
commenthowComment vas-tu?
combienhow much / manyCombien ça coûte?
pourquoiwhyPourquoi tu ris?

Plus the determiner quel / quelle / quels / quelles (which / what), which agrees with the noun.

  • Quel livre? (Which book?)
  • Quelle heure est-il? (What time is it?)
  • Quels sont tes plans? (What are your plans?)

The three question-formation strategies

For any question, French gives you three options. They're ranked by register.

1. Intonation (casual)

Take the statement and raise the pitch at the end. Word order doesn't change.

  • Tu viens? (Are you coming?)
  • Vous habitez ici? (Do you live here?)
  • Marie est française? (Is Marie French?)

With a question word, the word usually goes at the end:

  • Tu pars quand? (When are you leaving?)
  • Vous habitez où? (Where do you live?)
  • Tu fais quoi? (What are you doing?)

This is the default register for spoken French. It's grammatical, common, and what you'll hear most.

2. est-ce que (neutral)

Bolt est-ce que onto the start of the statement. The rest of the sentence stays the same.

  • Est-ce que tu viens? (Are you coming?)
  • Est-ce que vous habitez ici? (Do you live here?)
  • Est-ce que Marie est française? (Is Marie French?)

With a question word, the question word goes first:

  • Quand est-ce que tu pars? (When are you leaving?)
  • Où est-ce que vous habitez? (Where do you live?)
  • Pourquoi est-ce que tu ris? (Why are you laughing?)

This is the safest learner move. It works in any register, you can't get the word order wrong, and it's never inappropriate.

3. Inversion (formal)

Flip the subject and verb, joining them with a hyphen.

  • Viens-tu? (Are you coming?)
  • Habitez-vous ici? (Do you live here?)
  • Est-elle française? (Is she French?)

With a third-person verb ending in a vowel and a vowel-starting pronoun, French inserts a -t- between them for pronunciation:

  • A-t-il un chien? (Does he have a dog?)
  • Va-t-elle au cinéma? (Is she going to the cinema?)
  • Parle-t-on français ici? (Do they speak French here?)

This is the formal register: written French, careful speech, public-facing communication. In conversation it can sound stiff.

qui vs que vs quoi

The three "what / who" words split by function.

  • qui = who, asking about a person, in any position
  • que = what, asking about a thing, in subject or object position with a verb directly after
  • quoi = what, used after a preposition or at the end of a sentence

Examples:

  • Qui parle? (Who is speaking?)
  • Qui as-tu vu? (Who did you see?)
  • Que fais-tu? (What are you doing?)
  • Qu'est-ce que c'est? (What is it?)
  • Avec quoi? (With what?)
  • À quoi penses-tu? (What are you thinking about?)

In casual speech, quoi also creeps into positions that would formally take que: tu fais quoi? for "what are you doing?" is universal in conversation.

Yes / no questions

For yes / no questions (no question word), the three strategies become:

StrategyExample
IntonationTu viens?
est-ce queEst-ce que tu viens?
InversionViens-tu?

All three mean "Are you coming?". Register differs, meaning doesn't.

Worked examples

  • Comment t'appelles-tu? (What's your name? - formal)
  • Tu t'appelles comment? (What's your name? - casual)
  • Quand est-ce que vous partez en vacances? (When are you going on holiday?)
  • Pourquoi tu ne réponds pas? (Why aren't you answering?)
  • Quelle est ta couleur préférée? (What's your favourite colour?)
  • Combien coûte ce livre? (How much does this book cost?)
  • À qui parles-tu? (Who are you talking to?)

Common mistakes English speakers make

Translating "do you...?" with a French auxiliary - there isn't one. Faites-vous... is the inversion of the main verb, not a French "do". Mixing the three strategies: writing est-ce que viens-tu mashes est-ce que and inversion together, which is wrong. Forgetting the -t- insertion in third-person inversion: a il un chien? is wrong, it's a-t-il un chien?. And translating "what" as quoi in subject position - quoi fais-tu? is wrong, it's que fais-tu? or qu'est-ce que tu fais? in writing.

See also

Practise: test yourself

Fill in the blank

0/9

Fill the gap with the right question word (qui, que, quoi, où, quand, comment, pourquoi or combien) for the English meaning given.

  1. parle? (who) (asks about a person)

  2. vas-tu? (where) (always accented)

  3. pars-tu? (when)

  4. tu pars? (why)

  5. d'enfants as-tu? (how many)

  6. habites-tu? (where) (always accented)

  7. allez-vous? (how) (comment allez-vous?)

  8. fais-tu? (what) (asks about a thing)

  9. as-tu vu? (who) (asks about a person)

Translation drill

0/8

Translate into French, using est-ce que where shown and keeping the right question word.

  1. What are you doing?

  2. Where are you going? (with est-ce que)

  3. Who did you see?

  4. When are you leaving? (casual, question word at the end)

  5. How are you? (formal)

  6. What's your name? (casual)

  7. Where do you live? (with est-ce que)

  8. How many brothers do you have?

Matching

0/9

Match each French question word to its English meaning.

Frequently asked questions

What are the three ways to ask a question in French?
First, intonation: take a statement and raise the pitch at the end - 'tu viens?' (are you coming?). This is the default in spoken French. Second, est-ce que: bolt 'est-ce que' onto the start of a statement - 'est-ce que tu viens?'. This works in any register and is the safest learner move. Third, inversion: flip the subject and verb with a hyphen - 'viens-tu?'. This is formal and used mostly in writing or careful speech. All three are correct; pick by register.
What is the difference between qui and que in French questions?
Qui asks about people: 'qui parle?' (who is speaking?), 'qui as-tu vu?' (who did you see?). Que (or quoi after a preposition) asks about things: 'que fais-tu?' (what are you doing?), 'qu'est-ce que c'est?' (what is it?). The split is based on whether the answer is a person (qui) or a thing (que/quoi). In casual speech, 'quoi' often replaces 'que' even in subject position - 'tu fais quoi?' for 'what are you doing?'.