/ɛs/
Translation
is it (interrogative particle, used in est-ce que and est-ce qui)
Word origin
An interrogative formed by inverting c'est ('it is'). Est is a form of etre, from Latin esse ('to be'); ce is from Latin ecce hoc ('behold this').
- Origin
- Latin
- Root
- esse + ecce hoc
- English cognates
- essence
Examples
- ?
Are you coming to the meeting tomorrow?
- ' ?
Is there still room?
'- ?
What do you want to drink?
- ?
Do you want a tea or a coffee?
- ?
Is it really necessary to leave so early?
Used in
Grammar articles
(11)French Advanced Grammar (C1-C2): The Constructions That Sound Native
French Grammar Cheatsheet: The Essentials, One Page
French Conditionnel: Polite Requests, Hypothetical 'Would', and the Same Irregular Stems as the Future
Conjugating French -re Verbs in the Present Tense
Reported Speech in French: Tense Backshift (dit que, a dit que)
French Impersonal Verbs: il y a, il faut, il fait and the Dummy Subject 'il'
French quel and lequel: Which and Which One
French Question Words: qui, que, quand, où, comment, pourquoi and the Three Ways to Ask
French si Clauses: The Three Types of Conditional Sentence
The French Subjunctive After Doubt, Emotion and Opinion
French Word Order: SVO, the Object Pronoun Inversion, and Six Rules That Cover 90% of Sentences
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Go to my review queueThis word is part of lesson 2.