A1 · Sentences
Asking questions in French
French has three gears for questions. Raising your voice is what people actually do. Est-ce que is the clear, polite middle. Inversion is the written and formal one. You do not need all three in the same week. You need to hear all three, and to produce the first two.
Gear one: say it, then lift it
Take a normal sentence. Rise at the end. That is a spoken question. It is not lazy. It is how French works in a kitchen, a meeting, and a train.
Tu viens ?
Are you coming? C’est loin ?
Is it far? Vous avez une minute ?
Do you have a minute?
Gear two: est-ce que
Put est-ce que in front of a statement. No other gymnastics. This is the form to use when you want to be clear, or when you are still assembling the sentence in your head.
Est-ce que tu viens ?
Are you coming? Est-ce que c’est possible ?
Is that possible? Qu’est-ce que tu fais ?
What are you doing? Qu’est-ce que is the “what” version. Learn it as one chunk, not as four words.
Gear three: inversion (you can wait)
Venez-vous ?
Are you coming? — vous form, more formal Où habitez-vous ?
Where do you live? Avez-vous des questions ?
Do you have any questions?
Question words
| French | English | Try |
|---|---|---|
| où | where | Tu habites où ? |
| quand | when | C’est quand ? |
| pourquoi | why | Pourquoi pas ? |
| comment | how | Comment ça s’écrit ? |
| combien | how much / many | C’est combien ? |
| qui | who | C’est qui ? |
| quoi / que | what | Tu veux quoi ? / Qu’est-ce que tu veux ? |
In speech, the question word often lands at the end: tu vas où ? That is normal.
Try this out loud
Ask for three things you actually need this week.
Vous avez un créneau demain ?
Do you have a slot tomorrow?
C’est combien ?
How much is it?
Vous pouvez répéter, s’il vous plaît ?
Can you repeat, please?
Questions this page usually raises
Keep going
Next grammar pages — same English, next rule.
A1 · Pronouns
Tu vs vous: who you are talking to
When to use tu and vous in French — not a vibe chart, a practical rule for adults who do not want to be rude or stiff.
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French negation: ne…pas and what people actually say
How to make French sentences negative with ne…pas, never, nothing — and why spoken French often drops the ne.
Read this resourceA1 · Verbs
The French present tense
How the French present tense works for regular -er, -ir, and -re verbs, and when it covers English “I am doing”.
Read this resource
If you want a lesson around this
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