In short

French has three ways to ask a question: raise your voice at the end (intonation), put est-ce que in front, or invert the verb and subject. For everyday spoken French, intonation and est-ce que cover almost everything.

The rule

A yes/no question can be built without changing word order at all - you keep subject + verb and simply signal a question. To ask for specific information (where, when, why…) you add a question word.

1. Intonation - the spoken way. Keep the statement word order and let your voice rise at the end. In writing, only the ? changes.

• Tu parles français. -> Tu parles français ? (You speak French?)
• Vous avez faim ? (Are you hungry?)

This is the most common form in casual speech, but it is informal - avoid it in formal writing.

2. est-ce que - the neutral all-purpose way. Put est-ce que before a normal statement. Nothing else moves. It works in speech and writing and fits every register.

• Est-ce que tu parles français ? (Do you speak French?)
• Est-ce que vous avez faim ? (Are you hungry?)

Before a vowel or a mute h, que elides to qu’: Est-ce qu’il est là ? (Is he there?)

Intonation questions

Use them for quick yes/no questions among friends and family. The verb form is exactly the same as in a statement; only the melody (and the ?) tells the listener it is a question.

• Ça va ? (How’s it going? / OK?)
• Il vient ce soir ? (Is he coming tonight?)

est-ce que

Think of est-ce que as a plug-in “question marker”. Take any statement, attach it to the front, and you have a correct, polite question:

• Tu as un stylo. -> Est-ce que tu as un stylo ?
• Elle habite ici. -> Est-ce qu’elle habite ici ?

Question words: où, quand, comment, combien, pourquoi, qui, que, quel

To ask for information, combine a question word with est-ce que (or with intonation, or with inversion). The most common pattern is question word + est-ce que + subject + verb.

Notes:

• qui is invariable and asks about a person; que/qu’ asks about a thing. The second element marks the role - qui for a subject, que for an object - hence qui est-ce qui / qui est-ce que and qu’est-ce qui / qu’est-ce que: Qu’est-ce qui ne marche pas ? (subject) vs Qu’est-ce que tu répares ? (object).
• quel is an adjective and agrees with its noun: quel, quelle, quels, quelles.
• que almost always becomes qu’ before est-ce que -> the fixed phrase Qu’est-ce que…? means “What…?”.
• With intonation, the question word can go to the end: Tu habites où ?, Tu pars quand ?

Simple inversion (introduced)

In formal French you can invert the verb and a pronoun subject, joining them with a hyphen. This is the third way to ask a yes/no question.

• Vous parlez français. -> Parlez-vous français ?
• Tu as faim. -> As-tu faim ?

With a question word, put the word first, then the inverted verb-pronoun:

• Où habitez-vous ? (Where do you live?)
• Quand partez-vous ? (When are you leaving?)

You will meet complex inversion with a noun subject - Pierre viendra-t-il ? (Will Pierre come?) - at A2. For now, just recognize it: the noun stays in front and a matching pronoun is added after the verb.

Forms & patterns

The same yes/no question in the three registers:

Information questions built with est-ce que:

Agreement of quel:

Examples: Quel âge as-tu ? - Quelle heure est-il ? - Quels films aimes-tu ? - Quelles langues parles-tu ?

Examples

Common mistakes

• Est-ce que tu viens-tu ? -> Est-ce que tu viens ? - never combine est-ce que with inversion; pick one method.
• Que tu fais ? -> Qu’est-ce que tu fais ? - to ask “what”, use the full fixed phrase Qu’est-ce que….
• Est-ce que il est là ? -> Est-ce qu’il est là ? - que must elide to qu’ before a vowel.
• Quel est ton livres ? -> Quels sont tes livres ? - quel agrees in gender and number with its noun.
• Qui est-ce que vient ? (as a subject) -> Qui est-ce qui vient ? - a subject takes qui as the second element, for things too: Qu’est-ce que sent si bon ? -> Qu’est-ce qui sent si bon ?
• Comment tu t’appelles-tu ? -> Comment t’appelles-tu ? - with inversion, do not also keep the plain subject pronoun.

Tips

• In doubt, use est-ce que: it is correct everywhere and never needs word-order changes.
• Reserve inversion for formal or written French; reserve intonation for relaxed speech.
• Qu’est-ce que = “What?” is a set phrase - memorize it whole.
• Remember the person/thing split: qui = who, que/quoi = what.
• quel always needs a noun (or être): Quel jour ?, Quelle est la réponse ? - never use it alone like English “which”.
• With a -t- inserted verb (a-t-il, viendra-t-il), the t is just for pronunciation - you will practise this fully at A2.