French grammar · A1 · Lesson 8
Asking questions: est-ce que, inversion, quel
French has three ways to ask a yes-or-no question, all meaning the same: raise your voice (Vous avez la liste ?), put est-ce que in front (Est-ce que vous avez la liste ?), or swap verb and subject (Avez-vous la liste ?). Question words such as qui, où, comment, pourquoi go at the front, and quel agrees with its noun.
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How does it work?
Three ways to ask a yes-or-no question. All three mean exactly the same thing; they differ only in how formal they sound.
| how | example | sounds |
|---|---|---|
| just raise your voice at the end | Vous avez la liste ? | relaxed, spoken |
| put est-ce que in front | Est-ce que vous avez la liste ? | neutral, always safe |
| swap verb and subject, add a hyphen | Avez-vous la liste ? | polished, written |
Est-ce que literally means “is it that”, but nobody hears it that way: it is simply a flag that says “question coming”. It is the most useful of the three, because the rest of the sentence stays in normal order. Before a vowel it becomes est-ce qu’: est-ce qu’il voyage seul ?
Inversion is what the narrator uses with Nelly, because he is being gallant: Êtes-vous prête ? If the verb ends in a vowel and the subject is il or elle, French slips in a -t- so the two vowels do not collide: a-t-il la liste ? It is there purely for the sound.
Question words go at the front: qui ? (who), où ? (where; mind the accent, ou without it means “or”), comment ? (how), pourquoi ? (why), qu’est-ce que ? (what). Add est-ce que after them if you like: comment est-ce que nous trouvons Lupin ?
Quel (which, what) is an adjective, so it agrees with its noun like any other, from lesson 2:
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| masculine | quel nom ? | quels indices ? |
| feminine | quelle liste ? | quelles cabines ? |
All four sound identical, so this is purely a spelling matter. And as Nelly shows, quel also makes exclamations: Quelle liste !, what a list!
What does it look like in the story?
These sentences come from lesson 8, “The investigation”, where the narrator is crossing the Atlantic on the liner Provence with Arsène Lupin hidden among the passengers.
| French | English |
|---|---|
| Est-ce que c’est possible ? | Is it possible? |
| Qui est Lupin ? Où est Lupin ? | Who is Lupin? Where is Lupin? |
| Êtes-vous prête, mademoiselle ? | Are you ready, mademoiselle? |
Try it: The first and third sentences are both yes-or-no questions, but they are built differently. One adds something at the front; the other swaps two words round and joins them with a hyphen. Which is which? And what is missing that English would need: “do”, “does”?
« Le problème est-il si compliqué? »
Is the problem so very complicated? Maurice Leblanc, L’Arrestation d’Arsène Lupin (1905).
How is it different from English?
English cannot ask most questions without “do” or “does”: “Do you have the list?” French has no such helper. Est-ce que is not a translation of “do”; it is just a question flag stuck on the front of an ordinary sentence. So never try to translate “do”: “Do you know?” is simply Est-ce que vous savez ?
What mistake do English speakers make?
Two slips to avoid. First, the apostrophe: ✗ Est-ce que il voyage seul ? The que must shrink before a vowel: ✓ Est-ce qu’il voyage seul ? Second, agreement: ✗ Quel liste ! Liste is feminine, so ✓ Quelle liste ! You cannot hear the difference, but your reader can see it.
Where can I practise it?
- Lesson 8: The investigation: the story, the rule and interactive exercises, free.
- Review 2: lessons 6 to 10: this point again, in a summary table with the other lessons of the block.
- The A1 glossary: every word of the course, French to English.
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