Questions

Formation of Questions

• In French, there are three main ways to ask questions: the informal, the formal, and the declarative way.
• Informal or spoken way: The inflection or rising tone indicates a question. For example, “Tu viens?” means “Are you coming?”.
• Formal or inverted way: The inversion of the subject-verb order. For instance, “Viens-tu?” (“Are you coming?”).
• Declarative way: this uses the structure “Est-ce que…”. For example, “Est-ce que tu viens?” (“Are you coming?”).

Question Words

• The basic question words in French are “qui” (who), “quoi” (what), “où” (where), “quand” (when), “pourquoi” (why), “comment” (how), and “combien” (how much/many).
• These question words can be used at the beginning of a question or after “Est-ce que”. For example, “Quand viens-tu?” or “Est-ce que tu sais quand il viendra?”.

Reflexive Verbs in Questions

• When forming questions with reflexive verbs, the reflexive pronoun follows the verb. For instance, “Se lave-t-elle?” (Is she washing herself?).
• In the informal way, the reflexive pronoun is placed before the verb. For example, “Elle se lave?” (Is she washing herself?).

Negative Questions

• In negative questions, the negation surrounds the verb. For example, “N’as-tu pas vu le film?” (Haven’t you seen the film?).
• With “Est-ce que”, the negation surrounds the whole phrase. An example would be “Est-ce que tu n’as pas vu le film?”.

Questions with Prepositions

• When a question includes a preposition, the preposition usually comes at the end of the question in casual spoken French. For example, “A qui parles-tu?” (Who are you talking to?).

Remember, knowing how to ask questions is crucial to holding a conversation in French. Also, mixing up your usage of different question formations will make your French sound more varied and natural.