Bonjour bonjour ! Est-ce que vous allez bien aujourd’hui ? Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the different ways of forming questions in French and you’ve decided to stick to “est-ce que questions”?
That’s wonderful ! However, you might feel a bit confused now, but to be honest, it’s not that difficult. Let me show you right away how “est-ce questions” work. But before that, if you feel like you need to know a little bit more about questions and interrogative words in French, feel free to read this lesson right here.
Est-ce que questions : the basics
Yes/No questions
Est-ce que tu vas à la plage ?
Are you going to the beach?
Pattern: Est-ce que + relative clause + ?
Open questions
Quand est-ce que tu vas à la plage ?
When are you going to the beach?
Pattern: Interrogative word + est-ce que + relative clause + ?
The patterns work with interrogative words such as : quand, où, comment, combien, pourquoi, que, lequel, lesquels, laquelle, lesquelles.
But how about other interrogative words?
Est-ce que and quel(le)(s)
Let’s talk about est-ce que questions and the interrogative adjectives quel, quelle, quels and quelles. (Which/what)
Quel will agree with the noun’s gender and number.
Quel = masculine singular
Quelle = feminine singular
Quels = masculine plural
Quelles = feminine plural
Example : Quelle couleur est-ce que tu préfères ? (What/which colour do you prefer?)
The pattern will be:
Quel/Quelle/Quels/Quelles + noun + est-ce que + relative clause + ?
Here are some more examples :
Quel livre est-ce que tu lis en ce moment ? (What book are you currently reading?)
Quelles fleurs est-ce que tu veux pour ton anniversaire ? (What flowers do you want for your birthday?)
Quels vêtements est-ce que tu vas porter ce soir ? (Which clothes are you going to wear tonight?)
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Est-ce que questions in French with Combien
Combien d’heures est-ce que tu travailles par jour ? (How many hours do you work in a day?)
Combien de frères est-ce que tu as ? (How many brothers do you have?)
The pattern is similar to what we’ve just seen:
Combien de + noun + est-ce que + relative clause + ?
Est-ce que and qui
The rule with “qui” can actually change. You have seen questions such as:
Qui est-ce que tu vas voir ? (Who are you going to see?)
And the rule is the same (est-ce que comes after the interrogative word, which is “qui”).
Qui est-ce qui a pris mon sac ? (Who took my bag?)
We now have “qui” replacing “que”… and why is that? Well, the answer if simple.
It all depends on the relative clause and what role QUE/QUI play.
QUE = object of the relative clause (“whom”, the one to whom we are doing the action).
Qui est-ce que tu invites à ton anniversaire? –> Whom are you inviting at your birthday?
QUI = subject of the relative clause (“who”, or the one that is DOING the action).
Qui est-ce qui vient à ton anniversaire ? –> Who is coming at your birthday?
Exercise
Transformez les questions suivantes (formelles, langage soutenu) en questions “est-ce que” :
1. Quand vas-tu travailler ?
2. Combien d’amis proches avez-vous ?
3. Où allez-vous passer vos vacances d’été ?
4. Comment trouvez-vous le film ?
5. Pourquoi n’aimes-tu pas les noix ?
Click to reveal answers
Answers
I hope you enjoyed this lesson about est-ce que questions in French, and I’ll see you soon for another one on Learn To French! For more content and lessons, feel free to visit the blog right here.
À bientôt !
