Being able to fully communicate in French also means being able to ask questions in French. As a French teacher, I always encourage my students to communicate in French. It may not be perfect after the first try, but learning a language requires extra effort and the simple fact that my students actually try, thrills me. If you’re interested in this topic and most of all, if you’re wondering how to ask questions in French, then keep on reading!
Ask questions in French: an example
For beginners, asking questions in French can be a little (or very) intimidating. Let’s start with a quiz. Let me show you an example with this question:
“Are you going to the beach?”
Let’s say that this applies to a formal context (using “vous”). Which answer is the correct answer?
- Allez-vous à la plage?
- Est-ce que vous allez à la plage?
- Vous allez à la plage?
Is it 1, 2 or 3? Try to think of which one you would use the most.
…
The correct answer is answer number 1… and 2 and 3. One thing you need to know first is that there are 3 ways of asking the exact same question. So now, you might be wondering “Great, but which one should I actually use?”. Don’t panic, and keep on reading!
When and how to use question structures
As seen in the previous section, there are 3 ways of asking questions in French. They depend on language registers (les registres de langue, en français) and the type of questions (open or closed).
A language register, according to Wikipedia:
In sociolinguistics, a register is a variety of language used for a particular purpose or in a particular communicative situation. For example, when speaking officially or in a public setting, an English speaker may be more likely to follow prescriptive norms for formal usage than in a casual setting; examples might include pronouncing words ending in -ing with a velar nasal instead of an alveolar nasal (e.g. “walking”, not “walkin'”), choosing words that are considered more “formal” (such as father vs. dad, or child vs. kid), and refraining from using words considered nonstandard, such as ain’t.
Source: Wikipedia
Therefore, in our case, our question structure will change depending on the context and the French language register.
Open/Closed questions
Before we start learning more about those language registers in French, make sure to distinguish the type of question you would like to ask. Is it open or closed?
An open question is a question to which you can answer freely. For example: Quel âge avez-vous? or Comment vous appelez-vous (what is your name) ?
A closed question is a question to which you can answer either yes or no. For example: Est-ce que vous aimez le chocolat (do you like chocolate)?
French language registers
Asking questions in French requires you to know how to make the difference between the three language registers. What are they?
- Le langage soutenu (Formal)
- Le langage courant (Casual)
- Le langage familier (Familiar)
Le langage soutenu
Also known as the formal speech in French. This register is not very common in everyday French, but it is widely present in written French and literature, official or protocol situations.
With this register, use the inversion structure. This means that you will invert the subject (underlined) and the verb (in bold). Take a closer look:
Open questions
Que faites–vous? (What are you doing?)
Où allez–vous demain? (Where are you going tomorrow?)
The structure that you will use:
Interrogative word + conjugated verb + subject + complement (the rest of the sentence)
Closed questions
Allez–vous à la plage? (Are you going to the beach?)
Voulez–vous manger? (Do you want to eat?)
The structure that you will use:
Conjugated verb + subject + complement
Le langage courant
The most common in everyday French. This is called “casual French”. This is where you will see the famous structure “est-ce que” appear.
Open questions
Qu’est-ce que vous faites? (What are you doing?)
Où est-ce que vous allez demain? (Where are you going tomorrow?)
The structure that you will use:
Interrogative word + est-ce que + subject + verb + complement
Closed questions
Est-ce que vous allez à la plage? (Are you going to the beach?)
Est-ce que vous voulez manger? (Do you want to eat?)
The structure that you will use:
Est-ce que + subject + verb + complement
“Est-ce que” will become “est-ce qu’ ” before a vowel:
Est-ce qu’il va à la plage?
Le langage familier
This is the kind of speech that you will use with very, very close friends, or how younger French people (teenagers) speak to one another. It can also sound poorly structured and sometimes vulgar. This is not recommended to use when you start learning French, but it is important for you to know its existence, especially if you wish to travel in France.
Open questions
Vous faites quoi? (What are you doing?) (plural)
Vous allez où demain? (Where are you going tomorrow?) (plural)
The structure that you will use:
Subject + verb + Interrogative word + complement
Closed questions
Vous allez à la plage? (Are you going to the beach?)
Vous voulez manger? (Do you want to eat?)
The structure that you will use:
Subject + verb + complement
Regarding closed questions, it is the question mark “?” that will make a difference.
Vous allez à la plage. (You are going to the beach.)
Vous allez à la plage? (Are you going to the beach?)
In spoken French, you will actually hear the difference between a question and a simple sentence. At the end of questions in French, the intonation goes UP, unlike in English, where it tends to go DOWN. Make sure to go higher your intonation when you ask questions in French!
Interrogative words
FR
Qui
Que / Quoi
Où
Comment
Quand
Combien
Pourquoi
Quel/quelle/quels/quelles
EN
Who
What
Where
How
When
How much / How many
Why
Which/What
Conclusion
Learning how to ask questions in French is not that complicated, once you master the basics. That’s all for today, but I would like to leave you with a downloadable resource, so that you can review the main elements of this article in a printable sheet!
How did you feel about this post? Just let us know in the comments section down below! In the meantime, if you want to know more about the basic of French, check out this link right here!
À bientôt!
