There are three ways of asking questions in French: by using subject-verb inversion (the most formal), by using the expression est-ce que, or by using the same word order as an affirmative sentence (informal). Here’s an example of each:
Formal question with subject-verb inversion
Voulez-vous du café ?Translation: Do you want some coffee? (formal)Literally: (lit.) Want you some coffee?Question using est-ce que
Est-ce que vous voulez du café ?Translation: Do you want some coffee?Literally: (lit.) Is it that you want some coffee?Informal question stemming from affirmative sentences
Vous voulez du café ?Translation: Do you want some coffee? (informal)Literally: (lit.) You want some coffee?
In this post, I’ll explain when to use and how to form each type of question, talk about how the negative form works for each question type, and much more. We’ll also discuss the interrogative word quel and its variations in the three types of French questions.
French questions with subject-verb inversion: When to use them and how to form them?
In French, subject-verb inversion questions are used in formal circumstances, like in restaurants, interviews, or in literature and newspapers. It can sound odd to use this kind of question in informal contexts!
To form these questions you will “invert” (or switch) the position of the subject and the verb. Remember that the usual word order for a French sentence is subject + verb + everything else, so in a subject-verb inversion question the order is, instead, verb + subject + everything else.
subject + verb
↓
verb + subject
In closed (yes-no) questions the subject-verb inversion is all you need to do to make a statement a question. In open questions, you’ll need to put an interrogative word or phrase at the beginning of the question.
Other than that, here are the four main things to know about questions formed with subject-verb inversion:
In the question, the subject that follows the verb must be a subject pronoun. This subject pronoun will be attached to the verb by a hyphen, as in:
Désirez-vous…Translation: Would you like…Recall that the French subject pronouns are: je meaning I, tu meaning you, il meaning he, elle meaning she, on meaning one, we , nous meaning we, vous meaning you, and ils meaning they and elles meaning they f.
The verb that changes position with the subject is the conjugated verb. If the conjugated verb is an auxiliary, that means that the subject will come between the auxiliary verb and the past participle.
subject + auxiliary verb + past participle
↓
auxiliary verb + subject + past participleIf the verb ends in a vowel and the subject pronoun starts with a vowel (il, elle, on, ils, elles), a -t- is added between the verb and the pronoun to aid in pronunciation. This is called the “euphonic t.”
Qu’a-t-il dit ?Translation: What did he say?Even though the subject that follows the verb must be a subject pronoun, you can still add a more specific subject (like a noun phrase or emphatic pronoun) as well. The noun phrase subject will come before the verb as in the example below:
Jules et lui, veulent-ils dîner ?Translation: Would he and Jules want to dine?Les Français voyageront-ils à l’étranger ?Translation: Will French people travel abroad?Le voyage pourra-t-il se faire ?Translation: Will the trip happen?Literally: ⤷ Don’t forget the euphonic t between the end of the verb and il!
How to negate subject-verb inversion questions?
To negate a closed (yes/no) subject-verb inversion question, place ne before the first conjugated verb, including before French reflexive pronouns. The second part of the French negation (most often pas) follows after the subject pronoun.
If a secondary subject noun phrase is added, that will come before ne.
In open subject-verb inversion questions, we use the same negation structure, but the interrogative word comes first, before ne:
Which verbs change their forms in formal French questions?
Certain verbs will change their forms when they become attached to a subject pronoun in formal subject-verb inversion questions. These changes affect the present tense je meaning I form of the verb pouvoir meaning to be able to/can and of -er verbs. Let’s have a look at a couple of examples!
The verb pouvoir meaning to be able to, can
Pouvoir turns into puis instead of peux when it comes before je meaning I in a question.
Puis-je ouvrir la fenêtre ?Translation: May I open the window?-er verbs
For -er verbs, acquire an accent on the final é, when they’re followed by the je meaning I pronoun in subject-verb inversion questions. For example:
Osé-je ?Translation: Do I dare?Pensé-je trop ?Translation: Do I think too much?The accent is purely for pronunciation purposes. Indeed, a French native would find it very odd to pronounce the questions above without the accented é, as in: /ozeuhj(euh)/ or /pa(n)seuhj(euh)/.
How to use object and prepositional pronouns in formal questions?
In formal questions, direct and indirect object pronouns, as well as prepositional pronouns like en meaning some, of it and y meaning there, to it , go before the verb. However, they still fall after the interrogative word if the question is open.
Let’s now have a look at another type of question you can use in all circumstances, whether formal or informal!
French questions with ‘est-ce que’: When to use them and how to form them?
The expression est-ce que meaning lit. is it that? is a very versatile and simple way to form a French question. If you had to learn one way to ask a question in French,est-ce que would be the one to learn!
All you need to do is add est-ce que to the beginning of an affirmative sentence and you have a question! When asking an open question, you will still need to add an interrogative question word (like “where”) before est-ce que, but that’s the only different.
Here are the formulae:
Closed Question
subject
verb
...
Open Question
interrogative word
subject
verb
...
TONE: You can pronounce these kinds of questions just like affirmative sentences, as est-ce que already indicates it is a question.
How to use the negative form of questions with ‘est-ce que’?
Closed questions (yes/no questions) with est-ce que do not have a negative form! You’ll need to use either a formal question with subject-verb inversion or an informal one:
✅ Tu n’aimes pas le sport ? → informal question
Please note, however, that open questions with est-ce que do have a negative form:
Let’s now see how most natives ask questions in everyday life — with informal questions!
Informal questions in French: What are they and how to form them?
Informal questions are very popular among native French speakers, because they are quick and easy. They are basically affirmative sentences with a specific tone (for closed questions) or with an interrogative word at the end (for open questions). For example:
Closed Question
(just like an affirmative sentence)
Open Question
(affirmative, but ends in an interrogative word)
How to form negative informal questions?
For the negative form of both closed and open informal questions, the negation ne … pas meaning not goes around the first conjugated verb, just like in affirmative sentences.
How to use ‘quel’ (what, which) in French questions?
Quel is an interrogative word that is the equivalent of “what” and “which” in French questions. It agrees in gender and number with the noun it refers to.
| Number/Gender | Masculine | Feminine |
|---|---|---|
| Singular | quel | quelle |
| Plural | quels | quelles |
Quel can be used in a few different ways, depending on the question structure. Before we start reviewing, keep the following tips in mind. The examples are of formal French questions, but as you’ll see below, you can use quel in other kinds of questions as well.
Quel can be used to ask what something is and also to offer a choice between two or more elements, whose equivalent in English is “which one(s).”
Quelle est votre adresse ?Translation: What is your address?Quel voisin est bruyant ?Translation: Which neighbor is loud?When used with être meaning to be, the interrogative word quel can only refer to the subject of a sentence, but when combined with any other verb it can refer to either the subject or the object.
Quelles chaussures voulez-vous essayer ?Translation: What/which shoes would you like to try?Quel fromage sent le plus fort ?Translation: Which cheese smells the strongest?
How to use ‘quel’ in a French ‘est-ce que’ question?
You can use quel in est-ce que questions to mean “what” or “which,” but in an est-ce que question quel can only refer to an object. So the word quel cannot reference the subject of an est-ce que question.
→ quelle is the subject
→ quel voisin is the subject
→ quel fromage is the subject
→ quelles chassures is the object
Because quel can only refer to the subject of être meaning to be, if the verb in your sentence is être, you can’t ever use an est-ce que question with quel.
How to use ‘quel’ in an informal French question?
Quel can also be used in informal questions in French to refer to both objects and subjects.
When asking about an object, you can simply use quel meaning what or quel + noun (which + noun) at the end of the question.
Vous voulez essayer quelles chaussures ?Translation: What/which shoes would you like to try?When you’re asking about the subject of a sentence, quel changes its form a bit:
When the subject is quel + noun (which + noun + verb?) Use:
C’est + [quel + noun] + quiC’est quel fromage qui sent le plus fort ?Translation: Which cheese smells the strongest?When the subject is quel by itself (what + verb?)
Use c’est quoiC’est quoi votre adresse ?Translation: What is your address?
How to use ‘quel’ with prepositions in French questions?
Quel can also modify the object of a preposition (or the noun that follows a preposition). In every type of French question, when quel modifies the object of a preposition . quelcomes between the preposition and the noun.
| Informal | Est-ce que | Formal |
|---|---|---|
C’est à quel livre que vous faites référence ? | À quel livre est-ce que vous faites référence ? Translation: Which book are you referring to? To which book are you referring? | À quel livre faites-vous référence ? |
⤷ Here, the verb faire référence à meaning to make reference to takes an object with the preposition à. So, quel meaning which and the object of the preposition, livre meaning book are preceded by the preposition à.
All done! For a study resource, check out our summary of rules for French questions, or, if you’re ready to practice, check out our fun French question activities!
In brief: Best tips on French questions
When forming questions in French, remember what we learned in this post:
Questions with the subject-verb inversion are used in formal contexts = (interrogative word or pronoun) + verb + subject.
Questions with est-ce que are for any context = (interrogative word or pronoun) + est-ce que + subject + verb.
Affirmative sentences whose final word is pronounced with a high pitched voice are informal. Interrogative words or pronouns go at the end, except qui meaning who.
In writing, there is a space before question marks.
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