1) Invert
the subject and verb
form and add a hyphen.
Instead of Vous
parlez anglais? use
Parlez-vous anglais?
But if you invert
il, elle, or
on, you must
put a t between
the verb form (if it
ends in a vowel) and
the subject for ease
of pronunciation. Parle-il
anglais? is incorrect
and must become Parle-t-il
anglais? And
je is usually
only inverted with pouvoir
or devoir. However,
if je is inverted with
pouvoir, you don't use
peux, but puis.
Puis-je? (pweezh)
is Can I?
2) Add
n'est-ce pas?
(ness pah) to
the end of the sentence.
It is equivalent
to isn't it, don't you,
aren't we, won't you,
etc.
3) If
the question requires
a yes or no answer,
put Est-ce que
(ess kuh) at
the beginning. It
contracts to Est-ce
qu' before a word
beginning with a vowel,
such as elle, il
or on. You
can also use interrogative
words (quand, comment,
où, etc.) at the beginning
of the sentence and
then add est-ce que.
4) With
interrogative words,
you can also use inversion:
Quand tes
parents partent-ils
en vacances? Or
you can use an interrogative
with est-ce que and
normal word order: Pourquoi
est-ce que vous
êtes ici?
5) Quel
(which, what) agrees
with the noun it modifies.
It precedes the
noun or the verb être,
it may follow a preposition,
and it can be used with
inversion or with est-ce
que. Quelle
est la date? A
quelle heure partez-vous?
Quels bagages
est-ce que vous prenez?
Notice that the
forms of quel can also
be used in exclamatory
sentences. Quel
beau jour! What
a beautiful day!
6) With
negative questions,
negative expressions
remain in their usual
place (i.e. around the
verb, or verb and subject
if inverted). Tu
ne travailles
pas? Est-ce
que te ne travailles
pas? Ne
travailles-tu pas?
Pourquoi n'as-tu
pas travaillé?
Asking
Questions with the Passé
Composé
Only the auxiliary verb
(avoir or être) and
the subject pronoun
are inverted. The
past participle follows.
A-t-il été surpris?
Was he surprised?
T'es-tu amusé?
Did you have
fun?
