français · A1 · grammar · 4 minutes
Building basic questions
Choose intonation, est-ce que, or inversion for the situation.
Understand the choice
Everyday French offers several correct question styles. Intonation is conversational, est-ce que is neutral and robust, and inversion is compact but more formal. Keep the question word tied to the information being requested.
Core rule: French forms questions with rising intonation, est-ce que, or subject-verb inversion; question words stand at the front in careful information questions.
Notice it in context
Où habites-tu et comment s’appelle ta rue ?
Where do you live and what is your street called?
Où uses inversion habites-tu; comment introduces a reflexive clause whose subject follows the verb.
Qu’est-ce que tu veux manger ?
What do you want to eat?
Qu’est-ce que asks for a thing while preserving statement word order.
Quand est-ce que le train arrive ?
When does the train arrive?
Est-ce que creates the question frame; the noun subject stays before arrive.
What to remember
- Add -t- only to prevent two adjacent vowel sounds: va-t-il, parle-t-elle; it carries no meaning.
- Informal speech often leaves the question word later: tu habites où ? This is natural but less formal.
Common trap: Do not insert an unnecessary -t- after a verb already ending in t or d: dit-il and prend-elle, not dit-t-il or prend-t-elle.