Les Questions
Video
Notes
- There are four ways to ask questions in French:
Est-ce que (written)
Inversion (written)
Intonation (spoken)
N'est-ce pas (spoken) - Est-ce que and inversion are both more formal than "n'est-ce pas" and intonation, so they are mostly only seen in writing.
- Est-ce que literally translates to "is it that" in English, but it is most commonly translated as "do" or "does" in questions.
- You use est-ce que to ask a question by putting the phrase "est-ce que" at the beginning of a statement
Vous aimez les chiens. > You like dogs
Est-ce que vous aimez les chiens? > Do you like dogs? - Make sure that if your subject begins with a vowel que changes to qu' .
Est-ce qu'ils aiment les chiens? > Do they like dogs?
- You use inversion to ask a question by "inverting" or switching the order of the subject and the verb.
Vous aimez les chiens. > You like dogs
Aimez-vous les chiens? > Do you like dogs? - NOTE: If your verb ends in a vowel and your subject begins with a vowel, you must use "-t-" instead of "-" for pronunciation purposes.
Il mange un sandwich. > Mange-t-il un sandwich? - NOTE: If your sentence begins with a noun instead of a subject pronoun, you can use inversion by repeating the noun and replacing it with a subject pronoun, then inverting the subject pronoun and the verb.
Les chiens sont merveilleux. > Dogs are awesome!
Les chiens, sont-ils merveilleux? > Are dogs awesome?
- You can also change your intonation (raise the pitch of your voice) to ask a question, which is the most common way we ask questions in spoken French.
Vous aimez les chiens.
^
Vous aimez les chiens?
- N'est-ce pas literally translates to "is it not?" but is commonly translated as meaning "right?"
- To ask questions with "n'est-ce pas," you just add n'est-ce pas at the end of a statement.
Vous aimez les chiens, n'est-ce pas? > You like dogs, right?
- In addition to asking questions in the four ways above, you can use question words to make your questions more detailed.
- These question words can be place in front of the est-ce que or inversion constructions, or just placed at the beginning of a statement when speaking.
- Below is a photo of the question words you can use in French.
- Here is how you use these words:
- Use quand, où, comment, and pourquoi in front of est-ce que OR inversion:
> Quand est-ce que tu fais les devoirs? When do you do your homework?
> Où est-ce que tu fais les devoirs? Where do you do your homework?
> Comment fais-tu les devoirs? How do you do your homework?
> Pourquoi est-ce que tu fais les devoirs? Why do you do your homework? - Use combien plus the word de and a noun and inversion or est-ce que to ask "how many..."
> Combien de cahiers as-tu? How many notebooks do you have?
> Combien de cahiers est-ce que tu as? How many notebooks do you have? - Use the phrase qu'est-ce que and your subject and verb to ask "what."
> Qu'est-ce que tu manges? What are you eating? - Use the word que to ask "what"with inversion.
> Que manges-tu? What are you eating?
- Use quand, où, comment, and pourquoi in front of est-ce que OR inversion:
Activities
Âllo Le Monde- Pauline
Use this song to show students how est-ce que, inversion, and question words are used in French music.
Use this song to show students how est-ce que, inversion, and question words are used in French music.
- Give students a copy of the lyrics to the song Âllo Le Monde in both French and English. In the French version, underline where one sees est-ce que, inversion, and question words. Make any situations in which only inflection/punctuation was used to ask a question italic. Here is a PDF of the lyrics.
- Allow students to listen to the song and follow the lyrics the first time.
- Then, have students go through and define the underlined words. They can use the English translation or a dictionary.
- Go over the definitions after about 5 minutes.
- Next, have students classify what makes a question. You can tell them that there are three different ways to ask a question in French and that you want them to identify those three ways.
- Next, review and share the classifications. If the students are unable to identify all of the classifications, tell them what they are.
- Explain to students how each classification is used and show it in the song.
- Have the students listen to the song one more time, this time listening for what questions are being asked.
- Then, instruct the students to identify why questions were being asked and what is the deeper meaning of the song.
- Finally, as an extension activity, give the students a list of question words and ask them (as a group) to write a question they would want to ask the world. Give them a few regular verbs that they can use to ask these questions.
Writing Questions in French
Use this activity to give students practice with the sentence structure of a question in French.
Directions:
Materials: subject/verb prompts document (at link above)
Bougez la question
Use this activity to help students kinesthetically practice how turn a sentence into a question in either est-ce que or inversion form.
Directions:
Materials: parts of the questions document
Interview a French high-schooler
Use this activity to have students practice interpersonal communication skills as well as the formation of questions. This activity can also be used as a culture follow-up activity after students have read or heard about the life of a French high school student.
Directions:
Materials: interview directions (at link above)
How to meet a friend in two-minutes (speed-friending)
Use this activity to have students practice interpersonal communication as well as the formation of questions. I use this activity in a variety of situations just to get my students talking to one another about whatever we are studying.
Directions:
Materials: questions template (at link above)
Use this activity to give students practice with the sentence structure of a question in French.
Directions:
- Students use the subject and verb given to write a question using est-ce que as well as a question using inversion.
- Allow students to be as creative as they would like in their questions.
- Make sure to use vocabulary from the current unit.
Materials: subject/verb prompts document (at link above)
Bougez la question
Use this activity to help students kinesthetically practice how turn a sentence into a question in either est-ce que or inversion form.
Directions:
- In groups of 3-4, you will be given strips to create 6 different questions.
- For the first round, you will move your strips around to create the following questions in French using the EST-CE QUE form. You will NOT use the - for this section. We will go over the answers.
Ex: Do you like classes? > Est-ce que vous aimez les cours?
- Do you like the library?
- Does she have (a) a dog?
- Does Marc live in Sanford?
- Do you understand?
- Do you sing in the morning?
- Do you adore your parents (vos parents)?
- You will now use those same strips and the - strips, move your questions around to ask the SAME question using INVERSION. We will go over the answers.
Ex: Do you like classes? > Aimez-vous les cours?
Materials: parts of the questions document
Interview a French high-schooler
Use this activity to have students practice interpersonal communication skills as well as the formation of questions. This activity can also be used as a culture follow-up activity after students have read or heard about the life of a French high school student.
Directions:
- Students imagine that they have the opportunity to interview a French high school student.
- Students will write eight questions that they would ask a French high schooler.
- Then, students find a partner and act out their interviews. Students can record these interviews and submit them to the teacher.
Materials: interview directions (at link above)
How to meet a friend in two-minutes (speed-friending)
Use this activity to have students practice interpersonal communication as well as the formation of questions. I use this activity in a variety of situations just to get my students talking to one another about whatever we are studying.
Directions:
- In the table at the bottom of the sheet, students will write four yes or no questions that they would ask in an interview with a potential friend; two questions should use inversion, and two should use est-ce que. Allow 15-20 minutes.
- Pair students up with their desks facing in a circle around the room.
- Put up a timer for two minutes, during which the students will ask their partner their questions and mark their responses as O (oui) or N (non) in the boxes to the right of each question. Make sure students write the initials of their partner so they can make an informed vote later.
- Have the student on the inside of the circle move to the next pair of desks to the left; the students on the outside of the circle remain seated.
- Students start the interview again!
- The rounds continue until all of the spaces are filled on each student's table or the first pair meets back up.
Materials: questions template (at link above)
Additional Sites
BBC Bitesize
The BBC's "bitesized" explanation of how to ask questions in French specifically geared toward Standard Grade exams.
French-Linguistics
An explanation of how to ask questions in a variety of ways; includes many examples.
Learn French Language Guide
An in-depth explanation of any way that one would ask a question in French.
The BBC's "bitesized" explanation of how to ask questions in French specifically geared toward Standard Grade exams.
French-Linguistics
An explanation of how to ask questions in a variety of ways; includes many examples.
Learn French Language Guide
An in-depth explanation of any way that one would ask a question in French.