Les Questions: Overview

French has more ways to ask a question than English does. Where English mostly uses inversion plus a small set of question words (Are you coming? When are you coming?), French offers three parallel constructions for the same question, each tied to a different register: rising intonation (informal), est-ce que (neutral), and inversion (formal or written). All three coexist, and a native speaker fluently shifts between them depending on whom they're talking to and what they're writing.

This page is the orientation map. It introduces the three forms, the split between yes/no questions and WH-questions, and the full inventory of question words. Each topic below gets its own dedicated page; this overview tells you the shape of the whole system before you dive into the details.

Two big categories: yes/no questions vs. WH-questions

Every question in French belongs to one of two families:

• Yes/no questions (questions totales) — questions that can be answered with oui, non, or si. There is no question word; the question targets the entire proposition. Are you coming? You like coffee? Did she call?
• WH-questions (questions partielles) — questions that ask for a specific piece of information using a question word: who, what, where, when, how, why, how much, which. When are you coming? Who called? Where do you live?

The three forms of question (intonation, est-ce que, inversion) apply to both categories, but they interact slightly differently with WH-questions because the question word has to fit somewhere in the sentence.

The three forms

Form 1: intonation (informal)

The simplest form: keep the word order of a statement and raise the pitch at the end. This is the everyday spoken default among friends and family.

In writing, the only visible difference between a statement and an intonation question is the question mark. The word order is identical to the declarative.

For WH-questions, intonation puts the question word at the end of the sentence — typical of casual speech and texting:

This end-position pattern (tu pars quand ?, vous habitez où ?) is everywhere in conversational French. Textbook learners who try to front the question word in casual contexts (quand pars-tu ?) end up sounding like they're reading from a literary novel.

Form 2: est-ce que (neutral)

Est-ce que is a fixed phrase you stick in front of a statement to turn it into a question. It is the safest, most register-neutral question form in French — appropriate in conversation, on the phone, in emails, in interviews. When in doubt, use est-ce que.

Notice the elision: est-ce que becomes est-ce qu' before a vowel (est-ce qu'elle, est-ce qu'on, est-ce qu'il). This is automatic and obligatory.

For WH-questions, the question word goes at the front, immediately followed by est-ce que:

The structure is mechanical: question word + est-ce que + normal sentence. Native speakers use this constantly, especially when they want their question to sound polite and clear without being stiff. For details, see questions/est-ce-que-construction.

Form 3: inversion (formal or written)

Inversion swaps the subject and the verb, joining them with a hyphen: tu viens → viens-tu. This is the most formal of the three forms and is overwhelmingly the choice in writing — journalism, literature, official correspondence — and in formal speech (interviews, speeches, customer service from a clerk to a client).

The little -t- that appears in a-t-elle is the euphonic t, inserted to break the vowel hiatus between a and elle. See syntax/t-euphonic for the mechanics, and questions/inversion-rules for the full rules of inversion, including compound tenses, negation, and noun subjects.

For WH-questions with inversion, the question word goes at the front:

A French learner who only knows inversion will sound like a tourist asking a museum guide for the way to the bathroom — technically correct but oddly formal for everyday use. Conversely, a learner who only knows intonation will sound underprepared in a job interview or in writing. Master all three.

A side-by-side example

The same question, in all three forms:

And with a WH-word:

The inventory of question words

French question words divide into three groups: those that ask about a person (qui), those that ask about a thing (que / quoi), and those that ask about a circumstance (où, quand, comment, pourquoi, combien). Plus the noun-modifying adjective quel and the choosing pronoun lequel.

Qui — who, whom

Qui asks about a person. It can be either the subject or the object of the question.

The fuller forms qui est-ce qui (subject) and qui est-ce que (object) are also available and especially common in conversation. See questions/qui-vs-qui-est-ce-qui.

Que and quoi — what

French has two words for what: que / qu' at the front of a sentence, and quoi at the end or after a preposition.

The split is rigid: que at the front of an inversion question, quoi after a preposition or at the end of an intonation question. See questions/que-quest-ce-que and pronouns/interrogative/qui-que-quoi for details.

Où — where

Note the diacritic: où with the grave accent (the question word) is distinct from ou without it (meaning or). Missing the accent changes the meaning entirely. Où tu vas ? = Where are you going?; Ou tu vas ? = Or you go? (ungrammatical).

Quand — when

Comment — how

Comment asks about manner ("how, in what way") but also functions as the standard way to ask names and to ask for repetition.

The third example is a stand-alone Comment ? — equivalent to English Sorry? / Pardon? It is the polite default; Quoi ? is more abrupt and considered rude in some contexts.

Pourquoi — why

Pourquoi is typically answered by parce que (because): Pourquoi tu es en retard ? — Parce qu'il y avait des bouchons. Do not confuse pourquoi (interrogative) with parce que (subordinator).

Combien — how much, how many

Combien asks about quantity. Used alone for how much (price, amount) or with de + noun for how many.

Quel — which / what + noun (adjective)

Quel is an interrogative adjective: it always sits in front of a noun and agrees with it in gender and number — quel, quelle, quels, quelles.

Notice that quel + être (quel est ton nom, quelle est ton adresse) is the standard way to ask what is your X? — much more idiomatic than qu'est-ce que ton nom, which sounds like a translation. For details, see questions/quel-interrogative.

Lequel — which one (pronoun)

Lequel is an interrogative pronoun — it replaces a noun rather than modifying one. It agrees in gender and number: lequel, laquelle, lesquels, lesquelles. Use it when the noun is already implied by context.

Lequel also combines with prepositions, and with à or de the combinations fuse: à + lequel = auquel, de + lequel = duquel, etc. For the full paradigm, see pronouns/interrogative/lequel-which.

Choosing between the three forms in practice

A simple rule of thumb for active production:

• Informal speech (friends, family, texting): use intonation or end-position WH-words. Tu viens ? Tu pars quand ?
• Neutral or polite speech (colleagues, strangers, customer service): use est-ce que. Est-ce que vous avez un instant ? Quand est-ce que vous fermez ?
• Formal writing or speech (cover letters, essays, official emails, interviews where you are the formal party): use inversion. Pourriez-vous me dire à quelle heure le magasin ferme ?

For receptive understanding, all three forms appear constantly in spoken French — a podcast or film will mix them freely. Recognize all three; produce mostly est-ce que until you've absorbed the others through exposure.

Negative questions and tag questions

Two extensions worth flagging here, each with its own page:

• Negative questions — Tu ne viens pas ? / Est-ce que tu ne viens pas ? / Ne viens-tu pas ? These look like ordinary questions wrapped in ne ... pas. The catch is that answers to negative questions follow a special rule: use si to contradict the negative, non to confirm it. See questions/negative-questions and adverbs/oui-non-si-bien.
• Tag questions — adding non ?, n'est-ce pas ?, or hein ? to the end of a statement to seek confirmation: C'est beau, non ? / Tu viens, hein ? See questions/tag-questions.

Worked examples

1. Are you free tonight? → Tu es libre ce soir ? (informal) / Est-ce que tu es libre ce soir ? (neutral) / Êtes-vous libre ce soir ? (formal)

2. Where does she live? → Elle habite où ? (informal) / Où est-ce qu'elle habite ? (neutral) / Où habite-t-elle ? (formal)

3. Who's making dinner? → Qui fait le dîner ? (works in all registers — qui as subject)

4. What's your name? → Tu t'appelles comment ? (informal) / Comment est-ce que tu t'appelles ? (neutral) / Comment vous appelez-vous ? (formal)

5. Which one do you want? → Tu veux lequel ? (informal) / Lequel est-ce que tu veux ? (neutral) / Lequel voulez-vous ? (formal)

6. How many siblings do you have? → Tu as combien de frères et sœurs ? (informal) / Combien de frères et sœurs avez-vous ? (formal)

7. Why didn't you call? → Pourquoi tu n'as pas appelé ? (informal) / Pourquoi est-ce que tu n'as pas appelé ? (neutral) / Pourquoi n'as-tu pas appelé ? (formal)

8. Don't you want any? — Yes I do! → Tu n'en veux pas ? — Si ! (negative question, answered with si to contradict)

Common Mistakes

Key takeaways

• French has three question forms: intonation (informal), est-ce que (neutral, safest), inversion (formal / written). All three coexist; native speakers shift between them by register.
• Questions split into yes/no (answered with oui/non/si) and WH-questions (using a question word).
• The question words are qui (who), que/quoi (what), où (where, with grave accent), quand (when), comment (how), pourquoi (why), combien (de) (how much/many), quel(le)(s) + noun (which/what + noun, adjective), lequel/laquelle/lesquel(le)s (which one, pronoun).
• Quel is an adjective (agrees with its noun); lequel is a pronoun (replaces a noun). They are not interchangeable.
• For what is X? with a noun, use quel + être, not qu'est-ce que.
• When in doubt about form, use est-ce que — it is correct in nearly every context except the most formal writing.
• Each form and each question word has a dedicated page; this overview is your map to the system.