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Let's step into the boardroom and focus on market research. In professional and formal settings, you will often need to use a highly structured way of asking questions.

### Complex Inversion with Nouns

You already know how to ask a formal question using inversion by swapping the verb and the subject pronoun (e.g., *Aimez-vous...?*). However, if the subject of your formal question is a **noun** (like "the consumer" or "the brand"), you cannot simply swap the noun and the verb.

Instead, you must use a structure called **complex inversion**. Keep the noun subject at the beginning of the sentence, and add a matching subject pronoun (*il*, *elle*, *ils*, or *elles*) right after the verb, connected by a hyphen:

**Noun Subject + verb-pronoun + rest of sentence ?**

If the verb ends in a vowel and the pronoun is **il**, **elle**, or **on**, insert a **-t-** between the verb and the pronoun to make it easier to pronounce.

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Notice how *le consommateur* stays at the front, and we add *-t-il* after the verb because *consommateur* is masculine singular. If the noun is feminine singular, use *elle*.

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If the verb ends in a consonant (such as a plural verb ending in *-ent*), just attach the pronoun directly with a hyphen. You do not need the extra *-t-*.

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### Adding Question Words

When using question words like **pourquoi** (why) or **comment** (how), place the question word at the very beginning of the sentence, right before the noun subject.

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This structure works perfectly with compound tenses, like the *passé composé* you just saw, or the near future (*aller* + infinitive). Invert the conjugated auxiliary verb and the pronoun, leaving the infinitive or past participle exactly where it belongs.

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Formal questions with noun subjects

adjective

adverb

conjunction

contraction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prep

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and elision (le, la, l')

Indefinite articles (un, une)

Identifying vs. describing (c'est vs. il est)

Feminine adjective agreement (+e)

Plural pronouns and 'to be' (nous sommes, vous êtes)

Formal and informal you (tu vs. vous)

Plural nouns and indefinite articles (des... -s)

Plural definite articles (les)

Plural adjective agreement (+s)

Stressed pronouns (moi, toi, lui)

The verb "to have" singular (j'ai, tu as, il a)

The verb "to have" plural (nous avons, vous avez, ils ont)

There is / there are (il y a)

Basic verbal negation (ne... pas)

Negating "there is" (il n'y a pas de)

Regular -er verbs singular (je parle, tu parles, il parle)

Regular -er verbs plural (nous parlons, vous parlez, ils parlent)

The verb "to be called" (s'appeler)

Yes/no questions with intonation (Tu parles ?)

Yes/no questions with "Est-ce que" (Est-ce que tu parles ?)

Informal questions (qui, que, quoi)

Standard questions (est-ce que)

Singular possessives (mon, ton, son)

Plural possessives (notre, votre, leur)

Demonstrative adjectives (ce, cet, cette, ces)

Adjective placement

Numbers 1 to 20

Numbers 21 to 100

Age and physical states (avoir)

The verb to go (aller)

The preposition to/at (à, au, aux)

Question word for location (où)

Prepositions for cities and countries (à, en, au, aux)

The verb to come (venir)

The preposition from/of (de, du, des)

Question word for origin (d'où)

The verb to do/make (faire)

Days of the week (lundi, mardi)

Telling time (il est... heure)

Question words for time (quand, à quelle heure)

The verb to take or have (prendre)

The verb to drink (boire)

Partitive articles (du, de la, de l')

Zero quantity (pas de)

Expressions of quantity (un peu de, beaucoup de)

Asking how much or how many (combien, combien de)

Very vs. a lot (très, beaucoup)

The verb to want (vouloir)

Polite requests (je voudrais)

The verb to be able to (pouvoir)

Obligation (devoir)

General obligation (il faut)

Why and because (pourquoi, parce que)

Expressing purpose (pour)

Reflexive pronouns (me, te, se, nous, vous)

Daily routine verbs (se lever, s'habiller)

Adverbs of frequency (parfois, rarement)

Never (ne... jamais)

Regular -ir verbs (choisir, finir)

Regular -re verbs (attendre, répondre)

Irregular -ir verbs (sortir, partir, dormir)

Informal 'we' (on)

The imperative mood

Direct object pronouns (le, la, les, l')

The near future (aller + infinitive)

The recent past (venir de + infinitive)

The passé composé with avoir

Irregular past participles (eu, été, fait, pris, vu)

The passé composé with être

The negative passé composé (ne ... pas)

Saying goodbye

Please, sorry and thank you

Which / what (quel)

The indefinite adjective (tout, tous)

Irregular feminine adjectives (-euse, -ve)

Double consonant adjectives (-enne, -ette)

Feminine adjective endings (-ère, -trice)

Irregular plurals (-x)

Plurals ending in -al (-aux)

Present tense stem changes (e to è)

Accent stem changes (é to è)

Double consonant verbs (appeler, jeter)

Verbs ending in -yer (payer, envoyer)

Irregular communication verbs (dire, lire)

Irregular action verbs (écrire, mettre)

Question	Answer
the consumer	le consommateur
the brand	la marque
Does the consumer prefer this brand?	Le consommateur préfère-t-il cette marque ?
the panel	le panel
the packaging (m)	l'emballage
Why did the panel reject the packaging?	Pourquoi le panel a-t-il rejeté l'emballage ?
the target	la cible
attractive	attractif
Does the target find the product attractive?	La cible trouve-t-elle le produit attractif ?
the sample (m)	l'échantillon
the test	le test
Is the sample big enough for this test?	L'échantillon est-il assez grand pour ce test ?
to evaluate	évaluer
the trend (tendency)	la tendance
How is the brand going to evaluate these trends?	Comment la marque va-t-elle évaluer ces tendances ?
By the way, does this test confirm the new trend?	D'ailleurs, ce test confirme-t-il la nouvelle tendance ?
Have the consumers been evaluating the packaging since yesterday?	Les consommateurs évaluent-ils l'emballage depuis hier ?
Is the panel going to evaluate this product today?	Le panel va-t-il évaluer ce produit aujourd'hui ?
Is the target indeed looking for a more attractive product?	La cible cherche-t-elle en effet un produit plus attractif ?
Has this consumer already evaluated the product?	Ce consommateur a-t-il déjà évalué le produit ?
Did the panel not receive the sample?	Le panel n'a-t-il pas reçu l'échantillon ?