Indirect questions with infinitives

Indirect questions with infinitives

When you are planning your next move in a tabletop role-playing game, you often need to express uncertainty: you might not know where to go, or you might wonder how to attack.

In French, just like in English, you can form a concise indirect question by combining a question word with a verb in the infinitive (the unconjugated, dictionary form).

A very common verb used to introduce these questions is se demander (to wonder).

to wonder
se demander

To form the indirect question, simply place a question word like (where) or comment (how) directly before the infinitive.

The warrior wonders where to search in the dungeon.
Le guerrier se demande où chercher dans le donjon.
We do not know how to enter the dungeon.
Nous ne savons pas comment entrer dans le donjon.

Other question words

You can use this exact same structure with other question words, such as quand (when), qui (who), and pourquoi (why).

The elf wonders when to cast the spell.
L'elfe se demande quand lancer le sort.
You must choose who to attack, the dragon or the goblin.
Tu dois choisir qui attaquer, le dragon ou le gobelin.

When you want to say "what to do" or "what to choose", you must use quoi for "what" (rather than que).

The group wonders what to do in this dark cave.
Le groupe se demande quoi faire dans cette caverne sombre.

Adding pronouns

If the infinitive action targets a specific object or person, you will often need a direct object pronoun (like le, meaning "it" or "him"). In these indirect questions, the object pronoun goes immediately before the infinitive, sandwiched between the question word and the verb.

The goblin is there, but I don't know how to kill it.
Le gobelin est là, mais je ne sais pas comment le tuer.
I have the spell, but I must choose when to cast it.
J'ai le sort, mais je dois choisir quand le lancer.