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Est-ce que le passeport est dans la valise ?

Est-ce que le passeport est dans la valise ?
Is the passport in the suitcase?
From Lesson 21:Yes/no questions with "Est-ce que" (Est-ce que tu parles ?)·French

Questions & Answers about Est-ce que le passeport est dans la valise ?

How does est-ce que turn this into a question?
Est-ce que is a fixed phrase you put at the very beginning of a statement to turn it into a yes/no question. If you take away est-ce que, you are left with le passeport est dans la valise, which is just the normal statement for 'the passport is in the suitcase'.
What does est-ce que literally mean?
Word-for-word, it translates to 'is it that' (est = is, ce = it, que = that). So literally, you are asking 'Is it that the passport is in the suitcase?' But in everyday French, it is simply treated as a spoken question mark.
Why isn't the verb swapped around like in English ('Is the passport...')?
In English, we swap the subject and verb to make a question. In French, using est-ce que is an easy way to avoid swapping! You just use normal statement word order (le passeport est) right after est-ce que.
Can I use dans for any type of 'in'?
Dans is used specifically to mean 'in' or 'inside' a physical space or object. Since the passport is physically enclosed inside the suitcase (la valise), dans is the perfect word to use here.
Why do we use le for the passport and la for the suitcase?
In French, every noun has a gender. Passeport is masculine, so it uses the masculine word for 'the' (le). Valise (suitcase) is feminine, so it uses the feminine 'the' (la). You just have to memorize the gender when you learn a new noun!

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