Learn French: Tu viens en bus ou en métro ? - Are you coming by bus or by subway?

Tu viens en bus ou en métro ?

Are you coming by bus or by subway?

Breakdown of Tu viens en bus ou en métro ?

you (informal singular)

venir

to come

by (means of transport)

Questions & Answers about Tu viens en bus ou en métro ?

Why is the verb spelled viens? Doesn't venir end in "-ir"?

Venir (to come) is a highly irregular verb, meaning it doesn't follow the standard "-ir" ending rules. For tu (you, informal), the stem changes and takes an "s" to become tu viens. Since this is a very common verb, you will want to memorize its unique pattern!

Why do we use en before bus and métro?

While en usually means "in", French uses it to translate "by" for modes of transportation you ride inside of. Because you sit inside a bus and a subway train, you say en bus and en métro. For transportation you ride on top of, like a bicycle, you would use the preposition à instead.

Is ou the same word as où (where)?

They sound exactly the same when spoken, but the spelling changes the meaning completely. Où with a grave accent mark means "where", while ou without an accent means "or".

Why isn't this written as Est-ce que tu viens?

In casual, spoken French, it is very common to ask a question simply by letting your voice rise at the end of a normal statement. You can absolutely use Est-ce que tu viens instead, but this shorter statement-style question is what you will hear most often among friends.