Learn French: Pourquoi est-ce que tu es absent aujourd'hui ?

Pourquoi means 'why'. In French, putting est-ce que after a question word like pourquoi is a standard way to form a question. It lets you keep the rest of the sentence in the normal subject-verb order (tu es) instead of having to flip the verb and subject around.

Can I drop est-ce que and just say Pourquoi tu es absent aujourd'hui?

Yes, absolutely! In casual, everyday spoken French, it is very common to drop est-ce que. You can just ask Pourquoi tu es absent aujourd'hui ? and use a rising tone of voice at the end to show it is a question.

Does absent change if I am asking a female friend?

Yes, it does! Absent is an adjective, so it has to match the person you are talking to. If tu is a woman, you must add an -e to make it absente. When you add the -e, you will also clearly pronounce the 't' sound at the end of the word.

Why is there an apostrophe in the middle of aujourd'hui?

Aujourd'hui is the French word for 'today'. Hundreds of years ago, it was actually a whole phrase meaning 'on the day of this day' (au jour de hui). Over time, it mashed together into a single word, but the apostrophe stuck around. Just treat it as one complete word to memorize!