Breakdown of Est-ce que tu tousses toujours ?
tu
you (informal singular)
toujours
always
est-ce que
is it that / do / does (question marker)
tousser
to cough
Questions & Answers about Est-ce que tu tousses toujours ?
I thought toujours meant "always". Why does it mean "still" here?
Why does the sentence use tu tousses instead of translating "are" and "coughing" separately?
French doesn't have an equivalent to the English "am/is/are doing" form. The simple present tense tu tousses translates to both "you cough" and "you are coughing".
What is the purpose of Est-ce que at the start of the sentence?
Est-ce que is a standard phrase used to turn a regular statement into a yes/no question. The statement here is tu tousses toujours (you are still coughing). Adding Est-ce que at the very beginning flips it into a question.
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