Learn French: Est-ce que vous cuisinez souvent du poulet ?

Est-ce que vous cuisinez souvent du poulet ?

Do you cook chicken often?

Breakdown of Est-ce que vous cuisinez souvent du poulet ?

is it that / do / does (question marker)

some (partitive, masculine)

Questions & Answers about Est-ce que vous cuisinez souvent du poulet ?

Why is souvent placed right after the verb instead of at the end of the sentence?

In French, adverbs of frequency like souvent (often) usually go directly after the conjugated verb (cuisinez). While in English we might put the adverb at the end ('Do you cook chicken often?'), French prefers to keep it closely attached to the verb: vous cuisinez souvent.

How would I answer this question using our current lesson to say 'I never cook chicken'?

You would say: Je ne cuisine jamais de poulet. The ne and jamais go on either side of the conjugated verb. Also, notice that the article du changes to de because it is a negative sentence.

Why is it du poulet instead of just le poulet or poulet?

Unlike English, French requires an article before almost every noun. Because you are talking about an unspecified quantity of food (meaning 'some' chicken), you use the partitive article du, which is a combination of the words de + le.

What does Est-ce que actually mean in this sentence?

Est-ce que literally translates to 'Is it that', but it is better to think of it as a spoken question mark. It simply turns the statement vous cuisinez... (you cook...) into a 'yes or no' question, functioning exactly like the word 'Do' in English.