Quand est-ce que vous êtes retournés en France ?

Questions & Answers about Quand est-ce que vous êtes retournés en France ?

Why is it êtes retournés instead of avez retourné?
The verb retourner (to return or go back) is a verb of motion. In the past tense, verbs of motion and changes of state use the helping verb être (to be) instead of avoir (to have).
Why does retournés have an s at the end?
When you use être to form the past tense, the main verb acts a bit like an adjective and must match the subject. The s here tells us that vous refers to a plural group (you all). If vous was used as a formal "you" speaking to just one man, it would be retourné, and for one woman, retournée.
Why do we put est-ce que after quand?
Est-ce que (literally "is it that") is a very common tool to build questions. Putting it right after a question word like quand (when) lets you keep the normal subject-verb word order (vous êtes) instead of having to flip them around.
Why is it en France instead of à France?
In French, you use the preposition en for feminine countries, which are usually the ones that end in the letter e. Since France is feminine, we use en to say "to France" or "in France".

Learn Quand est-ce que vous êtes retournés en France and more in French

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • Practice with interactive exercises
  • Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • Learn at your own pace — completely free