Question 1

"Qu'est-ce que" seems really long for just the word "what". How does it work?

Accepted Answer

In French, que means "what". The phrase est-ce que (literally "is it that") is a common formula used to turn a statement into a question. When you combine them, que drops its "e" to become qu' before the vowel in est-ce, creating qu'est-ce que (literally "what is it that").

Question 2

The English translation says "listening to". Where is the word for "to" in French?

Accepted Answer

You do not need one! The French verb écouter means "to listen to" all by itself. You never need to add an extra word after it to say you are listening to something.

Question 3

Why does écoutes end in an "s", and do I pronounce it?

Accepted Answer

It ends in "s" because the subject is tu (informal "you"). Regular "-er" verbs always take an "-s" ending for the tu form. However, this "s" is completely silent.

Question 4

Why isn't there a French word for "are" or "-ing" in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

French does not have a separate "-ing" tense (present continuous) like English does. The single present tense in French covers both meanings. Therefore, tu écoutes translates to both "you listen" and "you are listening".

Qu'est-ce que tu écoutes ?

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