Vous venez à pied ou en bus ?

Questions & Answers about Vous venez à pied ou en bus ?

Why is the verb form venez instead of viens?
Venez is the vous (plural or formal 'you') form of the verb venir (to come). Because this sentence addresses vous, the verb must match it. If you were talking to a friend using the casual, singular tu, it would be Tu viens.
Does Vous venez mean 'You come' or 'You are coming'?
It means both! French does not have a separate 'are coming' tense. The simple present tense Vous venez translates to both 'You come' as a general fact and 'You are coming' at this exact moment or in the near future.
Why do we use the preposition à for à pied?
In French, you use the preposition à for modes of transportation where you are not enclosed inside a vehicle. This is why you say à pied (on foot), à vélo (by bike), or à cheval (on horseback).
Then why is it en bus instead of à bus?
You use the preposition en for vehicles that you can physically step inside of or sit in. So, you say en bus (by bus), en voiture (by car), and en train (by train).
There are no question words like 'are' or 'do' at the start of the sentence. How do we know it is a question?
In spoken French, it is very common to make a question simply by taking a normal statement like Vous venez (You are coming) and raising the pitch of your voice at the end. You do not always need to add question phrases like Est-ce que.

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