Question 1

Why is it Êtes-vous with a hyphen instead of just Vous êtes?

Accepted Answer

This is a formal way to ask a question, called subject-verb inversion. You swap the subject (vous) and the verb (êtes) and always connect them with a hyphen. While Vous êtes prêt ? or Est-ce que vous êtes prêt ? are very common in everyday speech, Êtes-vous prêt ? sounds more professional and polite.

Question 2

Since vous can mean 'you' plural, why doesn't prêt have an 's' at the end?

Accepted Answer

Here, vous is being used as the polite, formal 'you' to address one single person. Because you are only speaking to one person, the adjective prêt (ready) stays in the singular form. If you were asking a group of people, you would add an 's' and write Êtes-vous prêts ?

Question 3

If I am asking a woman if she is ready, does the sentence change?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Adjectives must match the gender of the person you are describing. If you are formally asking a woman, you need the feminine form of prêt, which adds an 'e'. The question becomes Êtes-vous prête pour la tournée ?

Question 4

Why use la tournée here instead of le tour?

Accepted Answer

While both can translate to 'tour', they mean slightly different things. La tournée is used for a planned series of stops, like a band's musical tour or a performer's road trip. Le tour is usually a physical loop (like a sightseeing bus tour or the Tour de France), a turn in a board game, or a magic trick.

Êtes-vous prêt pour la tournée ?

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