Learn French: Est-ce que tu viens ? Ça dépend.

Est-ce que tu viens ? Ça dépend.

Are you coming? It depends.

Breakdown of Est-ce que tu viens ? Ça dépend.

est-ce que

is it that / do / does (question marker)

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Questions & Answers about Est-ce que tu viens ? Ça dépend.

Why use est-ce que instead of just asking Tu viens ?

In French, there are three common ways to ask a yes/no question. Simply saying Tu viens ? with a rising tone is the most casual way, used mostly in speaking. Adding Est-ce que to the beginning of the sentence is the standard, everyday way to ask a question. The third way is reversing the words to Viens-tu ?, which is more formal.

What verb is viens from?

Viens is the tu (informal you) form of the irregular verb venir (to come). The final "s" is silent, but you must include it in writing when conjugating for tu.

What is the little mark under the "c" in Ça?

That mark is called a cedilla. In French, the letter "c" normally sounds like a hard "k" when it is followed by the vowels "a", "o", or "u". Adding the cedilla changes the pronunciation to a soft "s" sound. Without it, ca would be pronounced "ka".

Why doesn't dépend have an "s" or "t" at the end?

The word dépend comes from dépendre (to depend), which is a regular verb ending in "-re". When conjugating regular "-re" verbs for third-person singular pronouns like il, elle, or ça (it), you just use the verb stem ending in "d". You do not add a "t" or "s" like you might with other verb groups.