Question 1

Why is the verb poser used here instead of demander for "ask"?

Accepted Answer

In English, we "ask" a question, but the French expression is literally to "pose" a question: poser une question. Saying demander une question is a direct translation from English that sounds unnatural to French speakers.

Question 2

Why does the sentence use de instead of the plural des before questions?

Accepted Answer

In negative sentences, the indefinite articles un, une, and des change to de (or d'). Since this is a negative command (ne pose pas), the plural des questions must change to de questions.

Question 3

Since this is an informal command to one person, why isn't it spelled poses?

Accepted Answer

When giving a command (using the imperative mood) to a single person with an -er verb like poser, you drop the final "s" from the present tense tu form. Therefore, tu poses becomes pose.

Question 4

How could I express this same idea using the lesson's structure with c'est?

Accepted Answer

You could say C'est stupide de poser cette question (It's stupid to ask this question). Notice that when you use c'est to make a general statement, the adjective (stupide) remains in its default masculine singular form, even though the noun being discussed (une question) is feminine.

Ne pose pas de questions stupides.

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