Learn Hardcore French: Vous êtes en train de lire le rapport, n'est-ce pas?

Use vous for politeness with one person you don’t know well, in professional contexts, or when speaking to more than one person.
Use tu with friends, family, children, or when invited to do so. You could say the informal version as: Tu es en train de lire le rapport, non ? If talking to several people: Vous êtes en train de lire le rapport, non ? still works (plural).

What does en train de add that the simple present doesn’t?

En train de emphasizes that the action is happening right now, in progress (like “in the middle of”). Without it, Vous lisez le rapport can mean “you are reading the report” (right now) or “you read the report” (habitually). Être en train de removes the habitual reading interpretation and focuses on the ongoingness.

How do I build the être en train de + infinitive structure across tenses?

Conjugate être for the time you need, add en train de, then the infinitive:

Present: Je suis en train de lire.
Imperfect (was in the middle of): J’étais en train de lire.
Future: Je serai en train de lire.
Negation wraps around être: Je ne suis pas en train de lire. This construction is natural when you really want to stress the ongoing process.

Could I just ask a direct question like Êtes-vous en train de lire le rapport ? instead?

Yes. That’s a straightforward yes/no question (more formal due to inversion). You can also use rising intonation without inversion: Vous êtes en train de lire le rapport ? The original sentence is a statement plus a confirmation tag.

Are there more natural alternatives to n’est-ce pas ? in everyday speech?

Yes, very common tag options include:

non ? (very common and neutral-informal)
hein ? (colloquial, region-dependent)
pas vrai ? / c’est ça ? (checking confirmation) The full sentence could be: Vous êtes en train de lire le rapport, non ?

How should I answer a tag like n’est-ce pas ?—with oui, non, or si?

Here the main clause is positive, so:

Confirm: Oui.
Deny: Non. The special si is used only to contradict a negative statement. Example: Vous n’êtes pas en train de lire le rapport, n’est-ce pas ? — to contradict, say Si, je le lis.

Why the comma before n’est-ce pas and what about spacing before the question mark?

The comma separates the statement from the tag.
In French typography, a (non‑breaking) thin space is traditionally placed before ?, so you’ll often see: n’est-ce pas ? Online, people often omit it; both are commonly accepted in casual writing.

Why is it le rapport and not un rapport?

Le is the definite article; it implies a specific report already known to speaker and listener (the one at hand, or previously mentioned). Un rapport would introduce a new, non-specific report. If you mean “this report,” use ce rapport.

Where do object pronouns go with en train de?

They go before the infinitive:

Vous êtes en train de le lire, n’est-ce pas ? (le = le rapport) With negation: Vous n’êtes pas en train de le lire. Don’t place the object pronoun before êtes in this structure.

Pronunciation tips for this sentence?

Vous êtes: liaison makes it sound like [vu zɛt]; the final -s of vous becomes [z].
en train: nasal vowels: [ɑ̃ tʁɛ̃]; the final -n isn’t pronounced as [n].
de lire: often [də liʁ], and in fast speech the schwa can drop: [d liʁ].
le rapport: [lə ʁapɔʁ]; the final -t in rapport is silent.
n’est-ce pas: [nɛs pa]; the hyphens aren’t pronounced, and final -s in pas is silent.

Why the apostrophe in n’est-ce and what exactly is this made of?

It’s the elision of ne before a vowel: ne est → n’est. The whole tag is ne…pas wrapped around est-ce (a fixed question form): n’est-ce pas. The hyphens are part of the fixed expression est-ce.

Can I drop ne as people often do in speech, e.g., say c’est pas ? as a tag?

In everyday speech, ne is often dropped in regular negations (e.g., Je suis pas prêt). But n’est-ce pas ? is a fixed tag; people usually don’t say c’est pas ? as a tag. Instead, they switch to non ?, hein ?, etc. For a negative question (not a tag), you can of course say: T’es pas en train de lire le rapport ?

Is en train de okay with all verbs, including stative ones like être or savoir?

It’s uncommon and often awkward with stative verbs. Prefer the simple present: Je sais (not really Je suis en train de savoir), Je suis en colère (not Je suis en train d’être en colère). Use en train de for activities/processes.

Is en train de one word? I’ve seen entrain somewhere.

The progressive expression is two words: en train de. The single word entrain is a different noun meaning “zest/pep” (e.g., avec entrain = “with enthusiasm”).

Could I replace le rapport with ce rapport or something else?

Yes:

ce rapport = this/that report (demonstrative)
un rapport = a report (introducing something non-specific)
With a pronoun later: Vous êtes en train de le lire (le = the report already mentioned).

How would it look with informal tu?

Statement + tag: Tu es en train de lire le rapport, non ?
Direct question with inversion (formal-ish syntax): Es-tu en train de lire le rapport ?
Simple present without the progressive: Tu lis le rapport, hein ?