Question words in French

I think we can agree that asking questions in French is completely different. In French we don’t have any modals. The basic structure is:

• Questions word + verb + subject +  object

In addition, for some French word questions, you have to take the gender and number into account.

Knowing how to ask questions in French is essential to communicate.

We are going to tackle each French question word with examples in order to deconstruct and play with the structure.

By the way, we don’t say “ask questions” but “poser des questions” (to put questions).

Any questions before we start?

What does QUI mean in French?

First, the translation of “who” is “qui”. Then you add the verb and the rest. Here’s an example for you:

• Qui aime le chocolat blanc? (Who likes white chocolate?)

How to ask simple questions with QUE.

There are 3 ways to say “what” in English. Let me explain.

The French word “que” is quite formal. Its variation is “qu’” if the following word starts with a vowel or “h”. Here are some illustrations of it:

• Que fais-tu aujourd’hui? (What are you doing today?)

 And the variation would be like this:

• Qu’as-tu fait hier soir? (What did you do yesterday?)

Secondly, you can choose the option “qu’est-ce que”. All of it means “what”! Don’t mix it with “est-ce que” that doesn’t mean anything. It simply indicates it’s a question.

An example:

• Qu’est-ce que tu vas faire demain? (What are you going to do tomorrow?) 

Ask questions about time in French.

This one is pretty easy. "When" in French is "Quand" . Ignore the "d" for the pronunciation. As a reminder "qu" is the equivalent of the sound "k".

• Quand viendras-tu à la maison?(When will you come to the house?)

How do you say how in French?

Almost the first question you ask all the time - “Comment ça va?” - hence you know that “comment” means how in French.

• Comment allez-vous? (How are you?)

Learn how to say why in French.

Now, let’s see how to ask about the reason and learn how to answer as well. Whenever you want to say “why”, say “pourquoi” in French. And to answer, always use “parce que”.

• Pourquoi tu étudies le français? - Parce que j’aime cette langue!

           (Why do you study French? - Because I love this language!)

4 options to say which in French.

In this part and the following, we will see 4 different options for our question word because the gender and number matter.

Indeed, “which” in French is “quel”. However, there are 3 other versions:

• Quel >>> masculine singular
• Quels >>> masculine plural
• Quelle >>> feminine singular
• Quelles >>> feminine plural

The good news is that the pronunciation remains the same for the 4 options!

• Quel chien est ton préféré? (Which is your favourite dog?)
• Quelle est la date de ton anniversaire? (What is the date of your birthday?)
• Quels fruits veux-tu comme dessert? (Which fruits do you want in your pudding?)
• Quelles sont les meilleures questions? (Which are the best questions?)

4 alternatives for which one in French.

This section is very similar to the previous one. Actually it’s a variation. Why? Because we are going to study the variations of “which one(s)”.

Unlike in English, the “one” part goes before “which” in French.

As a result, we obtain the following:

• Lequel >>> masculine singular
• Lesquels >>> masculine plural
• Laquelle >>> feminine singular
• Lesquelles >>> feminine plural 

Now, let’s see them in context:

• Lequel des bonbons veux-tu? (Which one of the candies do you want?)
• Laquelle des tomates est-elle la meilleure? (which one of the tomatoes is the best?)
• Lesquels veux-tu? (Which ones do you want?)
• Lesquelles sont les grappes? (Which ones are the bunch tomatoes?)

French questions for quantity.

Before we start with the question word, it’s essential to remember that quantity can be either countable or not. In English the distinction is obvious since there are 2 different questions words: “How many” (countable) and “How much” (uncountable).

However, in French, you’ll have to pay attention because it’s very subtle. The only element that matters if the presence of the preposition “de” (countable). You can also check if a noun is following and not a verb.

Here’s an example when it’s countable:

• Combien de livres as-tu? (How many books do you have?)

And one with an accountable quantity:

• Combien ça coûte? (How much does it cost?)

Even if you’ve just obvious examples, in other cases you’ll have to use your common sense like in the following examples:

• Combien d’enfants avez-vous? (How many children do you have?)
• Combien d’eau y a-t-il dans le verre? (How much water is there in the glass?)

As usual, if the following word starts with a vowel or h, you drop the “e” and have “d’”.

How to ask questions about places in French.

Let’s finish with an easy one. To ask questions about places, simply pick “où” meaning “where”. But remember to add the accent otherwise it means “or”.

• Où habitez-vous? (Where do you live?)

The ultimate guide to ask questions in French.

There you go. In order to ask questions in French, choose one of the following question word:

• Qui >>> Who
• Que / Qu’/ qu’est-ce que >>> What
• Quand >>> When
• Comment >>> How   
• Pourquoi >>> Why 
• Quel >>> Which  
• Lequel >>> Which one 
• Combien (de) >>> How much / many  
• Où >>> Where 

Then, add your verb, your subject and the rest.

In reality there are 3 ways to ask a question in French depending on the register.

• Est-ce que

• The inversion
• The intonation

The first case is the most formal one. As mentioned before, the structure “est-ce que” doesn’t mean anything. It’s a way to introduce a question. Then, the inversion consists in inverting the subject and the verb. Finally, the third option has the same structure as a normal sentence but the rising intonation indicates that it’s a question. This last case is only for unformal situations.

With concrete examples, you’ll have the following: 

• Est-ce que >>> Est-ce que tu t’appelles Matisse?

• The inversion >>> T’appelles-tu Matisse?

• The intonation >>> Tu t’appelles Matisse? 

So, do you still have questions about questions? If yes, feel free to reach me!