French Questions
Learning the French Questions is very important because its structure is used in every day conversation. The more you master it the more you get closer to mastering the French language. But first we need to know what the role of Questions is in the structure of the grammar in French.
French questions may be either a linguistic expression used to make a request for information, or else the request itself made by such an expression. Usually it starts with why, how, where, when ...
Grammar Tips:
In French
there are 4 ways of asking a question to get a yes or no answer, and they are the
following:
-Verb + pronoun:
A-t-elle du temps libre? (Does she have free time?)
-Pronoun + verb: Only the intonation makes the sentence interrogative:
Elle a du temps libre? (Does she have free time?)
-The way
closest to the English formulation (do or does) Est-ce qu’elle a du temps ? (Does she
have free time?)
-Finally you
can also make a question by adding a tag question to the end of a statement. Ella Elle a du temps libre,
non ?
Elle a du temps libre, n’est-ce pas ? (She has free time, doesn’t she)
Here are some examples:
| English Questions | French Questions |
| Questions | Questions |
| how? | comment? |
| what? | Quoi? |
| who? | qui? |
| why? | pourquoi? |
| where? | où? |
| |
| where is he? | où est-il? |
| what is this? | Qu'est ce que c'est? |
| why are you sad? | pourquoi es-tu triste? |
| how do you want to pay? | Comment voulez-vous payer? |
| |
| can I come? | je peux venir? |
| is he sleeping? | est-il dormir? |
| do you know me? | me connaissez-vous? |
| do you have my book? | Avez-vous mon livre? |
| how big is it? | Quelle est sa taille? |
| can I help you? | puis-je vous aider? |
| can you help me? | Pouvez-vous m'aider? |
| do you speak English? | Parlez-vous anglais? |
| how far is this? | dans quelle mesure est-ce? |
| what time is it? | Quelle heure est-il? |
| how much is this? | ça fait combien? |
| what is your name? | Quel est votre nom?/ Comment t'appelles-tu? |
| where do you live? | Où habitez-vous? |
As you can see from the example above, the structure of the Questions in French has a logical pattern. Locate the Questions above and see how it works with the rest of the sentence in French.
List of Questions in French
Below is a list of the Questions and interrogative expressions in French placed in a table. Memorizing this table will help you add very useful and important words to your French vocabulary.
| English Questions | French Questions |
| Vocabulary | Vocabulaire |
| Countries | Pays |
| Australia | Australie |
| Cambodia | Cambodge |
| Canada | Canada |
| China | Chine |
| Egypt | Egypte |
| England | Angleterre |
| France | France |
| Germany | Allemagne |
| Greece | Grèce |
| India | Inde |
| Indonesia | Indonésie |
| Italy | Italie |
| Japan | Japon |
| Mexico | Mexique |
| Morocco | Maroc |
| Peru | Pérou |
| Spain | Espagne |
| Thailand | Thaïlande |
| USA | USA |
| |
| Languages | Langues |
| Arabic | Arabe |
| Chinese | Chinois |
| English | Anglais |
| French | Français |
| German | Allemand |
| Greek | Grecque |
| Hebrew | Hébreu |
| Hindi | Hindi |
| Italian | Italien |
| Japanese | Japonais |
| Korean | Coréen |
| Latin | Latin |
| Russian | Russe |
| Spanish | Espagnol |
| Urdu | Ourdou |
| |
| Days | Journées |
| Monday | Lundi |
| Tuesday | Mardi |
| Wednesday | Mercredi |
| Thursday | Jeudi |
| Friday | Vendredi |
| Saturday | Samedi |
| Sunday | Dimanche |
| |
| time | temps |
| hour | heure |
| minute | minute |
| second | deuxième |
Questions and interrogative expressions have a very important role in French, therefore they need very special attention. Once you're done with French Questions, you might want to check the rest of our French lessons here: Learn French. Don't forget to bookmark this page.