In today’s lesson we’ll look at one of the single most important words in the entire French langauge: est-ce que. Translations include “is”, “are”, “do” and “does” in the context of asking yes-no questions. Est-ce que vous êtes prêts ? (Are you ready?) – keep reading!
est-ce que
is/are/do/does
Est-ce que in French
Formation
According to Wiktionary.org, est-ce que is the inverstion if c’est que, which translates to “it’s that”. Hence, est-ce que translates literally to “is it that?”.
Pronunciation
Est-ce que in French is pronounced “ehs-kuh” or [ɛs-kə].
Example sentences
This is a standard yes-no question using est-ce que. The grammatical stucture is: est-ce que + subject + verb + object.
Est-ce que vous parlez français ?
Do you speak French?
When using the pronouns il (he) and elle (she), the -e on que is removed. Hence, qu’il sounds like [keel] and qu’elle sounds like [kell].
Est-ce qu’il comprend ? Est-ce qu’elle comprend?
Does he understand? Does she understand?
This same rule applies to ils and elles (they). Hence, qu’ils and qu’elles. This example sentence uses the word français, which means “French” in French.
Est-ce qu’ils apprennent le français ou l’allemand ?
Are they learning French or German?
Est-ce que can also be followed by c’est ot mean “is it…?”. This example sentence uses aujourd’hui, which means “today”.
Est-ce que c’est une bonne idée d’y aller aujourd’hui ?
Is it a good idea to go today?
Conclusion
Et voilà ! Est-ce que vous avez compris la leçon? Did you understand the lesson? There are many other ways of asking questions in French, which we cover in depth in this lesson.
