On another page we learned about the French question words qui (who) and que (what) and how they can be used with various forms of est-ce que and inversion. Here’s the list of additional French question words.
FRENCH | ENGLISH |
combien? | how much? how many? |
comment? | how? |
depuis combien de temps? | how long? for how long? |
depuis quand? | how long? since when? |
lequel? laquelle? lesquel(le)s? | which one(s)? |
où? | Where? |
d'où? | From where? |
pourquoi? | why? |
quand? | when? |
quel, quelle, quels, quelles? | which + NOUN? |
These question words can be used to gather information as opposed to yes-no questions.
combien?
- Combien est-ce que ça coute? How much does that cost?
- Combien coûte le fromage? How much does the cheese cost?
- C’est combien? How much is it?
comment?
- Comment est-ce que tu écris ton prénom? How do you write your name?
- Comment chantes-tu cette chanson? How do you sing this song?
- Comment vas-tu? How are you?
- Comment allez-vous? How are you?
- Comment? What?
depuis combien de temps?
- Depuis combien de temps est-ce que tu habites en France? How long have you lived in France?
- Depuis combien de temps habites-tu au Texas? How long have you been living in Texas?
depuis quand?
- Depuis quand est-ce que tu habites sur l’île? How long have you lived on the island?
- Depuis quand étudies-tu le français? How long have you been studying French?
lequel, laquelle, lesquel(le)s
- Lequel des deux pantelons est-ce que tu préfères? Which one of the pairs of pants do you prefer?
- Laquelle des deux voitures aimes-tu? Which one of the cars do you like?
où?
- Où est-ce que tu travailles? Where do you work?
- Où habitez-vous? Where do you live?
- Où sont les toilettes? Where is the bathroom?
D’où?
- D’où est-ce que tu viens? Where are you from?
- D’où venez-vous? Where are you from?
pourquoi?
- Pourquoi est-ce que tu joues du violin? Why do you play the violin?
- Pourquoi aimes-tu faire du ski? Why do you like to ski?
- Pourquoi est-ce que tu gaspilles tant de temps sur ce site? Why are you wasting so much time on this website?
quand?
- Quand est-ce que je vais reussir dans la vie? When will I succeed in life?
- Quand arrivez-vous dans les montagnes? When are you arriving in the mountains?
quel + noun?
- Quel livre est-ce que tu lis? Which book are you reading?
- Quelle voiture choisis-tu? Which are are you choosing?
In formal language when there’s a noun followed by the inversion the following structure is used.
- Quand Marc arrive-t-il en France? When is Marc arriving in France?
- Où les gens habitent-ils? Where to the people live?
- Pourquoi le bâtiemnt est-il construit en bois? Why is the built withof wood?
- Pourquoi l’accent québecois est-il si difficle? Why is the French-Canadian accent so hard?
- Pourquoi les magasins sont-ils encore fermés? Why are the stores still closed.
Practice Exercises
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