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Published April 20, 2023 • Updated April 8, 2026 — This lesson is part of the French grammar curriculum developed by David Issokson, a graduate of McGill University and professional French teacher since 2014. These structured lessons guide students from beginner fundamentals to advanced C1-level fluency through clear, expert-led instruction. Native audio by Marie Assel Cambier, a voice artist from France.
Learning how to ask questions in French is essential for real conversation. This lesson gives a clear explanation of the three main ways to form questions: statement, est-ce que, and inversion. You’ll also see practical examples with native audio so you can hear exactly how questions sound in real life.
✅ Asking questions in French — the basics
✅ Inversion method
✅ Qu’est-ce que + que — what
✅ Question words
✅ Question tags
✅ Advanced ways of asking questions
Asking questions in French – the basics
| Question type | Example |
|---|---|
| 1. Statement | Vous mangez de la pizza ? Say it like a statement, raise your voice at the end. |
| 2. Est-ce que | Est-ce que vous mangez de la pizza ? Add “est-ce que” to turn a statement into a question. |
| 3. Inversion | Mangez-vous de la pizza ? Swap the verb and subject (formal), add a hyphen. |
Statement questions
The most basic for of asking a yes-no question is simply to make a statement with a rising tone towards the end.
Vous mangez?
Are you eating?
Questions with est-ce que
Another way to ask a yes-no question is to put the word est-ce que before the statement. The literal translation of est-ce que (pronounced ehs-kuh) is “is this that”. However, est-ce que can translate to is, are do and does for yes-no questions.
Est-ce que vous mangez?
Are you eating?
👉 Est-ce que examples with native audio »
Inversion method
The third most common way to ask a question in French is to use the inversion method. Reverse the order of the subject and verb and connect them with a hyphen.
Mangez-vous?
Are you eating?
For verbs ending in vowels in the third-person singular form (il, elle), a -t must be inserted to create a liaison.
Mange-t-il? Voyage-t-elle?
Is he eating? Is she traveling?
For the verbs aller (to go) and avoir (to have), a -t is added when doing inversion on the third-person singular form.
Va-t-il en France?
Is he going to France?
A-t-elle la voiture?
Does she have the car?
Qu’est-ce que + que — ways of asking “what”
One of the translations of the commonly used French words que is “what”. When preceding est-ce que, qu’est-ce que translates to “what”.
Qu’est-ce que vous mangez?
What are you eating?
Que mangez-vous?
What are you eating?
Question words
To ask an information-seeking question, such as who, what, where, when and why, put the question word before est-ce que.
👉 Qui — who
👉 Où — where
👉 Quand — where
👉 Pourquoi — why
👉 Comment — how
👉 À quelle heure — what time
Pourquoi est-ce que vous mangez?
Why are you eating?
Où est-ce que vous mangez?
Where are you eating?
Où mangez-vous?
Where are you eating?
À quelle heure/quand mangez-vous?
What time are you eating?
Pourquoi mangez-vous?
Why are you eating?
Question tags
Tags can be inserted on the end of questions. There are words like “right?” and “isn’t that so” in English. Here are some examples:
Vous parlez francais, n’est-ce pas?
You speak French, right?
Elle est belle, non?
She’s pretty, isn’t she?
Il joue bien, pas vrai?
He plays well, right?
Advanced ways of asking questions
Questions with qui (who)
Questions relating to the word qui (who) can be a bit tricky.
Qui parle français?
Who speaks French?
There are other ways to ask “who” questions:
➞ Qui est-ce que vous aimez? Who do you like?
➞ Qui est-ce qui parle francais? Who speaks French?
➞ Qui est-ce que vous aimez? Who do you like?
Questions with which/what
To asking which/what questions, use quel (which).
Quel jour est-ce que vous arrivez?
Which day are you arriving?
Quel has four forms depending on gender and number of the noun in question.
➞ Quelle voiture est-ce que vous aimez? Which car do you like?
➞ Quels chiens est-ce que vous préférez? Which dogs do you prefer?
➞ Quelles langues est-ce que vous parlez? Which languages do you speak?
Advanced questions with qu’est-ce que
Questions which with qu’est-ce que (what) can be come tricky.
Here’s the rule: Qu’est-ce qui + verb or qu’est-ce que + personal pronoun.
Qu’est-ce qui se passe?
What’s happening?
Qu’est-ce que vous faites?
What are you doing?
Questions with peoples names
Asking questions with peoples’ names requires a specific grammatical structure:
Person’s name + inverted verb and personal pronoun + object.
Pascal aime-t-il le fromage?
Does Pascal like the cheese?
Questions with nouns
For questions with nouns, use the following construction:
Noun + inverted pronoun + verb + adjective or adverb. Here are some examples.
Le magasin est-il ouvert?
Is the store open?
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📚 Related lessons
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