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Grammar
Objective: Convert standard statements into questions by prefixing them with est-ce que and applying elision where required.
| Statement | Est-ce que Question | English |
|---|---|---|
| Tu parles français. | Est-ce que tu parles français ? | You speak French. / Do you speak French? |
| Il est étudiant. | Est-ce qu'il est étudiant ? | He is a student. / Is he a student? |
| Elle vient ce soir. | Est-ce qu'elle vient ce soir ? | She is coming tonight. / Is she coming tonight? |
| Nous avons le temps. | Est-ce que nous avons le temps ? | We have time. / Do we have time? |
| Vous parlez anglais. | Est-ce que vous parlez anglais ? | You speak English. / Do you speak English? |
| Ils ont des enfants. | Est-ce qu'ils ont des enfants ? | They have children. / Do they have children? |
The full phrase est-ce que must sit at the very start of the sentence, before the subject pronoun.
Que elides to qu' before any vowel, so est-ce que il becomes est-ce qu'il without exception.
The most common neutral yes/no question. Est-ce que precedes an unchanged statement.
Elision applies because il begins with a vowel. Que becomes qu'.
Same elision before elle. The rest of the sentence keeps the same word order as the statement.
Formal register via vous. Est-ce que stays neutral, so the formality comes entirely from the pronoun.
The verb avoir stays in its standard present-tense form. Only the question marker is added at the start.
5 exercises · about 8 minutes
The yes/no question marker is est-ce que; est-ce qui introduces a relative clause and does not ask a question.
Est-ce que already marks the question, so the subject and verb stay in their standard order without inversion.
Information question with où. The question word precedes est-ce que, and the rest stays unchanged.
Information question with quand. Elision applies because il starts with a vowel.
Information question with pourquoi. The order is question word, then est-ce que, then the unchanged sentence.