Posted by Chester Morton / Friday 10 February 2017 / No comments
Information questions in French
Information
questions begin with an interrogative word or expression such as Qu’est-ce
que... ? (What . . . ?); Quel(le)(s)... ? (Which
. . . ?); and Comment... ? (How . . . ?).
Information
questions may be expressed with the interrogative expression _ subject-verb
inversion and also with est-ce que, with no change in word order. Some
of the following examples use verbs you will learn to conjugate later.
Interrogative
Subject of the Verb
In
the sentences She sees the dog and Sam buys a car, the words She
and Sam are both subjects of the sentence. Questions
corresponding to those sentences would be: Who sees the dog? and
Who is buying a car? A thing can also be the
subject of a question: What’s happening? What makes that noise? In French, there is no short
form for asking about things as subject
of the question. Study the following French forms and their English equivalents.
Persons: Subject; Long Form
Qui est-ce
qui (as subject) _
verb Who . . . ?
Qui est-ce
qui arrive?
Who’s
arriving?
Persons:
Subject Short Form (Most Common)
Qui (as
subject) _
verb Who . . . ?
Qui arrive? Who’s
arriving?
Qui parle? Who’s
speaking?
Things:
Subject ; Long Form
Qu’est-ce
qui (as subject) _
verb What . . . ?
Qu’est-ce
qui arrive?
What’s
happening?
Qu’est-ce
qui est
dans la rue? What’s
(down there) in the street?
Interrogative
Object of the Verb
In the
English sentences I see Richard and I see the car, Richard and
the car are both objects of the verb see. Corresponding
English questions would be: Who(m) do you
see? and What do you see? Study the following French
forms and their English equivalents.
Persons:
Object; Long Form
Qui est-ce
que/qu’ _
subject _ verb Who(m) . . . ?
Qui est-ce
que tu
invites? Who(m)
are you inviting?
Qui est-ce
que vous
attendez? Who(m)
are you waiting for?
Qui est-ce
qu’elle
aime? Who(m)
does she love?
Persons:
Object; Short Form
Qui (as
object) _
inverted verb/subject Who(m) . . . ?
Qui invitez-vous?
Who(m)
are you inviting?
Qui est-ce? Who
is it?/Who’s that?
Qui aime-t-elle?
Who(m)
does she love?
Things:
Object Long Form
Qu’est-ce que/qu’ _ subject _ verb
What . . . ?
Qu’est-ce que tu
as? What do you
have?/What’s the matter with you?
Qu’est-ce que vous pensez? What do you think?
Things:
Object Short Form
Que/Qu’ _ inverted verb/pronoun subject What . . . ?
Qu’a-t-il? What
does he have?/ What’s the matter with him?
Que cherchez-vous? What
are you looking for?
Que/Qu’ _ verb _ inverted noun subject What . . . ?
Que regarde Iris? What’s
Iris looking at?
Que cherche le prof? What’s
the teacher looking for?
Interrogative
Words (with Word Inversion or with est-ce
que/qu’
)
Questions asking
information other than What . . . ? or Who . . . ? (as subject or
object) use specifi c question words.
Comment...
? How
. . . ? What
. . . ?
Comment vas-tu? How are you?
Comment
est-elle?
What’s
she like?
Comment est-il? What’s he like?
Combien
(de/d’)... ? How
much/many . . . ?
Combien coûte-t-il?
_ How much does
it cost?
Combien
est-ce que ça
coûte? How much does
it cost?
Combien d’heures
travaillez- vous? How many hours are you working?
Combien
d’argent as-tu? How
much money do you have?
Où... ? Where . .
. ?
Où vas-tu?/Où
est-ce que tu vas? Where
are you going?
Où
allons-nous? Where are
we going?
Quand... ?
When . . .
?
Quand arrive-t-elle?/Quand
est-ce qu’elle arrive? When
does she arrive?
Quand
est-ce qu’on dîne? When
are we (people) having dinner?
Quand
dîne-t-on? When
are we (people) having dinner?
Quel(le)(s)
(as adjective) _ noun _ verb What (Which)
. . . ?
Quel(le)(s)
is an adjective that always agrees with its noun.
Quelle
heure est-il?
What
time is it?
Quel(le)(s)
_
être _ noun
Quel est ton film
préféré? What is your
favorite movie?
Quelles
sont vos opinions? What
are your opinions?
Quel
livre aimes-tu? Which
book do you like?
Quelle
est son adresse? What
is his/her address?
Pourquoi...
? Why . . .
?
Pourquoi Gérard
arrive-t-il si tard? Why is
Gérard arriving so late?
Pourquoi
est-ce que Gérard
arrive si tard?
Pourquoi
es-tu en retard? Why
are you late?
The conversational answer
to a pourquoi (why) question often begins with parce que (because).
Key Vocabulary
In the
following lists, you will see that the nouns are divided into masculine
and feminine.
Noms
masculins (Masculine Nouns)
l’an (year) l’anniversaire
(birthday; anniversary) l’arbre (tree)
l’argent (money) l’ascenseur (elevator) l’autobus (bus)
l’avion (airplane) les
bagages (luggage) le bâtiment (building) le
bruit (noise) les
cheveux (hair) le crayon (pencil)
les devoirs (homework) l’enfant
(child) l’escalier
(stairway) l’étage
(fl oor [building]) le feutre (felt-tip pen) le foyer (fi replace; hearth) les
gens (people) le
jardin (garden, yard) le jour (day)
le journal (newspaper) le
lieu (place) le magasin (store) le
mail (e-mail) le médicament (medicine) le message (message)
le mois (month) le mot (word) le mur (wall)
le musée (museum) le papier (paper) le parc (park)
le pays (country) le prix (price) le rêve (dream)
le stylo (ballpoint pen) le théâtre (theater) le thème (theme)
le voyage
(trip)
Noms
féminins (Feminine
Nouns)
l’addition (check,
bill) la librairie (bookstore) l’avenue (avenue)
la
maison
(house, home) la bibliothèque (library) la musique (music)
la
campagne
(countryside) la page (page) la carte postale (postcard)
la
phrase
(sentence) la chambre (bedroom) la
pièce (room; play [theater])
la
chemise
(shirt) la plage (beach) la clé (key) la porte
(door)
la
cuisine
(kitchen; cooking) la question (question) la
douche (shower, bath)
la
rue
(street) l’école (school) la salle de classe (classroom)
l’église (church) la santé (health) l’entrée (entry; fi rst
course)
la
semaine
(week)
la
fête
(party; holiday) la soirée
(evening; party)
la
feuille
(leaf; sheet [paper]) la
sortie (exit)
la
guerre
(war) la ville (city)
la
lettre
(letter) la voiture (car)
Adjectifs (Adjectives)
affectueux
(-euse)
(affectionate) fier (-ère) (proud) aimable (nice, kind) gentil(le)
(kind) amical(e) (friendly) grand(e) (tall)
aveugle (blind)
large (wide) bas(se) (low, short)
lent(e) (slow) beau/bel/belle (beautiful) libre
(free)
court(e) (short
[in length]) long(ue) (long)
curieux (-euse) (curious; odd) lourd(e) (heavy) dangereux (-euse) (dangerous) nouveau/nouvel/nouvelle (new) difficile
(difficult) paresseux (-euse) (lazy)
doux
(-ce)
(sweet; mild; soft) particulier (-ière) (special) drôle
(funny) passionnant(e) (exciting) dur(e) (hard) petit(e) (short [height])
élégant(e) (elegant)
profond(e) (deep) étrange (strange)
rapide (fast) étroit(e) (narrow) sourd(e) (deaf)
facile (easy)
spécial(e) (special) faible (weak)
timide (shy) fidèle (faithful) tranquille (calme)
