Three ways, one question
A yes/no question can be built in three ways in French. They mean the same thing and differ in register, in how formal you sound. Inversion is the most elevated of the three.
One meaning, three registers
Tu viens ?
Are you coming? (casual, spoken)
Est-ce que tu viens ?
Are you coming? (neutral)
Viens-tu ?
Are you coming? (formal, more written)
The forms
parler and venir inverted
| Person | parler | venir |
|---|---|---|
| tu | parles-tu ? | viens-tu ? |
| il / elle / on | parle-t-il ? | vient-il ? |
| nous | parlons-nous ? | venons-nous ? |
| vous | parlez-vous ? | venez-vous ? |
| ils / elles | parlent-ils ? | viennent-ils ? |
Present tense
In a sentence
Parlez-vous anglais ?
Do you speak English?
Connais-tu ce restaurant ?
Do you know this restaurant?
Habitent-ils encore à Lyon ?
Do they still live in Lyon?
The inserted -t-
When the 3rd person singular verb ends in a vowel and is followed by il, elle or on, French slips a -t- in between. It has no meaning, it just stops two vowels from colliding. If the form already ends in -t or -d, no -t- is needed; the -d is pronounced like [t] in the link: prend-il sounds like pran-til.
With or without -t-?
| Verb form | ends in | Question |
|---|---|---|
| il parle | vowel | parle-t-il ? |
| elle va | vowel | va-t-elle ? |
| il vient | -t | vient-il ? |
| elle est | -t | est-elle ? |
| il prend | -d | prend-il ? |
3rd person singular
-t- in a sentence
Va-t-elle nous rejoindre ?
Is she going to join us?
Arrive-t-il toujours en retard ?
Does he always turn up late?
Où va-t-on ce soir ?
Where are we going tonight?
The 1st person singular avoids inversion
With je, inversion sounds old-fashioned for almost every verb: you don't say Parle-je ?, you use est-ce que. One fixed exception is puis-je, the polite form of je peux. It turns up constantly in shops, hotels and emails.
est-ce que, but puis-je
Est-ce que je dois signer ici ?
Do I need to sign here?
Est-ce que j'arrive trop tôt ?
Am I too early?
Puis-je vous aider ?
May I help you?
When the subject is a noun
A noun is not attached to the verb. It stays at the front and is picked up again by a pronoun after the verb. The pronoun matches the noun: il, elle, ils or elles.
Echo pronoun (reprise)
Noun + echo pronoun
Pierre vient-il avec nous ?
Is Pierre coming with us?
Ta sœur travaille-t-elle ce soir ?
Is your sister working tonight?
Tes voisins sont-ils sympathiques ?
Are your neighbours nice?
Compound tenses, pronouns and negation
Only the conjugated verb is inverted; in the passé composé that means the auxiliary. The past participle stays behind it.
Passé composé
As-tu fini ton travail ?
Have you finished your work?
Est-elle déjà partie ?
Has she already left?
Avez-vous reçu mon message ?
Did you get my message?
Object pronouns and y / en stand in front of the whole inversion group.
L'as-tu vu hier ?
Did you see him yesterday?
Y es-tu déjà allé ?
Have you ever been there?
In a negative question, ne … pas wraps around the whole inversion group: Ne viens-tu pas ?, N'as-tu pas compris ?
A negative question - and the answer si
N'êtes-vous pas d'accord ?
Don't you agree?
Si, bien sûr !
Yes, of course!
Question words with inversion
The question word comes first, inversion follows right behind it. This makes questions sound written at once – ideal for emails, talks and exams.
Question word + inversion
Quand pars-tu ?
When are you leaving?
Où habitez-vous ?
Where do you live?
Comment allez-vous ?
How are you?
Combien de temps restez-vous ?
How long are you staying?
Pourquoi es-tu parti ?
Why did you leave?
