Sentence builder
Build French questions three ways: intonation, est-ce que, inversion
Tu viens ? Est-ce que tu viens ? Viens-tu ? Tap the tiles to build questions in all three French styles, from casual to formal.
- A2
- 8 sentences to build
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In short
French has three ways to ask: rising intonation (Tu viens ?, casual), est-ce que (Est-ce que tu viens ?, neutral) and inversion (Viens-tu ?, formal). With a question word: Où tu vas ? / Où est-ce que tu vas ? / Où vas-tu ?
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| Style | Example | Register |
|---|---|---|
| intonation | Tu as faim ? | casual |
| est-ce que | Est-ce que tu as faim ? | neutral |
| inversion | As-tu faim ? | formal, written |
| inversion with -t- | A-t-il faim ? | formal |
Tap the words in the right order. Tap a placed word to send it back.
Do you like coffee?
Where do you live?
Do you speak French?
Has she finished her work?
When does the train leave?
Why is he crying?
Are you coming with us?
How much is this book?
What are the three ways to ask a question in French?
Inversion swaps the verb and the subject pronoun, joined by a hyphen. When the verb ends in a vowel and the pronoun starts with one (il, elle, on), French adds -t- for sound: Parle-t-il ? Va-t-on ? With a noun subject, keep the noun and add a pronoun: Marie vient-elle ? In speech, the question word often moves to the end: Tu vas où ?
- Est-ce que où tu vas ?Où est-ce que tu vas ?
The question word comes first.
- A-elle fini ?A-t-elle fini ?
Add -t- between two vowels.
- Parlez vous français ?Parlez-vous français ?
Inversion needs a hyphen.