French Grammar: Questions: Information Questions

Information Questions

quand	when
pourquoi	why
combien	how much/many
comment	how
où	where
que, quoi	what
qui	who

The simplest way to form a question is to take a declarative sentence and replace a noun with one of the interrogative pronouns listed above. This form is informal, unless the replaced noun was the sentence's subject.

Tu as payé vingt-cinq francs. You paid 25 francs?
Tu as payé combien? You paid how much?

Vous nous visitez quand?
When are you visiting us?

Francine cache l'argent où?
Francine hides the money where?

Qui m'appelle?
Who is calling me?

When the interrogative pronoun replaces the noun and its position does not change, use quoi as opposed to que.

Il servent à quoi?
What is it used for?

Tu aimes manger quoi?
You like eating what?

After the exchange, the interrogative pronoun is often moved to the front of the sentence. When doing this, inverting the subject and verb is the norm in formal contexts such as writing. Not inverting the subject and verb is very informal.

Combien as-tu payé?
How much did you pay?

Quand visitez-vous Nantes?
When are you visiting Nantes?

Où Francine cache-t-elle l'argent?
Francine hides the money where?

Comment vont-ils le resoudre?
How are they going to resolve that?

Use que as opposed to quoi when the pronoun has been moved to the front of the sentence unless a preposition comes before it. Neither que or quoi can act as the subject of the sentence. Instead use qu'est-ce qui which we will cover shortly.

Qu'aimes-tu manger?
What do you like eating?

À quoi sert-il?
What is it used for?

De quoi vous avez peur?
What are you scared of?

Est-ce que
When the interrogative pronoun appears at the beginning of a sentence, it often is immediately followed by est-ce que. This is common in both formal and informal speaking styles.

Combien est-ce tu as payé?
How much did you pay?

Quand est-ce vous visiterez Nantes?
When are you visiting us?

Où est-ce que Francine cache l'argent?
Francine hides the money where?

Comment est-ce que ils vont le resoudre?
How are they going to resolve that?

Qui est-ce qui, Qu'est-ce qui , Qui est-ce que
Que and qui are unique in that they can act as the subject of a question. When they act as an object within the sentence, continue to attach est-ce que, but when they act as a subject attach est-ce qui.

Qu'est-ce que tu fais avec ça?
What are you doing with that?

Qu'est-ce qui cause le hoquet?
What causes hiccups?

Qui est-ce qui m'appelle?
Who is calling me?

Qui est-ce que tu aimes?
Who do you love?

Qu'est-ce que tu attends?
What do you expect?

Which one

	Singular	Plural
Masculine	lequel	lesquels
Feminine	laquelle	lesquelles

Voici deux chemins.

Lequel devons-nous prendre?
Nous devons prendre lequel?
Lequel est-ce que nous devons prendre?

Here are two paths.

Which one should we take?

Which, What

	Singular	Plural
Masculine	quel	quels
Feminine	quelle	quelles

Quelles preuves as-tu de sa culpabilité?
What proof do you have of his guilt?

Quelles sont les serpents les plus vénéneux de l'Asie?
What are the most venemous snakes of Asia?

Quelles sont tes secrets pour draguer les femmes?
What are your secrets for picking up women?

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