Forming Yes/No Questions

1. Types of Questions: Closed vs. Open

In French, as in English, there are two main types of questions. For this lesson, we are focusing on closed questions (questions fermées).

A closed question is one that can be answered with a simple "yes" or "no". For example:

• "Do you speak French?" (Yes/No)
• "Is the customer on the line?" (Yes/No)

An open question requires a more detailed answer, using question words like "who", "what", "where", etc. We will cover those in a future lesson.

Let's begin with the simplest and most common way to ask a closed question in spoken French.

2. Method 1: Raising Your Intonation

The most frequent way French speakers ask questions in casual conversation is by taking a regular statement and simply raising the pitch of their voice at the end. The word order doesn't change at all.

• Statement: Tu parles français. (You speak French.)

• Question: Tu parles français ? (Do you speak French? — with a rising tone)

• Statement: Vous avez un stylo. (You have a pen.)

• Question: Vous avez un stylo ? (Do you have a pen? — with a rising tone)

This method is very common in everyday speech but is considered informal. It's perfect for talking with friends or in relaxed situations.

To see and hear this in action, let's watch a short video clip.

This image provides a great visual summary of the three ways to ask a question, starting with intonation.

3. Method 2: Using Est-ce que

While intonation is easy, it can sometimes be unclear if you don't get the tone just right. A more standard and universally understood way to ask a yes/no question is to use the phrase est-ce que.

Think of est-ce que as a question marker. You place it at the beginning of a regular statement to turn it into a question. It literally means "is it that...", but in practice, it functions like "Do you...?" or "Are you...?" in English. The best part is that the word order of the sentence that follows remains exactly the same.

Structure: Est-ce que + [Subject] + [Verb] + ... ?

Let's apply this to our previous examples:

• Statement: Tu parles français.

• Question: **Est-ce que** tu parles français ? (Do you speak French?)

• Statement: Vous avez un stylo.

• Question: **Est-ce que** vous avez un stylo ? (Do you have a pen?)

This method is considered "standard" French (langage courant). It's perfect for almost any situation, whether spoken or written, formal or informal. It is a reliable and clear way to ask a question.

An Important Detail: Elision with est-ce qu'

Remember the elision rule we saw with articles? The same applies here. If the word following est-ce que starts with a vowel sound (a, e, i, o, u, h), que becomes qu'.

• Est-ce que + il aime le café. → **Est-ce qu'**il aime le café ? (Does he like coffee?)
• Est-ce que + elle est prête. → **Est-ce qu'**elle est prête ? (Is she ready?)

This is purely for pronunciation, to make the sentence flow better.

Putting It All Together: A Summary

Let's read a short article that neatly summarizes the two methods we've learned and briefly introduces a third, more formal one.

As the article mentions, there is a third way: inversion. This involves swapping the verb and the subject pronoun (e.g., Parlez-vous français ?). This is the most formal way and is mostly used in professional writing or very formal speech. For now, it's good to recognize it, but focus on mastering intonation and est-ce que.

Conclusion

Excellent work today! You have now learned the two most important ways to ask yes/no questions in French, a crucial skill for any conversation.

Key Takeaways:

• Closed questions (questions fermées) are questions that can be answered with "yes" or "no".
• Method 1 (Informal): Use a statement and raise your intonation at the end. (e.g., Tu es prêt ?)
• Method 2 (Standard): Add est-ce que to the beginning of a statement. (e.g., Est-ce que tu es prêt ?)
• Remember to use the elision est-ce qu' before a vowel sound. (e.g., Est-ce qu'il est là ?)

Now that you can form statements and ask simple questions, the next logical step is to learn how to form negative sentences. In our next lesson, we will focus on using ne...pas to say "no" or express that something is not the case.

À bientôt