Asking Questions with Interrogative Words

Bonjour! Welcome to our next lesson.

Introduction

In our last lesson, you learned to identify the three main ways to form questions in French: with rising intonation, with the phrase est-ce que, and with inversion. These are excellent for asking yes/no questions.

Today, we'll build directly on that knowledge. We'll learn how to ask for specific information by using interrogative words (often called "question words"). Your goal is to be able to formulate simple questions using Où (Where), Quand (When), Comment (How), Pourquoi (Why), Qui (Who), and Que (What). By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to combine these words with the question structures you already know.

This is a fundamental step toward understanding the narratives in French films and novels, where characters are constantly asking these types of questions.

Getting to Know the Question Words

First, let's get acquainted with the main interrogative words and see them used in simple contexts. The following video gives a clear and concise introduction to each one.

This video gives you a great initial feel for the patterns. Let's look closer at the two words for "what".

The Que vs. Quoi Pattern

As you saw, French has two primary words for "what": que and quoi. The one you use depends on its position in the sentence. This is a very reliable pattern to recognize.

• Que is used at the beginning of the sentence, often with inversion or est-ce que. It becomes qu' before a vowel.

  • Que fais-tu ? (What are you doing?) - Formal/Inversion
  • ***Qu'*est-ce que tu manges ? (What are you eating?) - Neutral/est-ce que

• Quoi is used at the end of an informal question or after a preposition.

  • Tu fais quoi ? (What are you doing?) - Informal/Intonation
  • À quoi penses-tu ? (What are you thinking about?) - With a preposition

Recognizing this pattern is key to understanding the formality and structure of a question.

Integrating Question Words into Known Structures

Now, let's connect these new words to the three question structures from our previous lesson. The following article lays this out perfectly. You'll see how the interrogative word simply "plugs in" to the structures you're already familiar with.

Let's Summarize the Patterns

Based on the resources, let's create a clear reference table. Your interest in mathematics and patterns might make this way of viewing the grammar particularly clear.

Notice how the question word generally comes first, except in the very informal structure where it often goes to the end (with the notable exceptions of pourquoi and qui when it's the subject).

Quick Practice

Let's test your recognition skills. For each question below, identify the interrogative word and the structure used (Intonation, est-ce que, or Inversion).

1. Comment allez-vous ?
2. Tu pars quand en vacances ?
3. Pourquoi est-ce que tu apprends le français ?

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Answers:

1. Word: Comment (How). Structure: Inversion.
2. Word: Quand (When). Structure: Intonation (informal).
3. Word: Pourquoi (Why). Structure: est-ce que.

Conclusion

Excellent work today. You have combined your knowledge of question structures with the key interrogative words, which is a major step in moving from simple yes/no questions to asking for detailed information.

Key Takeaways:

• The main interrogative words are Qui (who), Que/Quoi (what), Où (where), Quand (when), Comment (how), and Pourquoi (why).
• These words can be used with all three question structures you know.
• The most common neutral structure is: Question Word + est-ce que + statement.
• The informal structure often places the question word at the end (e.g., Tu vas où ?).
• The formal structure places the question word at the beginning, followed by an inverted verb and pronoun (e.g., Où allez-vous ?).
• Que starts a question, while quoi is used at the end or after a preposition.

In our next lesson, we will begin a new major topic: narrating events in the past. We'll start by exploring the passé composé, the most common past tense. Specifically, we'll learn to distinguish the roles of être and avoir when they act as auxiliary (helping) verbs to form this new tense.