french grammar || questions
[requested by @euryaele]
first off, some vocab!!
qui
où = where
quand = when [or à quelle heure = at what time]
pourquoi = why
quoi = what
quel/quelle/quels/quelles = which [masc + fem, singular + plural]
now for the grammar part! there are three ways to write an interrogative sentence in french:
like a declarative sentence
with est-ce que
with inversion
the first and third ways are the most frequently used in spoken french, and for me the second way is just extremely middle school french club™ but it’s still used a lot.
the first method of writing a question is arguably the simplest: just write it the same way as you’d write a normal sentence. if your sentence uses a question word, it goes at the end of the sentence.
tu vas où? - where are you going? [lit. you go where?]
tu as fait tes devoirs? - did you do your homework? [lit. you did your homework?]
elle fait quoi? - what is she doing? [lit. you do what?]
the second method is almost the same, but with the construction est-ce que added in at the beginning. if you have a question word, it goes at the beginning of the sentence, even before est-ce que.
où est-ce que tu vas? - where are you going [lit. where is it that you go?]
est-ce que tu as fait tes devoirs? - did you do your homework? [lit. is it that you have done your homework?]
qu’est ce qu’elle fait? - what is she doing? [lit. what is it that she is doing?]
this method leads to what is, in my opinion, the single worst sentence in the whole language: qu’est ce que c’est? - what is it? [lit. what is it that this is?] but this is a pretty commonly used phrase so keep it in mind!
the third and final method is a little bit weirder: flip the order of the subject and verb, and hyphenate them. again, question words go at at the beginning of the sentence.
où vas-tu? - where are you going? [lit. where go-you?]
as-tu fait tes devoirs? - did you do your homework? [lit. have-you done your homework?]
quoi fait-elle? - what is she doing? [lit. what does-she?]
