How to Ask Questions in French

So, here we are again. We mastered some grammar and some vocab, but now, we must once more combine both to speak like a normal human being.

One of the easiest ways to ask questions in English is adding the word "do" in front of a statement. (Same goes for "did" or "are")

For instance if you want to ask someone if they eat cake, you combine these words:

You + eat + cake

All you had to do is make a statement, and to make that statement a question, you add "do":

You eat cake = Do you eat cake?

Well, ladies and gents, French has an equivalent "Est-ce que" (YES!). This "Est-ce que" can be translated to either "are/did/do"

Although, "est-ce que" is longer than "do/did/are", the formula is the same.

Vous (you) + manger (to eat) + gâteau (cake) = Est-ce que vous mangez du gâteau?

(make sure that you remember how to conjugate, here because I am speaking of food, I added "de")

More EXAMPLES:

Il va venir me voir (he is coming to see me) = Est-ce qu'il va venir me voir? (Is he coming to see me?)

J'ai mangé une pizza (I ate a pizza) = Est-ce que j'ai mangé une pizza? (Did I eat a pizza?)

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Okay, now that we got that down, let's go over some vocab:

Quand = When

Qui = Who

Pourquoi = Why

Quel/quelle/quelles/quels = Which (here it's divided by the four groups: masc/fem/pl/sing)

Just like in English, you can use these vocab plus "do/did/are"

When do you want to leave = Quand est-ce que tu veux partir?

Why did he leave = Pourquoi est-ce qu'il est parti?

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Inversions:

Inversions in French are fun! Why? Because they make life so easy! (Here you do not need the "est-ce que")

In English, the inversions that are done in French would not make much sense, but in French, it is used to make the sentence more fluid.

Instead of saying " You dance" one says "dance-you"

Basically, you put the verb first, then a dash "-" and then the subject.

"You eat pizza?" = Eat-you pizza?"

"We arrived?" "Arrived-we?"

Examples in French:

Voulez-vous dancer? (Do you want to dance?)

(Here we switched the verb "vouloir" which means to "to want" with the subject "vous")

Allons-nous à la plage? (Are we going to the beach?)

You can also use the vocab from before, and still use the inversions:

Quand est-il arrivé? (When did he arrive)

Pourquoi manges-tu la pizza? (Why do you eat the pizza?)

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Negatives

There are times (just like in English) where we use a negative question (by putting don't/won't) to get an answer that will not necessarily be answered in a negative way.

For instance, if I want to know if someone likes to go to the beach, I might say, "Don't you go to the beach?"

If you notice here, I could have asked the same question a million other ways: "Do you go to the beach" Are you going to the beach? "You go to the beach?" But when I use the negative (won't/don't), I usually want to know your routine or what you like/don't like.

For instance, when I ask "Don't you go to the beach?" I am asking "Do you ever go to the beach" "Do you like going to the beach" etc.

In French, this questions would go as "Vous n'allez pas à la plage?" (or invert it) "N'allez-vous pas à la plage?"

N'est-ce pas?

Simple translation of "N'est-ce pas" is simply "right?"

You cook, right?

They are in the team, right?

We are going, right?

Tu cuisines, n'est-ce pas?

Ils sont dans l'équipe, n'est-ce pas?

Nous allons, n'est-ce pas?

Side notes:

To ask a question in French is "Poser une question"

The inversions =

The "t-" : this is needed when using "elle/il/on" only (and only when the verb does not already end in "t")

For instance, you can say "aime-t-il les films d'horror?" (Does he like horror movies?)

But I cannot say "est-t-il est arrivé"

I Have to say "est-il arrivé?" (Did he arrive?)

LASTLY, (side note of the side note)

When the question is being asked in the affirmative and you want to answer "yes" you respond with a simple "yes" (oui) or no "non"

HOWEVER, when the question is being asked in the negative (like we went over previously with don't/won't, even with "n'est-ce pas"), you answer with "Si")

Are you coming with me = Est-ce que tu viens avec moi? Oui, je viens

Aren't you coming with me? Est-ce que tu ne viens pas avec moi? Si, je viens.