ladysylv

[robust mural]

Please be patient

Our volunteers look into many questions every day; sometimes it takes them a little while to answer.

Pro tip: you can rename the thread title with `.tr <thread name>`

Make it descriptive, including relevant context, but also to the point. This way you improve your chances of getting a more relevant and specific answer.

[normal bough]

Both are acceptable. "Qu'est-il arrivé au livre que je t'ai prêté" is the correct formal sentence, but "qu’est-ce qui est arrivé à ton livre" can also be acceptable, but it is informal and would be better in spoken French. I'm not sure that I completely understand you question though so tell me if this helps.

[verbal badger]

Arriver à can be constructed in two ways:

• Personal: [Event] arrive à [person]
  The event is in the subject position, and the relative pronoun qui marks the antecedent (noun or expression placed before the pronoun) as the subject of the relative clause. So: [Event] qui arrive à [person]. Put into question, we get: Qu'est-ce qui arrive à [person] ?
• Impersonal: Il arrive [event] à [person]
  The event is in the apparent (direct) object position despite it being the real subject of the impersonal sentence. And the relative pronoun marks the antecedent as the direct object of the relative clause. So : [Event] qu'il arrive à [person]. Put into question, we get : Qu'est-ce qu'il arrive à [person] ?

There are three ways to ask a question in French. The formal one involves inversion. The standard one uses the question marker "est-ce que" to turn a statement into a question. The informal one uses intonation to turn a statement into a question. The last two are very often found in everyday conversations with inversion being a bit rare outside formal settings.

[dull vault]

I was honestly just uncertain where the "il" came from. But I suppose it must come from the fact that inversion is being used here.

[verbal badger]

Il est arrivé quelque chose à quelqu'un
=> Qu'est-il arrivé à quelqu'un ? (inversion, formal)
=> Qu'est-ce qu'il est arrivé à quelqu'un ? (est-ce que/qui, standard)
=> Il est arrivé quoi à quelqu'un ? (informal)

Quelque chose est arrivé à quelqu'un
=> Qu'est-ce qui est arrivé à quelqu'un ? (standard)
(The other ways aren't possible with a single que/quoi as the subject.)

[dull vault]

So one is Queque chose arrive à (person/thing) and the other one is Il arrive (quelque chose) à (person/thing)?

[verbal badger]

Yep.

[dull vault]

interesting.