#miketuan

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sullen stirrupBOT
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Please be patient

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

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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.

icy oxide
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« Est-ce que (Is it that) » is just « c’est que (It is that) » inverted. It’s used as a dummy inversion so you wouldn’t have to invert the main clause and has now become a question marker.

shadow wyvern
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In essence it's just a questions marker, like Polish czy, Lithuanian ar or Russian li.

English "do" as in "Do you want to bring them presents?" is somewhat similar, though not exactly the same either.

icy oxide
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Yeah, the English 'do' in this case carries the conjugation with it which doesn't happen with « est-ce que ».

tacit hatch
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"Do you can bring some gifts for my parents?" I got it but it just does not sound right to me in Englishcaprice

icy oxide
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English inserts the verb 'to do' for negation and inversion (called do-support) because it lost the ability to negate and invert any verb outside of modals and auxiliaries. English negates sentences by inserting the word 'not' at the end of the verb, and asks a question by inverting the subject and verb. It used to be able to do this with any verb; for both, you can refer to Psalm 82:5 and Job 38:33 in the King James Bible which I'll type below.
Modern English, however, can't do this anymore outside of modals and auxiliaries, so it adds a helper 'to do' so it can do negation and inversion on that verb instead. Some examples, first with an auxiliary/modal to show the model, and then with do-support with the intermediate steps.
Negation:
(1) He has seen it ==> He has not seen it
(2) He is seeing it ==> He is not seeing it
(3) He sees it ==> He does see it ==> He doesn't see it
(4) He saw it ==> He did see it ==> He didn't see it
Inversion:
(1) He has seen it ==> Has he seen it?
(2) He is seeing it ==> Is he seeing it?
(3) He sees it ==> He does see it ==> Does he see it?
(4) He saw it ==> He did see it ==> Did he see it?
Notice how with do-support, the conjugation switches from the main verb (to see) to the helper (to do).

Psalm 82:5 (KJV, 1611) They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.
Job 38:33 (KJV, 1611) Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? Canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?

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Because your example uses a modal verb (can), do-support doesn't factor into the translation. Another verb works better:
« Tu veux quelque chose. -> Est-ce que tu veux quelque chose? »
'You want something. -> Do you want something?'

But again, they're not the same thing and so needs nuance that I just explained above.

tacit hatch
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Thank you, this helps a lot. It is also cool that you're able to cite Bible's verses to demonstrate

icy oxide
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Anyway, you can just put « est-ce que » before the subject and you're done

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Elle a parlé => Est-ce qu'elle a parlé ?
Que + il fait => Qu'est-ce qu'il fait ?
Pourquoi + tu as eu raison => Pourquoi est-ce que tu as eu raison ?