#soobbinn
deft mountain
queen pulsar
3 main ways:
- Using Est-ce que : (« Est-ce que tu es prêt? »
- Inversion : (« Es-tu prêt ? »)
(Note for inversion, you need to add a phonic "t" if the end and start of the words result in 2 vowels (example: « parle-t-il français ? »)) - Just ask it as a question (inflection (rising innotation) just like in english): « Tu es prêt ? »
There's question adverbs as well (Qui, que, quoi, quand, combien de, comment, où, etc.)
And there's some common interrogations in sentences thst indicate a question...
« La banque est closed, n'est-ce pas ? »
« Alors, pour envoyer le document, je l'envoi à vous, ** c'est vrai ? ** »
Edit: oops, bad example for inversion phonic t
teal raptor
did i do it right Qu'est-ce que dois-je mange aujourd'hui?
Qui, que, quoi, quand, combien de, comment, où; who, what, what, when, how much/many, how, where
craggy valley
did i do it right Qu'est-ce que dois-je mange aujourd'hui?
You do either one, not both
so if you already have est-ce que, you don't need inversion and vice-versa
teal raptor
oh
teal raptor
oh my bad
craggy valley
the right sentence would then be:
« Qu'est-ce que je dois manger aujourd'hui ? »
teal raptor
i see
craggy valley
Inversion would be:
« Que dois-je manger aujourd'hui ? »
teal raptor
is that informal
craggy valley
No, formal
craggy valley
Inversion = formal
Est-ce que = neutral
Just rising intonation = informal/conversational
That's actually one of the things I wanted to add to Sparkles' message
teal raptor
how do you do it with other adverbs
craggy valley
Some things to add:
(1) Inversion
Inversion is a bit more complex than what Sparkles let on. For one, the T thing only happens with pronouns and the only set of pronoun conjugation that triggers this T insertion is the third person singular (il/elle/on) because they start in a vowel and their conjugation pattern ends in a vowel a lot of the time. That being said, inversion works with pronouns and so if you have a subject that isn't a pronoun, you have to redoubling.
« Le professeur arrive. »
Here, the subject is not a pronoun so you have to find a pronoun that fits. « Le professeur » is masculine and singular so « il »; if it were « La professeure », for example, it'd be « elle ». As we can see, « arrive » ends with a vowel and « il » starts with it, so we put T in there as well to get:
« Le professeur arrive-t-il ? »
This is a characteristic of inversion though this doesn't always happen. When the interrogative pronoun « Que » is in the sentence, it triggers none of that. Ex:
« Anne contrôle quelque chose (Anna is controlling something) => Que contrôle Anne (What is Anna controlling?) »
craggy valley
(2) The pesky « Que/Quoi »
One of the interrogative words there is « Que (what) ». The way you'd ask a question is by putting the question word and then inverting or adding « est-ce que » but with intonation there's a bit of a special case. You see, when you're doing intonation, you can put the question word either at the start or at the end as long as you have a rising intonation:
« Pourquoi tu fais ça ? »
« Tu vas où ? »
« On doit le voir comment ? »
« Il a combien de chaises ? »
This principle changes with « que/quoi ». You cannot put this at the start, only at the end. However, if you put that the end, « que » changes to « quoi ».
« Que fais-tu ? »
« Qu'est-ce que tu fais ? »
« Tu fais quoi ? »
This change from « que » to « quoi » also happens when the word is preceded by a preposition. Thus, we have this rule:
« Que » changes to « Quoi » if it is not the first word in the phrase. If it is at the end or preceded by a preposition, it will always be « Quoi ».
Examples:
« De quoi parles-tu ? »
« De quoi est-ce que tu parles ? »
« Tu parles de quoi ? »
From the sentence « Tu parles de quelque chose (You're talking about something) »
craggy valley
wait so you put the action word and then the pronoun
Yes, the structure is:
(1) [question word] + inverted [subject + verb]
(2) [question word] + est-ce que + [subject + verb]
(3) [question word] + [subject + verb] OR [subject + verb] + [question word]
craggy valley
(2) The pesky « Que/Quoi »
One of the interrogative words there is « Que (what) ...
Anyway, you'll notice that I didn't list two words there: « quand » and « qui ».
« quand », when using intonation, doesn't like being at the front so it tends to be at the end of the sentence.
« qui » can either use inversion or not, depending on its role.
Please ask me whatever you're confused on
teal raptor
wow let me read this 🙏 tysm
teal raptor
ive tried some practices are these correct
Que fait-tu ce soir?
Est-ce que tu aime aller au cinema?
Combien de temps resteras-tu en espagne?
Qu'est-ce que tu préféres le thé ou le café le matin?
Qu'est-ce que les matières tu etudies à l'école? (not sure here)
craggy valley
ive tried some practices are these correct
Que fait-tu ce soir?
Est-ce que tu ai...
The first three work well!
For the fourth, « qu'est-ce que tu préfères », « que » there is acting in place an object, so « le thé ou le café » is superfluous. That being said, it can be used with a comma as if you're specifying.
« Qu'est-ce que tu préfères, le thé ou le café ? »
This response actually ties in with the fifth one. I've just noticed that there was another question word missing, « quel/quelle/quels/quelles ». Normally, it's translated as 'which [one]' and it can be used when you have an object already defined.
« Quelle voiture veux-tu ? Quelle voiture est-ce que tu veux ? Tu veux quelle voiture ? »
'Which car do you want?'
For the fourth, then, you can use this. Tea and coffee are both a type of beverage (une boisson) so you can use that:
« Quelle boisson est-ce que tu préfères, le thé ou le café ? »
For the fifth, you can use that structure because you're selecting something belonging to a category that that noun describes. You wanna give it a try first?
teal raptor
Quelle les matiéres etudies-tu ?
craggy valley
Close enough! Notice that in the example I gave out, there is no article, so just « quel » plus the noun. Moreover, « quel » agrees with the noun it's modifying in number and gender.
You got it right with the gender since « matière » is feminine but not the number as it is plural but « quelle » is just singular
ex:
« Quel verre de vin est-ce que tu as pris ? »
« Il a choisi quels ordinateurs ? »
« Quelle voiture devrais-je acheter ? »
« Mika a acheté quelles chaises ? »
Notice how « quel » changes form to fit the noun it modifies