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Course / Leçon 6 of 40

Asking questions

After this lesson you can ask any basic question in three registers (casual, neutral, formal), use all the key question words, read French vowel combinations correctly, and shop with confidence: sizes, prices, card payment and receipts.

52 core words · 15 bonus cognates · 16 phrases

Pronunciation

Vowel combinations: ai, ei, au, eau, eu, œu, oi

French spelling uses two or three letters for one vowel sound. Once you know these groups, you can read almost any word aloud. Key point: these are single, pure vowels, not diphthongs like English say or German Haus.

ai / ei = /ɛ/

An open e, like German ä in Bär or English e in bed.

  • le lait /lɛ/ (milk), mais /mɛ/, je fais /fɛ/
  • la neige /nɛʒ/ (snow), la peine /pɛn/, seize /sɛz/

Trap: German ai/ei is /aɪ/ (Mai, mein). In French, mais is never like German Mais!

au / eau = /o/

A closed, round o, like German o in Boot, but shorter and without the English glide (go /gəʊ/).

  • aussi /o.si/, autre /otʁ/, haut /o/
  • l'eau /o/, beau /bo/, le bureau /by.ʁo/

German au is /aʊ/ (Haus). French au is just /o/: au revoir /o.ʁə.vwaʁ/.

eu / œu = /ø/ or /œ/

These are the German ö sounds. You already own them!

  • /ø/ closed, like schön: deux /dø/, peu /pø/, vieux /vjø/, heureux /ø.ʁø/
  • /œ/ open, like Löffel: leur /lœʁ/, le cœur /kœʁ/, la sœur /sœʁ/, jeune /ʒœn/

Rule of thumb: at the end of a syllable it is usually closed /ø/ (peu); before a pronounced consonant, usually open /œ/ (peur).

oi = /wa/

Like English wa in water (shorter).

  • moi /mwa/, le mois /mwa/, boire /bwaʁ/, la voiture /vwa.tyʁ/, trois /tʁwa/

Bonus: ou = /u/

Like German u in gut: vous, tout, où. Compare u /y/ = German ü: tu /ty/ vs tout /tu/.

Practice pairs
mais /mɛ/ mot /mo/ moi /mwa/
fait /fɛ/ faut /fo/ fois /fwa/
peu /pø/ peur /pœʁ/ pour /puʁ/
Grammar

Asking questions: three ways and the question words

French has three ways to ask the same yes/no question. They differ in register, not in meaning.

Register Question Used in
Casual Tu viens ? speech, texts, friends
Neutral Est-ce que tu viens ? speech and writing, always safe
Formal Viens-tu ? writing, polite speech, news

1. Intonation

Say a normal sentence and raise your voice at the end. Word order does not change.

  • Vous avez une taille M ? Do you have a size M?
  • C'est cher ? Is it expensive?
  • On y va ? Shall we go?

2. Est-ce que

Put est-ce que (literally is it that) at the start. Before a vowel: est-ce qu'.

  • Est-ce que vous acceptez la carte ? Do you accept cards?
  • Est-ce qu'il y a une boulangerie près d'ici ? Is there a bakery near here?

3. Inversion

Swap subject pronoun and verb and join them with a hyphen, like German Kommst du? or English Are you...?

  • Venez-vous demain ? Are you coming tomorrow?
  • Pouvez-vous m'aider ? Can you help me?
  • Parlez-vous anglais ? Do you speak English?

If the verb ends in a vowel and the pronoun starts with one (il, elle, on), insert -t- for sound:

  • Parle-t-il français ? Does he speak French?
  • Y a-t-il un problème ? Is there a problem?

With a noun subject, keep the noun and add a pronoun: Le train part-il à huit heures ? (formal written style).

Question words

French English German
qui who wer
que / quoi what was
où where wo / wohin
quand when wann
comment how wie
pourquoi why warum
combien (de) how much / many wie viel(e)
quel / quelle / quels / quelles which, what welche(r)

They combine with all three styles:

  • Casual: Tu pars quand ? / C'est combien ? / Tu fais quoi ?
  • Neutral: Quand est-ce que tu pars ? / Qu'est-ce que tu fais ?
  • Formal: Quand partez-vous ? / Que faites-vous ?

que vs quoi: que stands at the start (Que voulez-vous ?, Qu'est-ce que...), quoi at the end or after a preposition (Tu veux quoi ?, De quoi parlez-vous ?).

Quel agrees with the noun

Quel is an adjective, so it agrees like German welcher / welche. All four forms sound the same /kɛl/.

  • Quel prix ? What price? (masc.)
  • Quelle taille faites-vous ? What size are you?
  • Quels fruits ? / Quelles couleurs ?
  • Quelle heure est-il ? What time is it?

Combien de + noun

No article after combien de: Combien de tomates voulez-vous ? How many tomatoes do you want?

Negative questions

Inversion goes inside the negation: Ne venez-vous pas ? But in speech, people say Tu viens pas ?

Cognate pattern

-aire / -oire = -ary / -ory / -är

The rule

French words ending in -aire often match English -ary or -ar and German -är. Words in -oire often match English -ory and German -orie / -orium. Many are adjectives and nouns at the same time.

French English German
nécessaire necessary notwendig
le salaire salary das Gehalt (Salär in CH)
populaire popular populär
solaire solar Solar-, Sonnen-
nucléaire nuclear nuklear, Atom-
temporaire temporary temporär, vorübergehend
le vocabulaire vocabulary das Vokabular
le dictionnaire dictionary das Wörterbuch
le commentaire comment, commentary der Kommentar
le partenaire partner der Partner
le notaire notary der Notar
le vétérinaire vet(erinary surgeon) der Tierarzt
intermédiaire intermediary intermediär, Vermittler
le laboratoire laboratory das Labor(atorium)
obligatoire obligatory, compulsory obligatorisch, Pflicht-
l'histoire history, story die Geschichte, Historie
la mémoire memory das Gedächtnis, Memoiren
la victoire victory der Sieg
le territoire territory das Territorium
le répertoire repertoire, directory das Repertoire

Traps

  • le formulaire = a form to fill in (German Formular), not formulary.
  • le salaire covers both salary and wage: it is the everyday word for pay.
  • la mémoire (fem.) = memory; le mémoire (masc.) = a thesis or written report. Same spelling, different gender!
  • Gender is unpredictable: le dictionnaire, la victoire, **l'**histoire (fem.). Learn each noun with its article.
  • -aire in French is pronounced /ɛʁ/, -oire is /waʁ/: salaire /sa.lɛʁ/, victoire /vik.twaʁ/.