Question Words and Forming Questions
French has three ways to ask a yes/no question: raising intonation on an unchanged statement (informal), adding est-ce que to the front of an unchanged statement (the safest choice at GCSE), or inverting the subject pronoun and verb with a hyphen (formal, tested more at Higher tier). Questions that ask for information use a fixed set of interrogative words: qui (who), que/qu'est-ce que (what, as an object), où (where), quand (when), comment (how), pourquoi (why) and combien de (how much/many), plus the adjective quel/quelle/quels/quelles (which/what), which must agree with the noun it introduces.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- For an informal yes/no question, keep normal statement word order and simply raise your intonation at the end, or add 'non?' or 'n'est-ce pas?': 'Tu aimes le foot?'
- For a neutral, safe yes/no question at GCSE, put est-ce que (or est-ce qu' before a vowel) at the front of the statement without changing the word order: 'Est-ce que tu aimes le foot?'
- For a formal or written question, especially at Higher tier, invert the subject pronoun and verb and join them with a hyphen: 'Aimes-tu le foot?'
- When the verb ends in a vowel and the subject is il, elle or on, insert -t- between them purely for pronunciation: 'A-t-il un chien?'; 'Aime-t-elle le sport?'
- Learn the core question words and their exact meaning: qui (who), que/qu'est-ce que (what, as an object), où (where), quand (when), comment (how), pourquoi (why), combien de (how much/many).
- Put the question word at the start of the sentence, then apply est-ce que or inversion after it: 'Où est-ce que tu habites?'; 'Où habites-tu?'.
- Use quel/quelle/quels/quelles (which/what) as an adjective that must agree with the noun it introduces, even when the noun comes after être: 'Quelle heure est-il?'; 'Quels sont tes passe-temps préférés?'.
- After a preposition, use quoi instead of que for 'what': 'De quoi parles-tu?', not 'de que parles-tu'.
Worked example
Turn this statement into a question three ways (intonation, est-ce que, inversion): 'Tu vas au collège à pied.'
- For intonation, keep the word order exactly the same and just add a question mark, relying on rising tone in speech: 'Tu vas au collège à pied?'
- For est-ce que, add the fixed phrase to the front of the unchanged statement: 'Est-ce que tu vas au collège à pied?'
- For inversion, swap tu and vas and join them with a hyphen: 'Vas-tu au collège à pied?'
- Check whether -t- is needed: the subject is tu, not il/elle/on, so no -t- is required here.
Practice questions
Type your answer and press Check to be marked straight away, or reveal the answer and mark yourself.
Q1Turn into a question using est-ce que: 'Vous parlez espagnol.'Show answer
Answer: Est-ce que vous parlez espagnol?
Q2Turn into a question using inversion: 'Elle aime la musique.'Show answer
Answer: Aime-t-elle la musique?
Q3Choose the correct form of quel: '___ matières préfères-tu?' (which)Show answer
Answer: Quelles (matières is feminine plural).
Q4Complete with the correct question word: '___ habites-tu?' (where)Show answer
Answer: Où.
Q5Complete with the correct question word: '___ de frères as-tu?' (how many)Show answer
Answer: Combien.
Q6Correct the error: 'De que parles-tu?'Show answer
Answer: De quoi parles-tu?
Q7Translate into French using inversion: 'Does he have a car?'Show answer
Answer: A-t-il une voiture?
Q8Translate into French using est-ce que: 'Why are you learning French?'Show answer
Answer: Pourquoi est-ce que tu apprends le français?
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE French exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Translate this passage into English: 'Quel est ton passe-temps préféré? Depuis quand fais-tu ce sport, et avec qui joues-tu d'habitude? Combien de fois par semaine t'entraînes-tu?'
Show mark scheme
Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 5 available
Translate into French, using inversion for questions 1 and 3 and est-ce que for question 2: 1. Where do you (tu) live? 2. What do you like to do at the weekend? 3. Does she speak German?
Show mark scheme
Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 6 available
Choose the correct form of quel for each gap: 1. ___ heure est-il? 2. ___ sont tes films préférés? 3. ___ est ta nationalité? 4. ___ sont les capitales de ces trois pays?
Show mark scheme
Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 4 available
See real GCSE French past-paper questions, with official mark schemes →
Free printable worksheet
Want more practice on paper? Download the question words and forming questions worksheet pack - 6 pages of exam-style questions with a full mark scheme. One email opens every download in this browser for 14 days - no account, no card. Print it for personal and classroom use.
Next topics
Not quite what you needed?
Tell us what is missing on question words and forming questions, or which topic to write up next. Every request is read, and we reply to every one.
Build a full practice pack.
This topic is one of hundreds in the library - pick the ones a student needs and generate a printable PDF in minutes.