2 Linterrogation La norme: Communication 1.2 –Understanding the spoken and written language Les questions essentielles: -How many ways are there to ask a question in French and what are they? -What does the word « quel » mean and when is it used?
2 En bref: 3 ways to ask a question: –Raise your voice (intonnation) –Est-ce que in front of a sentence (The question maker!) –Invert subject pronoun and verb (formal)
2 Linterrogation 1.The simplest and most common way to ask a question in French is by using intonation, that is, by simply raising ones voice at the end of a statement. Nous travaillons.Nous travaillons? Il fait du sport.Il fait du sport? Leçon 1, Culture
2 Linterrogation 2. Another way to form a question is to use est-ce que before a statement. Nous travaillons.Est-ce que nous travaillons? Il fait du sport.Est-ce quil fait du sport? Leçon 1, Culture
2 Linterrogation 3. A third way to form a question is by inverting the subject and the verb (or its auxiliary). This inverted form is used in written and formal French, but it is less frequent in everyday conversation. Elle a travaillé.A-t-elle travaillé? Vous parlez français.Parlez-vous français? Inversion can also be made with a noun subject by adding a subject pronoun and inverting it with the verb. But again, intonation is more commonly heard in everyday French. Lalla parle anglais.Lalla parle-t-elle anglais? Note that a -t- is inserted between the verb and the subject pronoun when the verb ends in a vowel. Leçon 1, Culture
2 Question words En bref: Raise voice + question word Question word + est – ce que Question word + inversion
2 Linterrogation 4. The preceding questions can be answered by oui or non. But many questions are information questions, that is, questions introduced by question words. Il y va quand?Le week-end. Où est-ce quil va en avion?À Dakar. Il y va comment?En avion. Pourquoi est-ce quil y va tout seul?Ça lui plaît. Il se couche à quelle heure?Très tard. Ça coûte combien?200 euros. Leçon 1, Culture
2 Linterrogation Note that in everyday language est-ce que can be used following question words. However, the most common way to ask an information question is to use a question word with a statement. In such cases, the question words où, quand, combien, and comment are placed at the end of the question, and pourquoi at the beginning. The intonation rises first and then falls. Il va où? BUT Il y va quand? Pourquoi il y va seul? Il y va comment? Ça coûte combien? Leçon 1, Culture
2 Linterrogation 5. Inversion is also used with question words in more formal speech. Où va-t-elle? Comment y va-t-elle? Pourquoi y va-t-elle seule? Inversion is also used in some common, fixed expressions. Quel temps fait-il? Leçon 1, Culture
2 Linterrogation 6. If the question is about a noun, the interrogative adjectives quel, quelle, quels, and quelles are used. Quel magazine est-ce que tu aimes le mieux? Vous allez dans quelle boîte? Quelles stations de radio écoutent-ils? Leçon 1, Culture
2 1.Vous partagez lordinateur? Récrivez les questions de deux autres façons. Linterrogation 2.Est-ce quelles vont en boîte? 3.Où habite-t-il? Answer: Est-ce que vous partagez lordinateur? Partagez-vous lordinateur? Answer: Elles vont en boîte? Vont-elles en boîte? Answer: Il habite où? Où est-ce quil habite? Leçon 1, Culture
2 4.Camille écoute la radio? Récrivez les questions de deux autres façons. Linterrogation 5.Est-ce que nous avons déjà vu ce film? Answer: Est-ce que Camille écoute la radio? Camille écoute-t-elle la radio? Answer: Avons-nous déjà vu ce film? Nous avons déjà vu ce film? Leçon 1, Culture