Yes/No questions

Three ways to ask: est-ce que (neutral), inversion (formal), rising intonation (casual).

Examples

French has three ways to ask a yes/no question. They all mean the same thing — only the register differs.

1. est-ce que at the front (neutral, the safe default):

Est-ce que tu manges ?Are you eating?

2. Inversion — swap verb and pronoun, joined by a hyphen (formal, written):

Manges-tu ?Are you eating?

3. Rising intonation — the statement said as a question (casual speech):

Tu manges ?You're eating?

Which to pick: intonation for casual chat, est-ce que when you want to be clearly understood. Inversion sounds formal or literary.

In inversion, if the verb ends in a vowel and the pronoun starts with one, insert -t- so it stays pronounceable:

Mange-t-il ?Is he eating?

Aime-t-elle ?Does she like it?

Va-t-on ?Shall we go?

il y a inverts the same way:

Y a-t-il un problème ?Is there a problem?

Est-ce qu'il y a un problème ?

Is there a problem?

Before a vowel, est-ce que becomes est-ce qu':

Est-ce qu'il parle ?Does he speak?

Est-ce qu'elle aime ?Does she like it?

Answering "yes": normally oui. But to contradict a NEGATIVE question, French uses si:

Tu ne veux pas ?You don't want to?

Si, je veux !Yes I do!

1. est-ce que · rising intonation
Put est-ce que (est-ce qu' before a vowel) in front of the statement, or keep the statement and raise your voice at the end.
- Est-ce que tu manges ?Are you eating?
- Tu manges ?Are you eating? (casual)
2. Inversion · Manges-tu ?
Formal: swap the verb and the subject pronoun and join them with a hyphen. Add -t- between two vowels: Parle-t-il ?
- Manges-tu ?Are you eating? (formal)
- Parle-t-il français ?Does he speak French?
3. Y a-t-il / Est-ce qu'il y a
Asking about existence — inversion form (y a-t-il) or est-ce que.
- Y a-t-il un problème ?Is there a problem?
- Est-ce qu'il y a un problème ?Is there a problem?

Short drills built on these 3 skills, with instant feedback on every answer. Free to start.