Confidently Ask Questions in French With These 8 Interrogative Words

Asking questions is an essential skill for meaningful conversations, finding your way, and getting answers. Whether you plan on traveling and want to speak in the local language or you’re looking to make new friends from around the world, knowing the words and ways to ask questions is essential. There’s a lot of overlap between how to ask questions in French and in English that we’ll explore together!

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How to ask questions in French using interrogatives

An interrogative is a word that is used to ask a question. You may notice the similarity to the English word “interrogate.” There are eight key interrogative expressions to ask questions: who, what, when, where, why, how, how many, and which.

English and French question construction have a lot in common, so it will be easy to learn French questions. Both languages put the interrogative at the beginning of the sentence. To ask a question in French, your voice will rise at the end to indicate that it’s a question not a sentence. You can ask both closed (yes/no) and open questions, and you can ask questions in both formal and informal ways.

2 differences between English and French interrogative words

The biggest difference between French questions and English ones is word order. As you’ll see below, the order of subjects and verbs can be very different in French, and the placement of prepositions also varies from the English format.

Placement of prepositions

You may have been taught to never end a sentence with a preposition, but that’s now more of a style suggestion in most contemporary English rules. Formal French grammar rules, however, do not permit that kind of flexibility. It’s a hard and fast rule in formal French that prepositions cannot be placed at the end of a sentence. Most French questions will start with an interrogative, but any prepositions will be placed in front of the question word.

Avec qui est-ce qu’on sort ? = Who are we going out with? (literally, With whom are we going out?)
À quel employé avez-vous parlé ? = Which employee did you speak to?

Gender

Many words in French require agreement in gender and number, such as nouns, adjectives, and articles. However, almost all French question words are invariable, so you usually don’t have to consider agreement when you ask a question.

8 most common words for asking questions in French

There are eight core question words used to indicate you’re asking a question in French. You can use these words to ask questions in almost every situation. As you formulate your questions, don’t forget your audience! If you’re speaking to a stranger, someone older than you, or someone in a position of authority, use the formal verb forms and sentence constructions. We’ve noted formal and casual options in the tables below!

French	English
qui	who
que/quoi	what
quand	when
où	where
pourquoi	why
comment	how
combien	how many
quel/quels/quelle/quelles (masculine, feminine, masculine plural, feminine plural)	which

Quoi/qu’est-ce que/que (what)

There are multiple ways to say “what” in French. Quoi is the word to use if “what” is the object of a sentence. You’ll usually use it for informal questions.

Que is the form to use when “what” is the subject of the sentence, and it’s the form you’ll see most of the time. Que is frequently combined with est-ce que. Est-ce que is an interrogative expression that isn’t translated literally, and we’ll cover it a little later. For now, when you see it, you can just know that it means that the sentence is a question.

French	English	Level of Formality
Quoi de neuf ?	What’s up?	casual
Qu’est-ce qui se passe ?	What’s going on?	neutral
Qu’est-ce que tu fais ?	What are you doing?	casual
Que voulez-vous ?	What do you want?	formal
Tu parles de quoi ?	What are you talking about?	casual
De quoi est-ce que tu parles ?	What are you talking about?	casual
De quoi est-ce que vous parlez ?	What are you talking about?	casual
De quoi parlez-vous ?	What are you talking about?	formal

In English, you may say “what?” if you didn’t hear or understand someone. Although it might be tempting in French to say Quoi ? in those instances, that can be seen as rude. Comment ? is the correct expression to show you didn’t hear or understand someone in French.

Comment (how)

Comment means “how.” You can use it in the literal sense to ask how to do something. You may also see it in basic French phrases whose English equivalents commonly start with “what.” The phrase for “what is your name” in French is comment tu t’appelles, but the the literal translation is “how do you call yourself.”

French	English	Level of Formality
Comment ?	Pardon?	neutral
Comment ça va ?	How are you doing?/How is it going?	neutral
Comment vas-tu ?	How are you doing?	casual
Comment allez-vous ?	How are you doing?	formal
Comment dit-on _________ ?	How do you say _______?	neutral
Comment tu t’appelles ?	What is your name?	casual
Comment vous appelez-vous ?	What is your name?	formal
Comment tu trouves ce restaurant ?	What do you think of this restaurant?	casual

Où (where)

Où means “where.” You’ll use it in all of the same contexts as in English. Make sure you pay attention to prepositions with où. For example, when asking where someone or something is from, the preposition “from” (de) needs to go before the question word.

French	English	Level of Formality
Où est mon livre ?	Where is my book?	neutral
Où se trouvent les toilettes ?	Where is the restroom?	neutral
Où est-ce qu’on va ?	Where are we going?	casual
D’où est-ce que tu viens ?	Where are you from?	casual
D’où est-ce que vous venez ?	Where are you from?	casual
D’où venez-vous ?	Where are you from?	formal

Quand (when)

Quand means “when” and it can be used for all of the same situations as in English. When asking what year, day, or date something is happening, and what time it is happening, quand works for it all.

French	English	Level of Formality
Quand est la prochaine réunion ?	When is the next meeting?	neutral
Quand est-ce qu’on part ?	When are we leaving?	casual
Quand est-ce que le film sort ?	When is the movie coming out?	neutral
Quand est-ce que tu pars en vacances ?	When are you going on vacation?	casual
Quand partez-vous en vacances ?	When are you going on vacation?	formal

If you want to specifically ask what time something is happening, you can also use à quelle heure? (“at what time?” or literally “at what hour?”)

Quand est la prochaine réunion ? = When is the next meeting?

This question could mean “what day is the meeting,” “what time is the meeting,” or both.

À quelle heure est la prochaine réunion ? = At what time is the next meeting?

If you only need to know at what time the meeting starts, this question is more precise.

Pourquoi (why)

When you want to ask why something is a certain what or why it happened, you need pourquoi. In addition to starting interrogative expressions, pourquoi is a grammatically correct question on its own, just like in English.

French	English	Level of Formality
Pourquoi est-ce que tu es content aujourd’hui ?	Why are you happy today?	casual
Pourquoi est-ce qu’on va à ce magasin ?	Why are we going to this store?	casual
Pourquoi est-ce que le bus est en retard ?	Why is the bus late?	casual
Pourquoi voulez-vous ce portable ?	Why do you want that cell phone?	formal
Pourquoi est-ce que tu apprends le français ?	Why are you learning French?	casual

The answer to pourquoi will often start with parce que (because):

Je veux visiter le musée du Louvre. = I want to visit the Louvre.
Pourquoi ? = Why?
Parce que je veux voir la Joconde. = Because I want to see the Mona Lisa.

Combien (how much, how many)

How much does that cost? How many rooms are in the hotel? How many people are coming? To answer these questions, you’ll use combien, which means “how much” or “how many.” Like pourquoi, it can stand on its own or start a more complex question.

Je voudrais des oranges. = I would like some oranges.
Combien ? = How many?

When asking how much of something, make sure to include the French preposition de directly after combien.

French	English	Level of Formality
Combien ça coûte ?	How much does that cost?	neutral
Combien coûte ce livre ?	How much does this book cost?	neutral
Il y a combien de croissants ?	How many croissants are there?	casual
Ça fait combien ?	How much do these cost? (referring to multiple items)	casual
Combien de personnes sont dans le cours ?	How many people are in the class?	casual
Il y a combien de kilomèters entre Paris et Versailles ?	How many kilometers is it between Paris and Versailles?	casual

Qui (who)

Qui is the French question word to use when you’re asking about people. It means “who.” If you’re asking a question that concerns anything to, from, about, or with someone, make sure that the preposition goes in front of qui.

French	English	Level of Formality
Qui est le responsable ?	Who is the manager?	neutral
Qui apporte les boissons ?	Who is bringing the drinks?	neutral
Qui préfère le chocolat ?	Who prefers chocolate?	neutral
Qui va au cinéma ?	Who is going to the movies?	neutral
Tu parles de qui ?	Who are you talking about?	casual
De qui est-ce que tu parles ?	Who are you talking about?	casual
De qui parlez-vous ?	Who are you talking about?	formal
Avec qui est-ce que tu bavardes ?	Who are you chatting with?	casual
À qui avez-vous parlé ?	Who did you speak to?	formal

Quel (which)

Quel means “which,” and it’s the only question word in French that requires agreement. You’ll need to pay attention to the gender and number of the noun you’re referring to in order to use the correct form of quel.

French	English
quel	which (masculine, singular)
quelle	which (feminine, singular)
quels	which (masculine, plural)
quelles	which (feminine, plural)

You can also use quel to say “which one.” Just combine it with the correct definite article (le, la, or les) for the noun you’re referring to.

Je voudrais un livre. = I would like a book.
Lequel ? = Which one?
Ce grand livre rouge. = That big red book.

French	English
lequel	which one (masculine, singular)
laquelle	which one (feminine, singular)
lesquels	which ones (masculine, plural)
lesquelles	which ones (feminine, plural)

Here are some more examples of questions using quel:

French	English	Level of formality
Quelle heure est-il ?	What time is it?	neutral
À quelle heure est-ce que le cours commence ?	What time does the class start?	neutral
Quel livre est-ce que tu préfères ?	Which book do you prefer?	casual
Quelle robe est la plus belle ?	Which dress is prettier?	neutral
Quels films sont en français ?	Which movies are in French?	neutral
Quelles chanteuses préférez-vous ?	Which (female) singers do you like best?	formal

Other words and phrases to ask deeper questions in French

There are a variety of other expressions that may be used in questions, especially when you want to find out very specific information. Here are some common terms that you might hear in a question, beyond the core eight interrogatives.

French	English	Level of Formality
jusqu’où	how far/to what point	neutral
d’où	from where	neutral
depuis quand	since when	neutral
non ?	No? (used to confirm information that you’re not sure is correct.)	casual
n’est-ce pas ?	Isn’t it? (used to confirm information you already know.)	formal
oui ?	Yes/right? (used to confirm information you already know.)	casual

You can use these question words in French a variety of ways to ask more complicated questions like these:

Jusqu’où as-tu lu manuel ? = How far did you read in the manual? / Where did you read to in the manual?
Jusqu’où est-ce qu’elle a couru aujourd’hui ? = How far did she run today?
Depuis quand habitent-ils à Marseille ? = How long have they lived in Marseille?
D’où est-ce que tu viens ? = Where are you from?
Le train part à midi, n’est-ce pas ? = The train leaves at noon, doesn’t it?
Il va au supermarché aujourd’hui, oui ? = He’s going to the supermarket today, right?
Tu aimes les brocolis, non ? = You like broccoli, don’t you?

How to form questions in French

Interrogative words are often combined with special structures to make a complete question. Next, we’ll dive into how you can use est-ce que, inversion, and more.

Tags and inflection

In informal situations, you can ask a closed (yes/no) question just by raising the tone of your voice at the end.

Paul aime le basket ? = Does Paul like basketball?

You can also use a question tag, like oui, non, or n’est-ce pas on the end of a statement to form a question.

Vous arrivez lundi, n’est-ce pas ? = You’re arriving on Monday, aren’t you?

Use est-ce que

For both formal and informal contexts, you can easily form closed questions with the expression est-ce que. Put it at the beginning of a statement and it turns the sentence into a question.

Paul aime le basket. = Paul likes basketball.
Est-ce que Paul aime le basket ? = Does Paul like basketball?
Tu voudrais un sandwich. = You would like a sandwich.
Est-ce que tu voudrais un sandwich ? = Would you like a sandwich?

You can also use est-ce que for questions with a list of options.

Est-ce que tu préfères un sandwich, de la pizza ou de la soupe ? = Would you prefer a sandwich, pizza, or soup?
Est-ce que tu reviens samedi ou dimanche ? = Are you coming back Saturday or Sunday?

You can pair many question words with est-ce que to make open questions; just put the question word at the beginning of the sentence.

Est-ce que tu voudrais manger ? = Would you like to eat?
Quand est-ce que tu voudrais manger ? = When would you like to eat?
À quelle heure est-ce que tu voudrais manger ? = At what time would you like to eat?
Où est-ce que tu voudrais manger ? = Where would you like to eat?

Inversion

A third way to form a question in French is by inversion, which is switching the order of the subject and the verb. English uses inversion as well, but it’s typically limited to the very formal register, like “To whom am I speaking?”

In French, it is considered a formal way to ask a question, but native speakers use it in their daily speech and writing all the time. You may have already noticed inversions in questions like:

Comment allez-vous ? = How are you?
Comment t’appelles-tu ? = What is your name?
Quel âge as-tu ? = How old are you?

To write a question in its inversion form, first think of it as a statement:

Tu joues au football demain. = You play soccer tomorrow.

Take the verb and the subject pronoun and reverse them, connecting them with a hyphen:

Joues-tu au football demain ? = Are you playing soccer tomorrow?

Inversions must take place with a pronoun (I, you, he, she, it, we, they):

Vas-tu au parc ? = Are you going to the park?
Où allons-nous ? = Where are we going?
Que mangent-elles ? = What is she eating?
Quand va-t-il arriver ? = When is he going to arrive?

In the last example, you may be wondering where that “t” came from! French avoids having two vowel sounds next to each other. To prevent that in inversions, a “t” is added between the verb and pronoun to make the sounds flow better.

If you must specify a noun, put in before the inversion, but keep the pronoun after the verb:

Nathan joue-t-il au football demain ? = Is Nathan playing soccer tomorrow?

Learn how to ask French questions for real-life conversations

Questions are key to having real conversations with people. You’ve learned how to ask questions using eight interrogative words in French and how to arrange the word order of a sentence to create a correct question. But this is just the beginning. There is so much more to learn about French conversation, and Rosetta Stone is here to help. We have tutors, immersive learning, and AI-based pronunciation tools to help you learn French successfully!

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Written by Denise Brown