Questions — the complete system

In one line

Three levels of formality, and a different question word for each thing you can ask about — depending on whether it is a person or a thing, a subject or an object.

The table

English has one system and it is compulsory: insert "do". "Where do you live?", "What did he say?" French has no "do" at all — nothing corresponds to it, and looking for one is the first thing to unlearn. Instead French offers three shapes, and which you choose signals how formal you are being.

The question words

qui and que — and the four-cell table

The choice depends on two things: person or thing, and subject or object.

The "thing, subject" cell has no short form — qu'est-ce qui is the only option. ❌ Que se passe ?

English "what" covers both thing cells and gives you no warning that French needs two different forms. Qu'est-ce qui has to be memorised as a unit.

A way to read the long forms:

First part = what you are asking about (qui person / que thing) Last part = its role (qui subject / que object)

qui est-ce qui = person, subject · qu'est-ce que = thing, object

quoi — after a preposition

que cannot follow a preposition; quoi does:

And for people, qui follows a preposition too:

À qui parles-tu ? · Avec qui ? · De qui ?

Note the position. English puts the preposition at the end — "what are you thinking about?" — and French keeps it at the front. Quoi penses-tu à ? is not possible.

lequel — "which one"

When choosing among several options:

And it contracts with à and de:

Auquel penses-tu ? — which one are you thinking of?

How it differs from quel:

Inversion — three technical points

1. The t that gets added

When the verb ends in a vowel and the subject is il/elle/on:

A-t-il compris ? · Va-t-elle venir ? · Parle-t-on français ?

It is purely for pronunciation and means nothing.

2. With a noun instead of a pronoun

The noun stays where it is and its pronoun is repeated:

Marie vient-elle ?, not Vient Marie ? Ton frère est-il là ?

English inverts the noun directly — "Is Marie coming?" — so this double-subject structure is genuinely new.

3. With je, inversion is usually avoided

Except for a few specific verbs:

For everything else use est-ce que: Est-ce que je parle bien ?

Yes/no questions

And the positive answer to a negative question is si, not oui:

English has no word for this and manages with emphasis: "— You're not coming? — Yes I am." French has a dedicated word, si, used only to contradict a negative. German has doch and Dutch has jawel; English simply lost it. Using oui there is not just wrong, it is confusing — the listener will not know whether you are agreeing or disagreeing.

Examples

Common mistakes

Why est-ce que was invented