In the most basic form of questions these question words can be used:
qui | who |
que/quoi | what |
quand | when |
où | where |
comment | how |
pourquoi | why |
combien | how much |
Let's see the three ways to use them:
1. Use intonation with a normal statement
In that very simple case, most of the time question words would be at the end of the statement, but they can also sometimes be at the beginning of the statement.
The question will be marked with a querying tone (or in written form with a question mark):
Note that what can only be at the end of the sentence, and you use quoi and NOT que.
Note that in who [does] questions, qui [fait] will always be at the beginning, but in other cases, qui (whom or who is it) can be at either place.
See Questions: Qui, qui est-ce qui = Who ? and Questions: Qui / qui est-ce que = Whom ?.
2. With est-ce que...
You will place the question word before est-ce que followed by the statement in a normal order. This is a common way to start a question:
3. Use the "inverted question" form
You use the question word at the beginning of the sentence, followed by the inverted verb and then the subject. it is a more elegant way to ask questions:
ATTENTION: in the inverted form, quoi becomes que or qu' :
See also Questions: Que ... = What ... ? and Forming inverted questions in Le Présent with il, elle, on
For more question types, see also:
Asking yes/no questions with intonation, est-ce que, n'est-ce pas
Forming inverted questions in Le Présent (except il, elle, on forms)
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