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Nora Lemtouni

 

Interrogatives

 

 

• There are two general kinds of questions, those that ask for an affirmative or negative response (oui, non) and those that ask for specific info.

 

Questions that require a simple answer:

 

• 4 ways to ask this type of question:

 

• Est-ce que

  • Est-ce que tu aimes cette robe?

• Inversion: formal way to ask, subject pronoun and verb switch.

  • Aimes-tu cette robe?

  • N’aimes-tu pas mes tatouages?

  • As-tu acheté son nouveau CD?

• Adding on n’est-ce pas

  • Tu aimes jouer de la piano, n’est-ce pas?

• Inntonation

  • Tu aimes faire les activités? (voice goes up at the end)

 

Questions that ask for specific info:

 

• This type of question begins with an interrogative word. This can be either an adverb, adjective, or a pronoun.

 

• Interrogative adverbs: combien, comment, où, pourquoi, quand

 

• Following an interrogative adverb, use either est-ce or inversion to form the question.

 

Ex. Combien est-ce que vous avez payé ce collier?

 

• With any interrogative adverb, EXCEPT POURQUOI, invert the verb and subject when asking a question made up of only a verb in a simple tense and a noun subject.

 

Ex. Où est mon chapeau?Comment va ta mere?

 

• With pourquoi, the noun remains in its normal position and the verb is inverted with the corresponding subject pronoun.

Ex. Pourquoi Lisa veut-elle une verte robe?

 

Interrogative adjectives: quel, quelle, quels, quelles,

 

• The interrogative adjective quel is the equivalent of which or what. It can only be followed by a noun or by a conjugated form of the verb être.

 

Ex. Quelle est la différence entre un manteau et un blouson?

 

Interrogative pronouns:

 

• There are two types of interrogative pronouns: invariable (no change of form for gender or number) and variable (agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies or replaces).

 

• Invariable interrogative pronouns: qui, qu’est-ce qui, que/ qu’est-ce que as a direct object and quoi as an object of a preposition.

 

People:                                                           Things:

 

Subject: Qui                                                   Qu’est-ce qui

 

Direct object: Qui (+inversion)                    Que/qu’

 

Object of preposition: Qui (+inversion)     Quoi/quoi est-ce que

 

• Variable interrogative pronouns: lequel, laquelle, lesquels, lesquelles.

 

• Variable interrogative pronoun is always placed at the beginning of a question, and indicates a choice.

 

• This pronoun contracts with the prepositions à and de in the same way that the definite articles le and les do.

 

Ex. Lequel de ces jeunes homes joue de la guitare?