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French offers three question mechanisms — intonation (Tu viens ?), est-ce que (Est-ce que tu viens ?), and inversion (Viens-tu ?) — ranked from most informal to most formal. All three are correct; the difference is register. Est-ce que is the safest choice for exams: it's universally accepted, never sounds wrong, and sidesteps the tricky inversion rules. Inversion signals sophistication but requires adding a -t- between vowels and handling compound tenses carefully.
STATEMENT + ? (voice rises)
The simplest way: take any statement and raise your voice at the end. The word order stays exactly the same. This is how most native speakers ask questions in daily conversation, but it reads as too informal for a formal essay or a TEF/TCF writing task.
Tu viens ce soir ?
You're coming tonight?
Vous avez compris ?
You understood?
C'est gratuit ?
It's free?
(Question word +) est-ce que + SUBJECT + VERB + …?
Prepend est-ce que to a statement and you have a grammatically correct question in any register. When a question word is needed (où, quand, pourquoi, comment, combien), it goes before est-ce que. This is the exam workhorse: correct everywhere, easy to build, and impossible to mess up.
Est-ce que tu parles français ?
Do you speak French?
Où est-ce que vous habitez ?
Where do you live?
Pourquoi est-ce qu'il est parti ?
Why did he leave?
est-ce que → est-ce qu' before a vowel
(Question word +) VERB-SUBJECT + …?
Swap the subject and verb and connect them with a hyphen. This is the most formal register and the one tested in reading comprehension. When the verb ends in a vowel and the subject starts with one (il, elle, on), insert -t- for pronunciation: parle-t-il ? Inversion with je is rare and limited to fixed expressions (puis-je, suis-je, ai-je).
Parlez-vous anglais ?
Do you speak English?
A-t-il terminé ?
Has he finished?
-t- inserted between two vowels
Où habite-t-elle ?
Where does she live?
Pourquoi les enfants pleurent-ils ?
Why are the children crying?
noun subject → add pronoun after verb
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| qui | who | Qui est-ce ? — Who is it? |
| que / qu'est-ce que | what | Que fais-tu ? / Qu'est-ce que tu fais ? |
| où | where | Où habites-tu ? |
| quand | when | Quand est-ce que tu pars ? |
| comment | how | Comment allez-vous ? |
| pourquoi | why | Pourquoi pleures-tu ? |
| combien (de) | how much/many | Combien ça coûte ? |
| quel(le)(s) | which/what | Quelle heure est-il ? |
| lequel / laquelle | which one | Lequel préfères-tu ? |
Never combine est-ce que with inversion. "Est-ce que parles-tu français ?" is redundant and wrong. Pick one method per question.
With pourquoi, inversion is tricky: pourquoi part-il ? is correct, but "pourquoi il part ?" is informal. Using pourquoi est-ce qu'il part ? is always safe.
Qu'est-ce que and qu'est-ce qui look similar but serve different functions: qu'est-ce que asks about a direct object (Qu'est-ce que tu manges ?), while qu'est-ce qui asks about a subject (Qu'est-ce qui se passe ?).
In TEF/TCF speaking tasks, you're often asked to request information or ask for clarification — which means forming questions. Using est-ce que is always safe, but mixing in one or two inversions (pourriez-vous me dire…, serait-il possible de…) is a clear B2 signal. In the writing task, inversion in formal letters shows register awareness. In comprehension tasks, questions using inversion or the "qui/que est-ce qui/que" system are common — practice recognising all three forms so you don't lose time decoding the question itself.
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Est-ce que is the safest default — it's correct in all registers and never penalised. Add inversions in formal writing tasks to show range. Avoid intonation-only questions in essays.
When the verb ends in a vowel (usually -e or -a) and the subject pronoun starts with a vowel (il, elle, on): parle-t-il, a-t-elle, va-t-on. The -t- is purely phonetic and has no grammatical meaning.
Qui est-ce qui asks about a person as subject (Qui est-ce qui a appelé ? — Who called?). Qui est-ce que asks about a person as object (Qui est-ce que tu as vu ? — Who did you see?). The first qui/que tells you person vs thing; the second tells you subject vs object.