How to Use "Est-ce Que" to Ask Questions in French

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Updated January 31, 2019

Est-ce que (pronounced "es keu") is a French expression that is useful for asking a question. Literally translated, this phrase means "is it that...," although in conversation it rarely is interpreted that way. Instead, it is a convenience of everyday French, an interrogatory phrase that easily turns a statement into a question. It is a slightly informal construction; the more formal or polite way to ask questions is with inversion, which involves inverting the normal pronoun/noun + verb order.

But in everyday spoken French, est-ce que is far more common because it does the inverting for you: Est-ce que is the inversion of c'est que. (Note that a hyphen is required between ce and est when they are inverted to est-ce.) The word order of the original sentence stays exactly the same; you just add the already inverted phrase est-ce que to the front of the sentence. This simple structure works best for yes/no questions. For example:

Tu travailles. / Est-ce que tu travailles? > You work. / Do you work?
Paulette l'a trouvé. / Est-ce que Paulette l'a trouvé? > Paulette found it. / Did Paulette find it?
Vous n'avez pas faim. / Est-ce que vous n'avez pas faim? > You aren't hungry. / Aren't you hungry? OR Are you not hungry?

Note that que must contract when it follows a word beginning with a vowel:

Elle est arrivée. / Est-ce qu'elle est arrivée? > She has arrived. / Has she arrived?
Il y a des problèmes. / Est-ce qu'il y a des problèmes? > There are problems. / Are there problems?
Anny vient avec nous. / Est-ce qu'Anny vient avec nous? > Anny is coming with us. > Is Anny coming with us?

To ask questions that ask for information like "who," "what," "where," "when," "why" and "how," place an interrogative pronoun, adverb or adjective before est-ce que. For example:

Qui est-ce que vous avez vu? > Whom did you see?
Quand est-ce que tu vas partir? > When are you going to leave?
Quel livre est-ce qu'il veut? > Which book does he want?

Remember that est-ce que is the inversion of c'est que, meaning literally, "It is that." That's why a hyphen is required between est and ce: c'est = ce + est which are inverted to est-ce.

Depending on their place in the sentence, the variations qu'est-ce qui and qui est-ce qui are also useful, but understanding them requires further discussion of interrogative pronouns. For now, here's a summary.

SUMMARY OF FRENCH INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS

	Subject of question	Object of question	After preposition
People	qui qui est-ce qui	qui qui est-ce que	qui
Things	qu'est-ce qui	que qu'est-ce que	quoi

SUMMARY OF FRENCH INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS

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