Chapter 12: Interrogatives
An interrogative is a sentence of inquiry which seeks a reply. In the French language, there are four ways to form interrogatives:
One way is by using “Est-ce que” (pronounces as /es khe/), which literally translates to “is it that”. You can place it at the start of an affirmative sentence so that you can turn that sentence into a question.
Another way to use “est-ce que” is for you to put a question word before it (remember “key question words” from Chapter 6?).
To ask formal questions, what you can do is invert the conjugated verb and subject pronoun, then join them together with a hyphen.
Keep in mind that when you are using the inversion method with the 3rd person singular (il, elle, on), and a verb that ends …show more content…
M. Du Mont va se lever tot. Chapter 13: Negation
It is quite easy to make negative sentences in the French language. You simply need to put “ne... pas” on either side of the verb. All other components of the sentence remain the same.
For example:
Je bois du café. (I drink coffee)
Je ne bois pas de café (I don't drink coffee)
Just remember that if the verb begins with a vowel or a silent “h”, then “n’... pas” is used instead.
In colloquial French, the speakers often omit the “ne”. Also, the “ne” is solely used in sentences that contain a verb. If a sentence that does not have a verb, the negative word is used by itself.
For example:
Ce n’est pas vrai (It’s not true) is transformed into C’est pas vrai.
Je ne crois pas (I don’t believe it) is transformed into Je crois pas.
Aside from “pas”, you can choose to use other expressions of negation after “ne”, namely: non This is usually used as a negative response to a question.
For example:
Marc: Est-il chez lui? (is he at home?)
Sonja: Non, il est au supermarché. (No, he is at the supermarket)
ne.. plus (“no longer”)
This is the negative of encore (yet) and toujours (always).
For example:
Il a décidé de ne plus boire de l'alcool. (He decided not to drink
An interrogative is a sentence of inquiry which seeks a reply. In the French language, there are four ways to form interrogatives:
One way is by using “Est-ce que” (pronounces as /es khe/), which literally translates to “is it that”. You can place it at the start of an affirmative sentence so that you can turn that sentence into a question.
Another way to use “est-ce que” is for you to put a question word before it (remember “key question words” from Chapter 6?).
To ask formal questions, what you can do is invert the conjugated verb and subject pronoun, then join them together with a hyphen.
Keep in mind that when you are using the inversion method with the 3rd person singular (il, elle, on), and a verb that ends …show more content…
M. Du Mont va se lever tot. Chapter 13: Negation
It is quite easy to make negative sentences in the French language. You simply need to put “ne... pas” on either side of the verb. All other components of the sentence remain the same.
For example:
Je bois du café. (I drink coffee)
Je ne bois pas de café (I don't drink coffee)
Just remember that if the verb begins with a vowel or a silent “h”, then “n’... pas” is used instead.
In colloquial French, the speakers often omit the “ne”. Also, the “ne” is solely used in sentences that contain a verb. If a sentence that does not have a verb, the negative word is used by itself.
For example:
Ce n’est pas vrai (It’s not true) is transformed into C’est pas vrai.
Je ne crois pas (I don’t believe it) is transformed into Je crois pas.
Aside from “pas”, you can choose to use other expressions of negation after “ne”, namely: non This is usually used as a negative response to a question.
For example:
Marc: Est-il chez lui? (is he at home?)
Sonja: Non, il est au supermarché. (No, he is at the supermarket)
ne.. plus (“no longer”)
This is the negative of encore (yet) and toujours (always).
For example:
Il a décidé de ne plus boire de l'alcool. (He decided not to drink