Un nouvel élève : yes/no questions with inversion, intonation and est-ce que
I can understand and form questions in the present tense using intonation, inversion and est-ce que to get to know somebody new.
Un nouvel élève : yes/no questions with inversion, intonation and est-ce que
I can understand and form questions in the present tense using intonation, inversion and est-ce que to get to know somebody new.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons
Key learning points
- Yes/no questions can be formed by raising the intonation at the end of the sentence.
- Yes/no questions can be formed by inversion, which means swapping the position of the subject and the verb.
- Yes/no questions can also be formed by adding est-ce que to a statement. Est-ce que becomes est-ce qu' before a vowel.
- In French there is no word for 'do/does' in yes/no questions.
Keywords
Intonation - rise and fall of the voice in speaking
Inversion - when the subject pronoun and the verb switch place to form a question
Est-ce que - a questioning device
Common misconception
When forming yes/no questions, we need to translate the English 'do' or 'does' into French.
There is no equivalent to 'do' or 'does' in French. Use inversion, intonation or est-ce que to form yes/no questions.
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