Ask a question in French. Principles of constructing French sentences: la structure de la proposition française. Using inversion

Once you understand the basic structure of a French sentence, the rest will follow. We like this structure so much that we have identified 4 basic sentence structures in French.

This will help you gradually understand how a French sentence is constructed, how the main and minor members of a sentence are located relative to each other, and also systematize the rules that apply to different types of sentences. We've also noted important exceptions to these four structures so you can become familiar with them as you go, compare the exception to the rule, and remember the pronoun patterns.

• Basic French sentence structure

Naturally, we must start at the beginning - with the basic structure. Like English, French is a type of language SVO(“subject-predicate-object”). Unlike other Romance languages, the subject in French is, in most cases, not omitted. To construct even the simplest French sentence you need 2 or 3 elements.

If a sentence uses an intransitive verb, it will be a sentence SV("subject predicate"):

Je suis.- It's me.

Je suis- intransitive verb. Since intransitive verbs do not need objects (these are verbs like aller(go), courier(run) sauter(jump) or dancer(dance)), there is no object in this sentence. Just simple S and V. This is one of the simplest sentences you can make in French.

If a sentence uses a transitive verb, it will be of type SVO:

Tu as un chat.- Do you have a cat.

Tu in this sentence - subject, as- transitive verb and un chat- addition. Remember that all nouns in French require an article, so although this sentence has 3 parts, it actually has 4 words.

Exception

Va! Allons-y! Sois sage!- Go! Lets go! Be a good girl!

In these sentences, the subject is only implied, which is not usually allowed in French (although Spanish and Italian speakers will be familiar with the principle of omitting the personal pronoun). While some languages ​​allow this, the only case in French in which it is possible to omit the implied subject is the imperative. It is used when someone is told something and only includes forms with tu, nous or vous. Tu And vous are used for simple commands, while nous implies the idea of ​​"Let's" as you can see from the examples above.

It is important to note that these sentences have subjects, they are simply implied. There are no exceptions to the rule that all French sentences always have at least a subject and a predicate.

• Structure of questions in French

Once you've mastered the basic structure of the French declarative sentence, it's time to move on to more advanced things like questions. There are 3 basic question forms in French, each with its own rules.

Question with inversion in French

This is one of the simplest types of questions in French. It is named so because of the method of formation - the subject and predicate change places as a result of inversion:

As-tu un chat?- Do you have a cat?
Oui, j'ai un chat.- Yes I've got a cat.

In an interrogative sentence, the predicate is placed before the subject, the expressed pronoun, and a hyphen is placed between them to show that the word order is reversed. Such questions can only be answered “yes” or “no”.

Interrogative phrases in French: Est-ce que and Qu’est-ce que

The main interrogative phrase in French is "Est-ce-que". It is placed at the beginning of an interrogative sentence that requires only a yes/no answer, like questions with inversion. The difference is that the word order in these interrogative sentences is the same as in affirmative sentences.

Est-ce que tu veux venir?- You want to go?

Qu'est-ce que- another interrogative turn. According to the rule, a question to the direct object expressed by a noun denoting an inanimate object is an interrogative pronoun que. In colloquial language, instead of an interrogative pronoun que turnover is used very often qu"est-ce que (que + est-ce que).

Qu'est-ce que tu veux manger?- What do you want to eat?

Question words in French: qui, quand, où, pourquoi, comment

If you want to ask an even more specific question, you can use French question words along with the interrogative phrase est-ce que. French question words include qui(Who), quand(When), où(Where), pourquoi(why and comment(How).

Qui est-ce que tu appelles?- Whom do you call?
Quand est-ce qu’on part?- When are we leaving?
Où est-ce qu’on va?- Where are we going?
Pourquoi est-ce que tu pleures?- Why are you crying?
Comment est-ce que ça marche?- How it works?

Exception

You will often hear questions like these:

On va voir un film? Tu veux manger un truc?

But take a closer look. They do not answer the correct question structure!

These types of sentences are acceptable in spoken French. You'll notice nuances like these from the minute you start talking to native speakers. In this case, the declarative sentence becomes a question only due to the rising interrogative intonation with which it is pronounced.

On va voir un film?- Shall we go to the cinema?
Tu veux manger un truc?- Do you want something to eat?

Such a simple to the point of primitiveness way of asking something is acceptable in an informal way, but not in a written or official way. If you want to speak like a native speaker, you will have to learn to distinguish in which situations you will need to build a simple or complex inversion, and when a change in intonation or a question mark at the end of a message will be enough.

• Where to put a pronoun in a French sentence

One of the most difficult parts of French sentence structure is knowing where to put pronouns. Endless exercises are devoted to this in school French courses. First, you need to understand the difference between direct and indirect objects and learn how to identify them in a sentence. If you didn't learn it in school or have since forgotten it, the direct object is the object of a transitive verb, but the indirect object is not. For example:

I gave him the ball.

“Ball” here is a direct object. You know this because the sentence cannot exist without it. “To him” is an indirect object. With this difference in mind, let's return to French.

J'ai donné le ballon à Jacques.- I gave Jacques the ball.

In French, if you want to replace these words with pronouns, the sentence would be:

Je le lui ai donné.- I gave it to him.

But how exactly to put pronouns?

Object pronouns - pronouns that replace objects - in French come before the predicate. Pronouns that act as direct objects, such as le, la And les, in most cases they come before pronouns that act as an indirect object lui And leur.

This rule also applies to more complex sentences with pronouns.

Exception

This is not so much an exception as a general guideline. When you practice these sentences in French class, you might come up with something completely unintelligible! Je le lui y ai envoyé(as the translation "I sent it to him there") can confuse not only you, but also. In everyday communication, no more than one or two pronouns are used in one sentence.

Tu as donné le livre à Kévin?(Did you give this book to Kevin?)
Oui, je le lui ai donné tout à l’heure dans la cuisine.(Yes, I just gave it to him in the kitchen.)

Practice, gentlemen, practice!

Pronoms interrogatifs

1.Qui, qui est-ce qui. - (who) animate subject;

2. Qu"est-ce qui- (that) the subject is inanimate;

3. Qui, qui est-ce que- (whom) direct object, animate;
4. Que, qu"est-ce que- direct object, inanimate.

Pronoun qui can be used with prepositions as an indirect object.

Pronoun que cannot be used with a preposition; in this case it is replaced by the pronoun quoi.

In a question starting with qui, qui est-ce qui, inversion is not needed:
Qui (qui est-ce qui) travaille?

The remaining interrogative pronouns require inversion, except when an interrogative phrase is added to them est-ce que.

Compare:
Que cherchez-vous? Qu"est-ce que vous cherchez?

Pronoms interrogatifs quel et lequel Interrogative pronouns quel and lequel

These pronouns change in gender and number; translated into words which one, which one. The complex pronoun lequel is used when there is a choice between two or more persons or objects:
Quel est votre nom?
Lequel de ces deux manuels vous trouvez plus utile?

Simple forms
unit plural
quel (m.r.) quels (m.r.)
quelle (f.p.) quelles (f.p.)
Complex shapes
unit plural
lequel (m.r.) lesquels (m.r.)
laquelle (female) lesquelles (female)
The question is what?, which one? can also be expressed in French by the word comment. This occurs when the expected answer is not necessarily precise, which can be expressed by a qualitative adjective. Compare:
Comment est cette étudiante?
Elle est studieuse, intelligente, appliquée.
Quelle est cette étudiante?
C"est Nataile.

"Interrogative sentence"

There are several types of sentences in French:
Interrogative sentences contain questions to obtain information about certain qualities, quantity, time, place, action, form, etc. The construction of an interrogative sentence is carried out using inversion, intonation, interrogative turns and interrogative words.

- intonation:

- Tu vas à l’école?
-Are you going to school?

- Est-ce que tu vas à l’école?
-Are you going to school?

- Vas-tu à l’école?
-Are you going to school?

- Parlez-vous français?
- Do you speak french?

- Parle-t-il français?
- Does he speak French?

- Vorte amie parle-t-elle français?
- Does your friend speak French?

- Que fait votre amie?
- What does your friend do?

- Quelle est cette histoire?
- What is this story?

- Pourquoi mon cœur bat-il si vite?
- Why is my heart beating so fast?

- Mais à qui l’électeur donnera-t-il sa voix?
- But who will the voter give his vote to?

- Est-ce que tu viens?
- You are walking?

for animate objects: qui, qui est-ce qui:

- Qui (qui est-ce qui) part demain?
- Who is leaving tomorrow?

for inanimate objects: qu’est-ce qui:

- Qu’est-ce qui sent si bon?
- What smells so good?

for animate objects: qui, qui est-ce que:

- Qui attendez-vous? (inversion)
- Qui est-ce que vous attendez?
-Who are you expecting?

- Que cherchez-vous? (inversion)
- Qu’est-ce que vous cherchez?
- What are you looking for?

- À qui parlez-vous? (inversion)
- À qui est-ce que vous parlez?
- Who are you talking to?

- De quoi parlez-vous (inversion)
- De quoi est-ce que vous parlez?
- What are you talking about?

- Où est-ce qu’il va?
-Where is he going?

- Quand partira-t-elle?
- When will she leave?

- Pourquoi votre père est-il venu?
- Why did your father come?

- Comment le paysan labore-t-il son champ?
- How does a peasant cultivate his field?

- Avec qui préférez-vous passer vos vacances?
- Who do you prefer to spend your holidays with?

Questions with inversion

Many people studying French have come across such a term as “inversion” and it has puzzled many, since it is practically not used in the school course of foreign languages.
"Inversion" is the reverse order of words in a sentence.
In French there are two types of inversion: “simple” and “complex”.

Simple inversion
Scheme:
[verb – predicate + pronoun (subject function) + object]?

Example:
Ecrivez – vous la dictée? Are you writing a dictation?

Explanation:
1.Questions with inversion are ALWAYS written with a hyphen;
2. The verb must agree with the pronoun, verb conjugation “write – ecriver”- for pronoun "You are Vous" will "ecrivez".

Complex inversion
When constructing a question with complex inversion, we need to start the question with the subject.

Scheme:
[subjects (noun) + verb (predicate) + pronoun (subject function) + object]?

Example:
Julie, va-t-elle a l`universite chaque jour? Does Julie go to university every day?
Explanation:
1. Complex inversion, like simple inversion, is written with hyphens;
2.After the subject Julie a comma is required;
3.Name Julie corresponds to the French pronoun "elle";
4. The verb agrees with the subject. Verb "aller - go" for pronoun she - (Julie) will "va".
5.According to the rules of the French language, words ending with a vowel and starting with the same letter cannot stand next to each other, so a letter is placed to separate "t". A similar rule applies to pronouns "Il - he" And “ils\elles – they (for male and female gender)”;

NOTA BENE! In simple inversion, also when using pronouns beginning with a vowel, a separating letter is used "t".

Complex inversion with negation

OPTION 1
Scheme:
[subject (noun) + negation + verb (predicate) + pronoun (subject function) + negation + object]?

Example:
Julie, ne va-t-elle pas a l`universite; chaque jour? Doesn't Julie go to university every day?

Explanation:
1. After the subject Julie a comma is required;
2. Negation in French consists of two parts "ne" And "pas" and the first part "ne" is placed before the verb, in this example "va", and the second part "pas" placed after the pronoun - "elle".

OPTION 2
Scheme:
[negation + verb (predicate) + pronoun (subject function) + negation + subjects + object]?

Example:
Ne va-t-elle pas, Julie, a l`universite; chaque jour? Doesn't Julie go to university every day?
Explanation:
1. Negation is placed around the verb and pronoun - ne va-t-elle pas.
2. After a negative construction ne va-t-elle pas follows subjects – Julie. Both of these members of the interrogative sentence are separated by commas.