Est-ce que

In English, the most common way to ask question is to put in a form of the verb 'do'. Similarly, the French rebuild sentences round the words 'est-ce que'. This is a very useful and simple way to ask questions:

Start with a question word if you need one.

Then add the group 'est-ce que' (remember the apostrophe in Qu'est-ce que).

Then carry on with subject and verb as in a normal sentence.

This gives a pattern of:

Question word + est-ce que + subject + verb + other words

You then end up with something like:

• Quand est-ce que tu arrives?
• Est-ce que tu as une grande maison?
• Est-ce que tu aimes le football?
• Où est-ce que tu vas aller ce weekend?
• Est-ce qu'il y a un cinéma dans ta ville?