French Grammar Explained /
Subject-verb inversion
The French language has three ways to ask a question.
- The raising intonation question:
Vous avez une réunion ce matin ?
Do you have a meeting this morning?
- The "est-ce que" question:
Est-ce que vous avez une réunion ce matin ?
Do you have a meeting this morning?
- The inversion question:
Avez-vous une réunion ce matin ?
Do you have a meeting this morning?
Why, oh why so complicated?!
The inversion questions are called this because the question is formed by starting with the verb before adding the subject!
But why would they need three different ways to ask questions?
That's because they're all different! See, the raising intonation and the "est-ce que" question is for spoken and informal French.
Mmmh... so the inversion question is for writing and formal French?
Bravo!
Now it all makes sense! The French are really clever.
When using the inversion, some verbs will show irregularities:
Je peux entrer ? ⇒ Puis-je entrer ?
"Peux" becomes "puis" in the inversion question.
Il a faim ? ⇒ A-t-il faim ?
Elle regarde la télé ? ⇒ Regarde-t-elle la télé ?
On mange au restaurant ? ⇒ Mange-t-on au restaurant ?
With "il", "elle" and "on", a -T- is added between the verb and the subject, to help pronunciation.