Your guide to inversion in French questions

If you study French, you probably already know that there are three ways to form French questions. But even if you feel pretty confident using a change in intonation and est-ce que, you may still come across a few advanced patterns when it comes to inversion! 

Here’s a guide to using inversion for French questions!

In this post:

• What’s inversion?
• Exceptions
  • Inversion with multiple verbs
  • Inversion with reflexive verbs
  • Irregular puis
  • Adding ‑t‑
  • Adding a subject pronoun
• Overview of examples

What’s inversion?

The first two involve either a change in intonation or the addition of the question phrase est-ce que. The last one, known as inversion, is the most formal of the three types of question structures in French.

In fact, if your only goal in French is just to chat with friends or get around a city, you might not hear inverted questions at all! But if you’ll be studying, working, or doing any kind of administrative tasks in a French-speaking country, this structure will be helpful to understand and recognize.

(If the question doesn’t have a subject pronoun, then inversion will look a little different! We’ll discuss that rule below.)

Here’s how the basic rule works for yes/no questions when the subject is a pronoun:

Simple! Everything stays the same, except the order of the verb and subject pronoun.

If you need to add a question word, it will go at the beginning of the question (along with any prepositions like à (to), de (of/from), avec (with), pour (for), etc.:

Those are the basics, but there are some extra rules and exceptions to know if you want to perfect your skills!

Inversion with multiple verbs

Sometimes, a question will have multiple verbs in a row, like in the passé composé or the future with aller (to go). Don’t panic—just invert the first verb, and the rest of the phrase comes after! Any question words go at the beginning, as usual:

Inversion with reflexives

Reflexive verbs are common in French, and since they require two pronouns, it can be tricky to know the right word order when you combine them with an inverted question! But the rule is easy: Switch the order of the subject pronoun and the verb, just like we’ve done in the rest of the examples so far. That means that the reflexive pronoun will remain before the verb, along with any question words.

This is also true for reciprocal verbs, which use the same pronouns as reflexive verbs, but they mean each other instead of oneself.

Irregular puis

The verb pouvoir (can or be able to) has an irregular form in inversion questions when it’s used with je (I): puis instead of peux. Here’s how the question Can I come? will look in the three different levels of formality:

• Change in intonation:
  Je peux venir ?
• Adding est-ce que:
  Est-ce que je peux venir ?
• Inversion:
  Puis-je venir ?

Adding ‑t‑

When a third-person singular verb—in other words, one that goes with il (he), elle (she), or on (one/we)—ends in a vowel, the inverted question will add a ‑t‑ between the verb and the pronoun. This rule is for ease of pronunciation, so that the last vowel in the verb and the first vowel in the pronoun don’t run together!

Adding a subject pronoun

If the subject of your question isn’t a pronoun (like je, tu, il, elle, etc.) keep the subject before the verb, and add the matching subject pronoun directly after the verb. Any question words will go at the beginning, as always!

Cure your aversion to inversion!

You’ve got all the tools you need to feel confident about inverted questions, but don’t stop there! Keep improving your speaking and listening skills in French with these guides:

• Dear Duolingo: How do you know what sounds French letters make?
• 6 unique words to help you learn about French culture
• Dear Duolingo: How can I learn to form sentences in my new language?
• 8 French phrases you’ll need in Paris

Comparison of French question structures