Gerard Dupuis est le PDG d' une entreprise de textile a Lyon. C'est un homme tres occupe. L'entreprise de M.

Gerard s'appelle Frantexport. Le 22 Mars, M.Fontaine ,qui est un client, demande a propos de son contract. M.Dupuis demande, son secretaire, Nicole le dossier vert qui est au deuxieme etagere.Il annonce M.Fontaine que le contract est pret. Pendant ce temps, le deuxieme telephone sonne.C'est Richard .Il informe m.Dupuis que M. Moreau ne veut pas payer.Il demande lui d'envoyer un telegamme.D'unautre gote, la Societe Dublet demande des renseignements dont la secretaire s'ouupera.m.Dupuis continue la conversation avec M.Fontaine, mais il a un appel de Hong Kong qui l'attend.Il dit a M.Fontaine de telephoner l'apres-midi.

M.Dupuis est en colere parce que Stephanie, sa nouvelle dactylo a fait beaucoup de fautes dans la lettre.Il refuse de signer la lettre. Il lui emande de les corriger.Elle dit que c'est la faute de la machine,mais M.Dupuis n'est pas d'accord.Elle fait des fautes d'orthographes.En plus, la lettre manque un paragraphe.Elle doit la refaire et relire aussi.Il informe a Nicole qu'il va a une reunion est qu'il rentrer a 19h.Les secretaires pensant que lt patron est de mauvaise humeur.

M.Dupuis ecrit une lettre a ses amis,M et Mme Andre Rigaud,parce qu'il ne peut pas passer le weekend chez eux. il a des problemes dans son entreprise.Il est donc de mauvaise humeur Leon 2: La Disparition Mysterieuse (A) Le lundi 1er avril, les secretaires de Frantexport arrivent au bureau 9h . M.Dupuis nest pas l. Elles sont surprises. Dhabitude, il nest jamais en retard, il arrive toujours 8h . Aprs 3 jours, M. Fontaine tlphone le bureau et il apprend de Nicole que M. Dupuis est absent cette semaine-l. On le cherche partout . Mais il reste introuvable. Tous les amis de ce riche clibataire sont inquiets. La police commence une enqute. (B) Au bureau du commissariat, Agnes Darot, jeune inspecteur de police, soccupe de lenqute. Elle discute avec le commissaire . Elle pense que cest un meurtre ou un enlevement ou quelquun veut lheritage. Elle crios quil faut chercher le coupable dans la famille de M. Dupuis. Alors, elle decide dinterroger la famille. Pour faire a elle doit beaucoup voyager. Leon 3 : LEnqute Commence (A) Agns Darot commence lenqute. Elle rencontre Patrick Ferrand. Il est guide Chenonceaux. M.Dupuis est le beau-frre de M.Ferrand. Il raconte sa journe du 1er Avril Agnes Darot. Il a travaill jusqu 7h comme tous les jours. Il a djeun chez lui. Parce que quil ne travaille pas de midi 2h. Le soir, il a fait une partie de cartes au caf avec des amis. Il a din et regard la tl comme tous les soirs. Donc, il na pas eu la nouvelle de la disparition de M.Dupuis. (B)

Florent Dupuis, le neveu de M.Dupuis, et Beatrice lvent des chvres et des moutons dans le Larzac, au sud du Massif central. Florent Dupuis est parti depuis 6h avec le troupeau. Il rentre toujours environs 20 heures. Agns Darot lattend. Alors, Beatrice et Agns Darot visitent la ferme.

(C) Rene Dupuis a 32 ans. Il est un tudiant luniversit depuis 10 ans. Il a pass 4 fois son baccalaureat avant de russir. Il est rest pendant trois ans en premier anne de droit luniversit de Nantes. Puis, il a pass trios ans en Angleterre. Depuis 5 ans, il etudie lhistoire de lArt Bordeaux. Le jour quand Agns Darot est venue le voir il tait encore au lit. Il lui explique quil travaille parfois la nuit. Mais la nuit avant il a bien ft lanniversaire dun ami avec le caviar, le champagne etc. Et pour acheter tous ca il se dbrouille. Le 25 mars, il est parti chez des amis dans les Pyrenees. Il est rest 10 jours. Donc il na pas kidnappe son oncle, M. Dupuis. Alors, Agns Darot demande le nom et ladresse des amis de Ren Dupuis.

Want to know something? Whether you're working, traveling, learning, or just trying to learn more about someone, questions are an essential part of any conversation. This lesson will teach you four different ways to ask questions in French.

1. Est-ce que Est-ce que, literally "is it that," can be placed at the beginning of any affirmative sentence to turn it into a question: Est-ce que vous dansez ? Do you dance? Est-ce que tu veux voir un film ? Do you want to see a movie? Est-ce qu'il est arriv ? Has he arrived? Place any question words* in front of est-ce que: Quand est-ce que tu veux partir ? When do you want to leave? Pourquoi est-ce qu'il a menti ? Why did he lie? Quel livre est-ce que vous cherchez ? Which book are you looking for?

2. Inversion A more formal way to ask questions is with inversion: invert the conjugated verb and subject pronoun and join them with a hyphen: Dansez-vous ? Do you dance? Veux-tu voir un film ? Do you want to see a movie? Est-il arriv ? Has he arrived? Again, place any interrogative words at the beginning of the question: Quand veux-tu partir ? When do you want to leave? Pourquoi a-t-il menti ?**

Why did he lie? Quel livre cherchez-vous ? Which book are you looking for? You can use inversion to ask negative questions*** Ne dansez-vous pas ? Don't you dance? N'est-il pas encore arriv ? Hasn't he arrived yet?

3. Statement as question A very simple but informal way to ask yes/no questions is to raise the pitch of your voice while pronouncing any sentence: Vous dansez ? You dance? Tu veux voir un film ? You want to see a movie? Il est arriv ? He arrived? You can also use this structure to ask negative questions: Tu ne danses pas ? You don't dance? Il n'est pas encore arriv ? He hasn't arrived yet?

4. N'est-ce pas ? If you're pretty sure the answer to your question is yes, you can just make an affirmative statement and then add the tag n'est-ce pas ? to the end. This is also informal: Tu danses, n'est-ce pas ? You dance, right? Tu veux voir un film, n'est-ce pas ? You want to see a movie, right?

Il est arriv, n'est-ce pas ? He arrived, right?

There are also more informal ways to ask questions, which you can read about in my lesson on informal questions.

Notes The French equivalent of the verb "to ask" is demander, but "to ask a question" is poser une question - learn more.

*There are two main types of questions: 1. Yes/no questions, also known as polar questions or closed questions (questions fermes), ask for a simple yes or no answer. 2. Information questions, also known as WH questions, constituent questions, or open questions (questions ouvertes), ask for information with question words, like who, what, when, where, why, which, how, how much/many. See links below for lessons on French question words.

**When using inversion with the third person singular (il, elle, or on) and a verb that ends in a vowel, you must add t- between the verb and subject pronoun (why?): Aime-t-il les films ? - Does he like movies? coute-t-elle la radio ? - Does she listen to the radio? A-t-on dcid ? - Have we decided?

***There is a special French word, si, that is used only when responding in the affirmative to a negative question. (I wish English had a word like this!) Affirmative questions Negative questions - Vas-tu au cin ? - Oui ! - Ne vas-tu pas au cin ? - Si ! - Are you going to the movies? - Yes! - Aren't you going to the movies? - Yes (I am)! - Est-ce que tu veux venir ? - Oui ! - Do you want to come? - Yes! - Tu ne veux pas venir ? - Si ! - You don't want to come? - Yes (I do)

Sometimes French grammar is much stricter than English grammar. A simple question like "What book do you want?" is technically incorrect, because in proper English, the question should be "Which book do you want?" In reality, the former is much more common than the latter.

In French, however, one does not have this option: the French equivalent of which, quel, must be used whenever there is more than one noun that you are choosing between. Like all French adjectives, quel has to agree in gender and number with the noun it modifies - see the table at the end of this lesson. The uses of quel are fairly straightforward - you need it whenever you want to ask for specific information about a noun: Pierre m'a prt un livre. Quel livre ? Pierre loaned me a book. Which book? Nous devons partir avant midi. Quelle heure est-il ? We have to leave before noon. What time is it?

Questions with quel may be asked with est-ce que or inversion: Quel livre veux-tu ? / Quel livre est-ce que tu veux ? What book do you want? Quelles pommes aime-t-il ? / Quelles pommes est-ce qu'il aime ? Which apples does he like?

Quel + noun may be preceded by a preposition: quelle heure veux-tu partir ? / quelle heure est-ce que tu veux partir ? What time do you want to leave? De quels livres parle-t-il ? / De quels livres est-ce qu'il parle ? What books is he talking about?

To ask "what is ...?" or "what are ...?" use quel plus the appropriate conjugation of tre: Quel est le problme ? What's the problem? Quelles sont les diffrences ? What are the differences?

Related lessons: Quel plus a noun can be replaced by the interrogative pronoun lequel.

Quel is also the French exclamative adjective. Also see my lesson on n'importe quel and other expressions with n'importe.

French Interrogative Adjectives

Singular Plural Masculine quel quels quelles Feminine quelle

Interrogative adverbs are used to ask for new information or facts. The most common French interrogative adverbs are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. combien (de) - how many/much comment - how, what o - where pourquoi - why quand - when

All of these interrogative adverbs can be used to ask questions with either est-ce que or inversion. Quand manges-tu ? Quand est-ce que tu manges ? When do you eat? Combien de livres veut-il ? Combien de livres est-ce qu'il veut ? How many books does he want? O habite-t-elle ? O est-ce qu'elle habite ? Where does she live?

They can be used in indirect questions: Dis-moi quand tu manges. Tell me when you eat. Je ne sais pas combien de livres il veut. I don't know how many books he wants. J'ai oubli o elle habite.

I've forgotten where she lives.

Comment, o, and quand can also be used with n'importe. Tu peux manger n'importe quand. You can eat whenever / any time.

In literature or other formal French, you might see an additional interrogative adverb: que, meaning "why": Qu'avais-tu besoin de lui en parler ? Why did you have to go and talk to him about it? Olivier et Roland, que n'tes-vous ici ? (Victor Hugo) Olivier and Roland, why aren't you here? French has three interrogative pronouns: qui, que, and lequel, which are used to ask questions. This lesson explains the difference in meaning and usage between qui and que; because it's so unique, lequel is addressed in a separate lesson, as is the use of qui and que as relative pronouns. Qui means who or whom; it is used when asking about people. When whom is the object of the question, qui can be followed by either est-ce que or inversion. Qui est-ce que vous aimez ? / Qui aimez-vous ? Whom do you love? Qui est-ce que tu vois ? / Qui vois-tu ? Whom do you see? When who is the subject of the question, you can use either qui or qui est-ce qui. The word order cannot be inverted and the verb is always third person singular. Qui veut le faire ? / Qui est-ce qui veut le faire ? Who wants to do it? Qui parle ? / Qui est-ce qui parle ? Who is speaking? Qui can also follow a preposition. qui est-ce que tu parles ? / qui parles-tu ? To whom are you speaking?

De qui est-ce que tu cris ? / De qui cris-tu ? Whom are you writing about?

Que means what and is used to refer to ideas or things. When what is the object of the question, it can be followed by est-ce que or inversion. Qu'est-ce qu'il veut ? / Que veut-il ? What does he want? Qu'est-ce que tu penses de mon ide ? / Que penses-tu de mon ide ? What do you think of my idea? Qu'est-ce que c'est (que cela) ? What is that? When what is the subject of the question, you must use qu'est-ce qui followed by a verb in the third person singular, with no inversion. Qu'est-ce qui se passe ? What's happening? Qu'est-ce qui est tomb sur la terre ? What fell on the ground? After a preposition, que changes to quoi. De quoi est-ce que vous parlez ? / De quoi parlez-vous ? What are you talking about? quoi est-ce qu'il travaille ? / quoi travaille-t-il ? What's he working on?

Interrogative pronouns quiz

Summary of French Interrogative Pronouns

Subject of question Object of question After preposition People qui qui est-ce qui qui qui est-ce que qui Quoi Things qu'est-ce qui que qu'est-ce que

Saying yes in French is pretty simple, but there are quite a few synonyms and precisions to be aware of. Check out this lesson to learn how to say yes, yeah, sure, and more. oui - yes Oui is the basic, standard French word for "yes," and it's also the best translation of "I do": Oui, j'aime les fraises Yes, I like strawberries - Veux-tu pouser cet homme... ? - Oui - Do you take this man...? - I do

ouais - yeah Ouais is an informal equivalent for yes, equivalent to "yeah" or "yep": - T'es prt ? - Ouais - You ready? - Yeah

ouah - yes! Ouah is an informal word used to express joy or admiration, like "yes!" or "wow!" Ouah ! J'y ai russi ! Yes! I passed!

si - yes

Si is one of my favorite French words, because it is extremely useful and does not have an English equivalent. It is used to contradict a negation - to say yes when someone else says no, asks a negative question, or makes a negative statement: - Il n'a pas de sur - Si. - He doesn't have a sister - Yes (he does). - N'as-tu pas faim ? - Si. - Aren't you hungry? - Yes (I am hungry). xpressions with oui ah oui - oh yes, yes indeed ah oui? - really? ben oui - well, yes certes oui - most definitely, absolutely eh oui - I'm afraid so je crois que oui - I think so mais oui - of course oui oui - uh huh que oui ! - of course!, you bet!

Synonyms for oui absolument - absolutely assurment - sure, certainly bon - fine, ok c'est exact - that's right bien sr - of course certainement - certainly c'est a - that's right c'est exact - that's right d'accord - OK effectivement - indeed, quite en effet - indeed, quite exact - that's right exactement - exactly je ne dis pas non - I wouldn't say no, I don't disagree (an unemphatic yes) justement - that's right tout fait - exactly, absolutely voil - that's right, there you go

French learners often have trouble deciding how to translate "what" into French. Should it be que or quoi, or maybe that pesky quel? Understanding the difference between these terms is critical to knowing how to use them correctly. The problem with translating "what" into French is that it has numerous grammatical functions in English. It can be an interrogative pronoun or adjective, relative pronoun, exclamative adjective, adverb, or object of a preposition, and may be found in any position in a sentence. In contrast, French has different terms for most of these possibilities, including que, qu'est-ce qui, quoi, comment, and quel. In order to know which term to use, you need to understand what function each of them performs.

When asking a question with "what" as either the subject or object, the French equivalent is the interrogative pronoun que. 1. As the object of a question, que may be followed by either inversion or est-ce que. Que veux-tu ? Qu'est-ce que tu veux ? What do you want? Que regardent-ils ? Qu'est-ce qu'ils regardent ? What are they watching? Qu'est-ce que c'est (que a) ? What is it/that? 2. When que is the subject, it must be followed by est-ce qui. (Don't let that qui fool you into thinking this means "who"; in this type of construction, qui is simply acting as a relative pronoun with no actual meaning of its own.) Qu'est-ce qui se passe ? What's happening? Qu'est-ce qui a fait ce bruit ? What made that noise?

To ask a question in which "what" comes after the verb, use quoi. Note that this is an informal construction: Tu veux quoi ? You want what? C'est quoi, a ? a c'est quoi ? What's that? (Literally, That's what?) When "what" joins two clauses, it is an indefinite relative pronoun.

1. If "what" is the subject of the relative clause, use ce qui (again, this doesn't mean "who"): Je me demande ce qui va se passer. I wonder what's going to happen. Tout ce qui brille n'est pas or. All that glitters is not gold. 2. When "what" is the object, use ce que: Dis-moi ce que tu veux. Tell me what you want. Je ne sais pas ce qu'elle a dit. I don't know what she said.

When "what" precedes or otherwise modifies a noun, you need to use quel (which literally means "which"), and can be either an interrogative adjective or an exclamative adjective: Quel livre veux-tu ? Quel livre est-ce que tu veux ? What (which) book do you want? quelle heure vas-tu partir ? (At) What time are you going to leave? Quelles sont les meilleures ides ? What (which) are the best ideas? Quel livre intressant ! What an interesting book! Quelle bonne ide ! What a good idea! Prepositions: Then What? When "what" follows a preposition, you usually need quoi in French. 1. In a simple question, use quoi followed by either inversion or est-ce que. De quoi parlez-vous ? De quoi est-ce que vous parlez ? What are you talking about? Sur quoi tire-t-il ? Sur quoi est-ce qu'il tire ? What is he shooting at?

2. In a question or statement with a relative clause, use quoi + subject + verb. Sais-tu quoi il pense ? Do you know what he's thinking about? Je me demande avec quoi c'est crit. I wonder what it's written with. a) When a verb or expression requires de, use ce dont: C'est ce dont j'ai besoin. (J'ai besoin de...) That's what I need. Je ne sais pas ce dont elle parle. (Elle parle de...) I don't know what she's talking about. b) When is the preposition and it is placed either at the beginning of a clause or after c'est, use ce quoi: Ce quoi je m'attends, c'est une invitation. What I'm waiting for is an invitation. C'est ce quoi Chantal rve. That's what Chantal dreams about.

And finally, when you didn't hear or didn't understand what someone just said and you'd like them to repeat it, use the interrogative adverb comment, which is considered nicer than saying quoi (the only reason I've ever heard for this is the latter sounds like a duck quacking.) If any of these uses don't make sense to you, take a look at the linked lessons for more detail and examples.