❓ Question Words — Les Mots Interrogatifs

Six short conversations built entirely around asking questions — meeting someone, shopping, giving directions, and making plans. Natural, everyday French question forms.

① Meeting Someone New — Faire connaissance

A: Salut ! Comment tu t'appelles ? Hi! What's your name?

B: Je m'appelle Claire. Et toi, qui es-tu ? I'm Claire. And you, who are you?

A: Moi, c'est Marc. Enchanté ! I'm Marc. Nice to meet you!

② Asking the Time — Demander l'heure

A: Excuse-moi, quelle heure est-il ? Excuse me, what time is it?

B: Il est trois heures et demie. It's half past three.

A: Merci ! Et à quelle heure commence le film ? Thanks! And what time does the film start?

B: Il commence à quatre heures. It starts at four o'clock.

③ At the Market — Au marché

A: Bonjour, combien coûtent ces pommes ? Hello, how much do these apples cost?

B: Deux euros le kilo. Two euros a kilo.

A: Et quel fromage me conseillez-vous ? And which cheese do you recommend?

B: Le camembert, il est délicieux aujourd'hui. The camembert, it's delicious today.

④ Asking for Directions — Demander son chemin

A: Pardon, où se trouve la gare ? Excuse me, where is the station?

B: C'est tout droit, puis à gauche. It's straight ahead, then left.

A: Comment est-ce que j'y vais à pied ? How do I get there on foot?

B: Ça prend environ dix minutes. It takes about ten minutes.

⑤ Explaining Why — Expliquer pourquoi

A: Pourquoi apprends-tu le français ? Why are you learning French?

B: Parce que ma famille est française. Because my family is French.

A: Depuis quand étudies-tu la langue ? Since when have you been studying the language?

B: Depuis deux ans déjà. For two years already.

⑥ Making Plans — Faire des projets

A: Quand est-ce qu'on se voit ce week-end ? When are we seeing each other this weekend?

B: Samedi, si tu es libre. Saturday, if you're free.

A: Avec qui d'autre viens-tu ? Who else are you coming with?

B: Avec ma sœur et son copain. With my sister and her boyfriend.

📖 Vocabulary — Le Vocabulaire

20 key question words and phrases. Interrogative adjectives (quel, quelle...) agree with the noun they describe; interrogative pronouns (qui, que, lequel...) do not change.

#	French	English	Type	Note
1	qui	who	pronoun	refers to people; never changes form
2	que / qu'	what	pronoun	object of the verb; used with inversion (Que fais-tu ?)
3	quoi	what	pronoun	standalone or after a preposition (Avec quoi ?)
4	qu'est-ce qui	what (subject)	pronoun	used when "what" is doing the action
5	où	where	adverb
6	quand	when	adverb
7	pourquoi	why	adverb	answered with "parce que" (because)
8	comment	how	adverb	also used for "Comment ?" = "Sorry, what?"
9	combien	how much / how many	adverb	combien de + noun for a specific count
10	combien de temps	how long	phrase	asking about duration
11	quel / quelle	which / what	adjective	agrees: quel (m.), quelle (f.)
12	quels / quelles	which / what (plural)	adjective	quels (m. pl.), quelles (f. pl.)
13	lequel / laquelle	which one	pronoun	replaces "quel + noun" already mentioned
14	quel âge	how old	phrase	Quel âge as-tu ? — How old are you?
15	à quelle heure	what time	phrase	for scheduled events
16	d'où	from where	phrase	D'où viens-tu ? — Where are you from?
17	depuis quand	since when	phrase	for an ongoing duration
18	avec qui	with whom	phrase
19	de qui	whose / about whom	phrase
20	qu'est-ce que c'est	what is it	phrase	asking to identify an object

Real French Tip — que vs. quoi: Both mean "what," but they're used differently. Que (shortened to qu' before a vowel) is used right at the start of a formal, inverted question — Que fais-tu ? ("What are you doing?"). Quoi is used on its own or after a preposition — Quoi ? ("What?"), Avec quoi ? ("With what?"). In everyday spoken French, people very often skip the inversion entirely and just add qu'est-ce que to the front of a normal sentence instead — Qu'est-ce que tu fais ? means exactly the same as Que fais-tu ?, just far more common in casual conversation.