Practice Makes Perfect

Interrogative sentences and intonation

In French the intonation or rising pitch at the end of a sentence signals for the 

listener that a question is being asked. This manner of asking a question is famil-

iar and preferred in oral interactions. To transcribe this oral question into writ-

ing, a question mark helps identify an interrogative sentence. Sometimes a yes or 

no answer may suffice as is shown in the following examples:

Asking questions

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  practice makes perfect  Complete French All-in-One   

Le train est arrivé? —Oui. / Non. 

Did the train arrive? —Yes. / No.

Tu passes un examen? —Oui. / Non. 

Are you taking an exam? —Yes. / No.

Elle ne viendra pas aujourd’hui? 

Will she not come today? —Yes. / No. 

 —Oui. / Non. 

Other times a question solicits specific information as in the following examples:

Qui a peint ce portrait? —Monet. 

Who painted this portrait? —Monet.

À quelle heure on dîne? —À huit heures.  At what time do we have dinner? 

  

  —At eight o’clock.

Où tu vas? —À la pharmacie. 

Where are you going? —To the pharmacy.