University of the Immaculate Conception

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN EDUCATION MAJOR IN APPLIED LINGUISTICS

STUDY GUIDE IN LEARNING FRENCH

Wh Questions
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
At the end of the lesson, the student will be able to:
a. Identify the Wh questions in French language;
b. Make questions in a conversation and
c. Use Wh questions in a sentence.

INTRODUCTION

Sometimes you need to know how to say more than a

simple yes or no in French; you may want to know
when or where something happened and who came
and what they did. In this case, you need to use an
information question, and like in English, French information questions start
with a question word (technically known as interrogative adverbs and
adjectives).

Time allotment/ duration: 3 hours

Core-Related values and Biblical Reflection:
Excellence: Competence
 "Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave. God has revealed to me, 'Whoever
walks in the pursuit of knowledge I facilitate for him the way to heaven.'’
-Hadith, Prophet Muhammad (SAW).
Starter : MATCHING TYPE
Instructions: Match the column A to column B. write your answer on the space provide before
the number.
Column A Column B
_____1. What do you do in the summer? a. tu restes?
____2. Where do you go on holiday? b. tu manges?
_____3. What do you do? c. tu fais en été
_____4. What do you eat? d. tu vas en vacances?
_____5. Where do you stay? e. tu fais?
 LEARNING CONTENT
Topic Content: WH Questions
French has the same interrogative words and expressions as English. The
following list introduces the most useful question words in French, with their
English equivalents.
 quand (when)
 à quelle heure (at what time)
 qui (who/whom)
 qui est-ce que (who, object of the verb)
 qui est-ce qui (who, subject of the verb)
 avec qui (with whom)
 pour qui (for whom)
 comment (how)
 combien (de) (how many/how much)
 où (where)
 d’où (from where)
 pourquoi (why)
 pour quelle raison (for what reason)
 quoi (what)
 qu’est-ce qui (what, subject of the verb)
 que/qu’est-ce que (what, object of the verb)
 quel + noun (what/which)

The interrogative words are just an added block to the yes/no question block.
In other words, you form a question like you would for a yes/no question and add
the question word or expression at the beginning.

The French est-ce que question format

Follow these steps to include a question word in the est-ce que format:
1. Start with a statement and add est-ce que to form a yes/no question.
For example, Tu achètes un livre (You buy a book) becomes Est-ce que tu
achètes un livre? (Do you buy a book?)
2. To ask a more specific question, just add the question word at the
beginning of the yes/no question.
For example, if you want to know why someone buys a book, use the
word pourquoi at the start of your question: Pourquoi est-ce que tu achètes un
livre? (Why do you buy a book?)
Here are a few more examples of information questions using est-ce que:
Quand est-ce que tu vas en vacances? (When do you go on vacation?)
Combien d’enfants est-ce qu’ils ont? (How many children do they have?)
Qu’est-ce qu’on attend? (What are we waiting for?)

The question word que (what) turns into qu’ before a vowel, as shown in the last

example. However qui (who/whom) doesn’t change.

French questions with inversions

Follow these steps to include a question word in inversion format.
1. Invert the verb and subject in the statement and put a hyphen between
 them.
For example, the statement Tu achètes un livre (You buy a book)
becomes Achètes-tu un livre? (Do you buy a book?)
2. Add the question word at the beginning, and don’t forget the question mark
at the end.
For example, if you want to know why someone buys a book, use the
word pourquoi at the start of your question: Pourquoi achètes-tu un livre? (Why
do you buy a book?)
If the question includes a name or noun, it still has to go before the verb, at the
beginning of the yes/no question. For example, Pourquoi Pierre achète-t-il un
livre? (Why does Pierre buy a book?)
Quand vas-tu en vacances? (When do you go on vacation?)
Combien d’enfants ont-ils? (How many children do they have?)
Qu’attend-on? (What are we waiting for?)

Here are additional examples of information questions using inversion:

The French interrogative où

The interrogative où (where) behaves differently from other question words.
Actually, où is a complete rebel! The best way to ask a question that begins
with où is to build sentences this way: où + verb + any subject (pronoun or noun).
If it is a subject pronoun, you still need to link it to the verb by a hyphen, as in the
following examples:
Où as-tu trouvé ça? (Where did you find that?)
Où va Paul? (Where is Paul going?)
Où sont mes clés? (Where are my keys?)
Où allez-vous voyager? (Where are you going to travel?)

Learning Grammar French

1. Common question words

 Listed below are some very common question
words. que, quel, qui, quoi and lequel are explained on .
 combien + verb? how much?, how many?
combien de + noun? how much?, how many?

Combien coûte cet ordinateur? How much does this computer cost?

C’est combien, ce pantalon? How much are these trousers?

Tu en veux combien? Deux? How many do you want? Two?

Combien de personnes vas-tu How many people are you going to

inviter? invite?

comment? how?
 Comment va-t-elle? How is she?

Comment tu t’appelles? What’s your name?

Tip: pardon and comment are also used to ask someone to repeat something, and are the
same as Pardon? in English. quoi can mean the same thing, but is informal, and is the
same as What? in English.


où? where?

Où allez-vous? Where are you going?

D’où viens-tu? Where are you from?

Tip: Be careful not to mix up où, which means where, and ou (without an accent), which
means or.


pourquoi? why?

Pourquoi est-ce qu’il ne vient pas avec Why isn’t he coming with

nous? us?


quand? when?

Quand est-ce que tu pars en vacances? When are you going on

holiday?

Depuis quand est-ce que vous le How long have you known

connaissez? him?

2 qui?, que? and quoi?
 In questions, qui, que and quoi are all pronouns. Which of them you choose
depends on:
 whether you are referring to people or to things
 whether you are referring to the subject or object of the verb (the subject is the
person or thing that is carrying out the action described by the verb; the object is the
person or thing that ‘receives’ the action)
 whether the word you use will come after a preposition such as à, de or en
 For more information on Pronouns and Prepositions, see Pronouns and Relative
pronouns: qui, que, lequel, auquel, duquel.
 qui? and que? have longer forms, as shown in the table below. There is a
difference in word order between the longer and shorter forms.
 qui? is used for talking about people, and means who? or whom? in English. You
can use whom? in formal English to refer to the object of verb, though most people
use who?. qui? can be used after a preposition.
 Who? Referrin Meanin Examples Meaning
Whom? g to g
people

Subject qui? who? Qui Who’s

qui est-ce vient? coming?
qui? Qui est-
ce qui
vient?

Object qui? who? Qui vois- Who/Whom

qui est-ce whom? tu? can you
que? Qui est- see?
ce que tu
vois?

After qui? who? De qui Who’s he

prepositions qui est-ce whom? est-ce talking
que? qu’il about?
parle? Who’s this
Pour qui book for?
est ce Who did
livre? you write
À qui to?, To
avez-vous whom did
écrit? you write?
Tip que changes to qu’ before a vowel, most words beginning with h, and the French
word y.
 For more information on que and qui, see Relative pronouns: qui, que, lequel,
auquel, duquel.
 à qui is the usual way of saying whose in questions.

À qui est ce sac? Whose is this bag?

 For more information on using à to show possession, see à, de and en.
 que? and quoi? are used for talking about things, and mean what? in
English. que? cannot be used after a preposition; you have to use quoi? instead.

What? Referrin Meanin Examples Meaning

g to g
people

Subject qu’est-ce what? Qu’est-ce What’s

qui? qui se happening?
passe? What’s
Qu’est-ce worrying
qui you?
t’inquiète
?
 Object qu’est-ce what? Qu’est-ce What are
que? que vous you doing?
que? faites?
Que
faites-
vous?

After quoi? what? À quoi What are

prepositions penses- you
tu? thinking
De quoi about?
parlez- What are
vous? you talking
about?
Tip: It is possible to finish an English sentence with a preposition such as about or of, even
though some people think this is not good grammar.
Who did you write to?
What are you talking about?
It is NEVER possible to end a French sentence with a preposition.

3 quel?, quelle?, quels? and quelles?
 quel? (meaning who?, which? or what?) can be used with a noun (as an adjective)
or can replace a noun (as a pronoun). Compare this with que? (and its longer forms)
and quoi?, which also mean what?, but are NEVER used with nouns.
 For more information on Adjectives and Pronouns, see Adjectives and Pronouns.
 quel, quelle, quels and quelles are all forms of the same word. The form that you
choose depends on whether you are referring to something that is masculine or feminine,
singular or plural.

  Masculine Feminine Meaning

Singular quel? quelle? who?

what?
which?

Plural quels? quelles? who?

what?
which?

Quel est ton chanteur préféré? Who’s your favourite singer?

Quel vin recommandez-vous? Which wine do you recommend?

Quelle est ta couleur préférée? What’s your favourite colour?

Quelle heure est-il? What time is it?

Quels sont tes chanteurs préférés? Who are your favourite singers?

 Vous jouez de quels instruments? What instruments do you play?

Quelles sont tes couleurs préférées? What are your favourite colours?

Quelles chaussures te plaisent le plus? Which shoes do you like best?

For more information on how quel in used in exclamations, see The indefinite article:
un, une and des

4 lequel?, laquelle?, lesquels? and lesquelles?
 In questions lequel, laquelle, lesquels and lesquelles (meaning which
one/ones?) are all forms of the same pronoun, and are used to replace nouns. The form
that you choose depends on whether you are referring to something that is masculine or
feminine, singular or plural.

  Masculine Feminine Meaning

Singular lequel? laquelle? which?

which one?

Plural lesquels? lesquelles? which?

which ones?

‘J’ai choisi un livre.’ – ‘Lequel?’ ‘I’ve chosen a book.’ – ‘Which one?’

Laquelle de ces valises est à Bruno? Which of these cases is Bruno’s?

‘Tu te souviens de mes amis?’ – ‘Do you remember my friends?’ –

‘Lesquels?’ ‘Which ones?’

Lesquelles de vos sœurs sont Which of your sisters are married?

mariées?

LEARNING EVALUATION
Teaching-Learning Activities
TLA1: Question Construction
Expected Output: Using Wh Questions
Instructions: Use the following words into sentence and translate it into French
form of questions.
Who..?
Where ..?
When …?
What do ..?
Do …?
How many ..?
TLA2: Sentence Translation
Expected Output: Transforming French sentences to English sentences.
Instructions: Translate the following French sentences to English sentences.
French English
1 Je m’appelle Fred
2 J’habite à Londres
3 C’est le 30 octobre
4 Non je déteste le poisson
5 J’ai deux frères
6 Le samedi je vais en ville
7 Avec ma copine
ASSESSMENTS
Instructions: Translate the following English sentences to French sentences.

What do you do in the summer?

Where do you go on holiday?
When do you go to France?
Who is with you ?  
What do you do ?
What do you eat ?
Where do you stay ?

ASSIGNMENTS
Assignment: Sentence Writing
Instruction: Write sentences using the Wh questions from English to French.
A. What
1. ___________________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________________
3. ___________________________________________________
4. ___________________________________________________
5. ___________________________________________________

B. Where
1. ___________________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________________
3. ___________________________________________________
4. ___________________________________________________
5. ___________________________________________________

C. When
1. ___________________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________________
3. ___________________________________________________
 4. ___________________________________________________
5. ___________________________________________________

D. Who
1. ___________________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________________
3. ___________________________________________________
4. ___________________________________________________
5. ___________________________________________________

RUBRICS FOR GRADING

1. Rubric Question Construction

2. Rubrics: Sentence Translation

3.. Rubric: Sentence Writing

REFERENCES (APA FORMAT)

Collins (2020). Question Words - Easy Learning Grammar French. Collins

dictionaries. Retrieved from: https://grammar.collinsdictionary.com/french-easy-
learning/question- words

Mazet, V. (2020). How to Ask for Specific Information with French Question
Words. Dummies. Retrieved from https://www.dummies.com/languages/french/how-to-
ask-for-specific-information-with-french-question-words/