When a friend of mine was speaking on the phone, he asked if the person on the other end could hear him:
Allô? M’entends-tu? Allô?
Hello? Can you hear me? Hello?
Remember, this question sounds conversational in Québec despite using the inversion (m’entends-tu). You can review in #717 when the inversion sounds natural in spoken French and when it doesn’t.
We’ve already come across two other ways this same question was asked in the same context of telephone conversations, which were: est-ce que tu m’entends? and tu m’entends-tu?
So, all three of these questions that we’ve come across work during a conversation in Québec:
1. M’entends-tu?
2. Est-ce que tu m’entends?
3. Tu m’entends-tu?
… which the Québécois pronounce as:
M’entends-tsu?
Est-ce que tsu m’entends?
Tsu m’entends-tsu?
They’re pronounced that way because t before the French sound u is pronounced ts in Québec. It’s the “tsu” part of what’s called the “tsitsu” on OffQc.
The most informal sounding question of the three is tu m’entends-tu?, which uses the colloquial yes-no question marker -tu. I suggest you wait until you’ve heard it used in real conversations before using it yourself.
Homework!
Can you ask the 5 questions below in French using the 3 ways described above?
Remember, during informal conversations, the second person singular tu almost always becomes t’ when the next word begins with a vowel (e.g., tu es becomes t’es), so use this contraction when possible.
The answers follow the questions… no peeking!
1. Do you understand?
2. Do you want some?
3. Did you lock the door?
4. Does your back hurt?
5. Are you sure it works?
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Answers:
1. Comprends-tu? Est-ce que tu comprends? Tu comprends-tu?
2. En veux-tu? Est-ce que t’en veux? T’en veux-tu?
3. As-tu barré la porte? Est-ce que t’as barré la porte? T’as-tu barré la porte?
4. As-tu mal au dos? Est-ce que t’as mal au dos? T’as-tu mal au dos?
5. Es-tu sûr que ça marche? Est-ce que t’es sûr que ça marche? T’es-tu sûr que ça marche?
Does using the inversion to ask questions in French always sound formal? (#717)
Posted in Entries #701-750, tagged comment, conversation, formal, français québécois, informal, inversion, où, pourquoi, quand, Québécois French, question, question word on 6 February 2014| 4 Comments »
To invert, or not to invert, that is the question.
Did you learn that questions using the inversion automatically sound more formal in French? This isn’t always the case in the French of Québec. In fact, you’ll hear the inversion used quite often when questions are asked in everyday conversations.
The questions below all sound perfectly conversational despite the fact that they use the inversion:
Veux-tu un lift? from entry #707
Do you want a lift?
Pourrais-tu me donner dix piasses, s’il te plaît? from entry #382
Can you give me ten bucks, please?
En veux-tu? from entry #382
Do you want some?
As-tu mal à la tête? from entry #382
Do you have a headache?
Me l’apporterais-tu, s’il te plaît? from entry #382
Can you bring it to me, please?
Sais-tu comment ça s’est passé? from entry #318
Do you know how it happened?
However!
Using the inversion with question words (comment?, pourquoi?, quand?, où?, etc.) does sound more formal in French, even in Québec. In regular conversations, the inversion is typically avoided in these kinds of questions.
None of the conversational questions below use the inversion:
Comment t’as su? from entry #712
(as opposed to comment as-tu su?)
How did you know?
How did you find out?
Pourquoi vous me dites ça? from entry #318
(as opposed to pourquoi me dites-vous cela?)
Why are you telling me this?
Why are you saying this to me?
C’est arrivé quand? from entry #318
(as opposed to quand est-ce arrivé?)
When did it happen?
Il restait où? from entry #318
(as opposed to où restait-il?)
Where was he living?
You’ll also sometimes hear question words get thrown to the end of a question, like in the last two examples above.
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