Use of est-ce que

PeterS70

October 19, 2018

Hi ,
So i am wondering if anybody can explain this for me - a complete beginner.
I am in Level 1 Module 3 .

So translating from English to French the answers I have been given are

1) Which wine do you prefer? = Quel vin est-ce que vous preferez?

2) Which tram do I take to the cathedral? = Je prends quel tram pour la cathedral?

3) Which restaurant do you want to go to? = Vous voulez aller á quel restaurant?

4) Which tram do I have to take for the cathedral? = Quel tram est-ce que je dois prendre pour la cathedrale?

Question: why is 1) & 4) a slightly different translation ie they both start with Quel and use the est-ce que phrase compared to 2) &3) ? Or is it OK to use either translation in all 4 cases?

Merci

Marie-Claire-Riviere

October 26, 2018

Bonjour Peter,

Both forms are acceptable, however if you decide not to use the structure 'est-ce que' in your questions, then you will have to rely on a rising intonation to clearly mark the sentence as a question (or a question mark if it is simply written down).

If you do use the 'est-ce que' structure in your questions, then you can use whatever tone you please and it will still be understood as a question.

I hope this helps.

- Marie-Claire

Use of est-ce que

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