French Interrogative Adverbs
Adverbes intérrogatifs
Interrogative adverbs are used to ask for new information or facts. The most common French interrogative adverbs are:
| quand | when |
| où | where |
| pourquoi | why |
| comment | how |
| combien de | how many/much |
All of these can be used with either est-ce que or inversion.
| Quand manges-tu ? Quand est-ce que tu manges ? |
When do you eat? |
| Combien de livres veut-il ? Combien de livres est-ce qu'il veut ? |
How many books does he want? |
| Où habite-t-elle ? Où est-ce qu'elle habite ? |
Where does she live? |
Note that comment can also be used as an exclamation to mean "what"; for example, when you did not hear or understand what another person said.
In literature, you might see an additional interrogative adverb: que, meaning why:
| Qu'avais-tu besoin de lui en parler ? | Why did you have to go and talk to him about it? |
| Olivier et Roland, que n'êtes-vous ici ? (Hugo) |
Olivier and Roland, why aren't you here? |
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