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Relative usage - French questions | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Questions About Your Target Languages |  | |
| rlnv Senior Member United States Joined 3952 days ago 126 posts - 233 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 1 of 4 27 March 2014 at 1:05am | IP Logged | ||
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I'm wondering if some native or experienced French speakers can help me understand the relative popularity of the various ways of formulating questions in French. I’m referring to the usage of est-ce que, rising intonation, or inversion in conversation.
I'm currently still working though methods and have only had limited exposure to the language outside of my methods. Long term I can gain knowledge of practical usage myself, but knowing now during my studies would be insightful and interesting. I'm noticing that various methods tend to favor one form or the other. Are there regional preferences, say France versus Quebec, urban versus rural or even age related preferences? How about formal or informal, talking to a shopkeeper or someone you met on the train, how about a business contact? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Pierre-Emmanuel Diglot Newbie Canada learnicelandicnow.wo Joined 3908 days ago 7 posts - 14 votes Speaks: French*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Icelandic | Message 2 of 4 27 March 2014 at 1:26am | IP Logged | ||
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There are four ways to ask questions in Quebec:
* As-tu faim? / Ont-ils fait leurs devoirs? * Est-ce que tu as faim? / Est-ce qu'ils ont fait leurs devoirs? * Tu as (T'as) faim? / Ils ont (Y'ont) fait leurs devoirs? * Tu as-tu (T'as-tu) faim? / Ils ont-tu (Y'ont-tu) fait leurs devoirs? (=>this is only used in Quebec) The two last structures are informal. I use them all the time when I speak with friends, co-workers or random people I meet but I only use the first two structures when I write. I hope this helps! 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| rlnv Senior Member United States Joined 3952 days ago 126 posts - 233 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 3 of 4 27 March 2014 at 2:15am | IP Logged | ||
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Thank you for introducing me to the fourth usage for Québec. Would that also be common in other areas of Canada, New Brunswick or elsewhere? I hope to take a trip to Montréal later this year, and will listen for that.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5382 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian | Message 4 of 4 27 March 2014 at 3:12am | IP Logged | ||
Yes, everywhere in Canada. 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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