Common French Questions: 19 Big Ones

for Everyday Use

Okay, so we’ve convinced you that this post is kinda, sorta important, yes? Great. Well then,
let’s stop dilly-dallying and get to work. Of course, there are tons of other questions that you
can learn with the help of FluentU, but this is a start.
FluentU takes real-world videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks
—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.
Ready or not, here we go!
Introductions and Small Talk
We spend a large chunk of our lives introducing ourselves to other people. You might as well
know how to do it in French, too!
1. Comment vous appelez-vous ? / Comment tu t’appelles ?
One of the easiest and fastest ways to start making new friends is by asking “What’s your
name?” Use vous when the situation calls for more formality (or also when you’re asking a
group of multiple people their names). Use tu when the situation is more casual/informal.
If you’re the one being asked, you can respond by saying:
Je m’appelle  Brian/Lucy/Max/etc.  (My name is…)
2. Comment allez-vous ? / Comment ça va ? / Ça va ?
Comment allez-vous is the equivalent of the English “How are you?” to which you can
respond with any variation of “Je vais bien, et vous ?” (I’m doing well, and you?), “Bien,
merci” (Good, thanks) and so on. 
However, if you’re looking to be more informal, particularly when you’re speaking with a
friend, “Comment ça va ?” or simply “Ça va ?” will do the trick. These are more
like “Whatsup?” or “How’s everything?” Typical responses include “Ça va
(bien)” (Everything’s good), “Pas trop mal” (Not bad), “Ça va pas du tout” (Everything’s
going wrong), etc.
3. Comment ça s’écrit ?
“How do you spell that?” This is particularly helpful when you’re having trouble
understanding what someone is saying because of a language barrier or unfamiliar regional
accents.
If you’re the one being asked how to spell something, it’s always helpful to know how the
letters of the alphabet are pronounced in French as well so that when you say “Margot, M-A-
R-G-O-T,”  your listener will actually understand you!
4. D’où venez-vous ? / D’où viens-tu ?
AKA the formal and informal ways, respectively, of asking “Where are you from?”
And if someone asks you, all you have to do is say “Je viens de…” (I’m from…).
Bonus: Sometimes, you’ll hear people use être (to be) instead of venir (to come), as
in “D’où êtes-vous ?” or “Tu es d’où ?” Basically, the versions that use venir (“D’où
venez-vous ? / D’où viens-tu ?”) literally mean “Where do you come from?” while the
versions that use être (“D’où êtes-vous ?” / “Tu es d’où ?”) literally mean “Where are you
from?”
If you haven’t yet learned to conjugate the verb venir, the present-tense conjugations are:
je viens 
tu viens 
il/elle/on vient 
nous venons 
vous venez 
ils/elles viennent 
For the verb être, the conjugations are:
je suis 
tu es 
il/elle/on est 
nous sommes 
vous êtes 
ils/elles sont
If you hear someone use the verb être in their question, you can respond with“Je suis
de…” (I’m from…). Simple as that!
5. Quel âge avez-vous ? / Quel âge as-tu ?
In English, we say “How old are you?” But in French, the construction literally means “What
age do you have?”
And even though in English we say “I’m 20 years old,” in French you have to say “J’ai vingt
ans” or, literally, “I have 20 years.”
6. Qu’est-ce que vous étudiez ? / Qu’est-ce que tu étudies ?
Ah, the good old go-to introductory question for university students around the world: “What
do you study?” 
If you’re asked this, don’t panic, just repeat after me: “J’étudie…”  So, if you study French,
you can respond “J’étudie le français” (I study French) loud and proud!
You can find some more basic introductory French questions and sentences here.
Socializing and Making Conversation
Now that you’ve successfully gone through the introductory phase, you might want to ask
some more conversational questions. Here are some common starter questions to get you
going.
7. Qu’est-ce que tu vas faire ce week-end ?
“What are you going to do this weekend?” Good for prefacing asking someone out on a date,
making plans with friends or just finding out what’s happening around town this weekend.
If you’re the one being asked, you can start off with “Je vais…” and carry on with whatever
activity you’ll be doing this weekend, using the infinitive form of the verb. For example, “Je
vais sortir avec des amis” (I’m going to go out with some friends).
8. Tu veux sortir avec nous ce soir ?
Invite a friend to join you and your crew by asking them “Do you want to go out with us
tonight?” Replace nous (us) with moi (me) and you can ask someone out on a date, either
romantic or platonic.
And to respond to this question, you can say anything from “Je ne peux pas, désolé !” (I
can’t, sorry!) to  “Pourquoi pas !”  (Why not!).
9. À quelle heure commence/se termine [le concert] ?
Asking, “What time does ___ start/end?” is useful in so many contexts. From asking what
time a concert starts to what time a boring lecture ends, you’ll want this question in your
toolbox.
And if you know the answer, you can respond simply by saying something like:
Le concert commence à huit heures et se termine à dix heures et demie. (The concert starts at
eight o’clock and ends at 10:30.)
10. Qu’est-ce qui s’est passé ?
Helpful for those curious cats who always want to know, “What happened?”
A sample response would be:
Je suis tombé malade. (I got sick.)
Said in the past tense, just like the question.
11. Quel est votre/ton passe-temps préferé ?
There’s no better way to get to know someone than by finding out what their favorite hobby
is.
To respond, you can mimic the structure of the question by saying “Mon passe-temps préferé
est…” (My favorite hobby is…). Or, if you’re truly passionate about your hobby and want to
show it, you can say something like “J’adore jouer au foot,” or “I love playing soccer.”
Asking for Information
Asking for information is important. Here are some of the most common questions for doing
so.
12. Parlez-vous anglais/français ? / Est-ce qu’il y a quelqu’un qui parle
anglais/français ?
“Do you speak English/French?” / “Is there someone (here) who speaks
English/French?” When you’re in a place where the native language is not the same as your
native tongue, it’s always helpful to know how to ask this question.
To respond to someone else asking this, speak up and say, “Yes, I speak English,” or “Oui, je
parle français” (Yes, I speak French).
13. Quelle heure est-il ?
Nowadays, with our smartphones basically attached to our palms, this question isn’t quite so
common anymore. But if you watch any old movie (pre-smartphone days, of course), you’ll
realize that this was a pretty common question back then (and still sort of is now, as well).
So, for the sake of nostalgia, here’s how you say “What time is it?”
“Il est onze heures du matin,” or “It’s 11 a.m.,” would be a perfect response. Oh, and
here’s how to tell time in French, just in case you need a little refresher!
14. À quelle heure part le train pour Paris/Marseille/etc. ?
Still on the subject of time, knowing how to ask “What time does the train depart for
Paris/Marseille/wherever” is pretty useful. To ask what time anything is happening, just start
the question off with “À quelle heure…” or “At what time…”
And responding to a question like this is as easy as saying, “Le train part à quinze
heures,” or “The train departs at 3 p.m.” (Remember, the 24-hour clock system is pretty
common in France, unlike in the U.S.!)
15. Quel temps fait-il aujourd’hui ?
“What’s the weather like today?” Again, not super useful in the age of the smartphone (unless
you’re asking Siri, of course), but it’s still a wonderful go-to question for that good old
awkward small talk!
And if you do ask Siri what the weather’s like, she’ll likely respond with something like “Il
fait  chaud/froid,” or “It’s hot/cold.” Oh, and here are some more idiomatic weather
expressions to sound more authentically French. You’re welcome!
16. Quel jour sommes-nous ?
What’s the first question you’ll want to ask if you ever find yourself transported via time
machine to another time? “What day is it?” Or, literally in French, “What day are we at?”
And if someone else has traveled via time machine and asks you this (or, you know, if a
friend just can’t remember what day it is today…), you can say, for example:
Nous sommes lundi / C’est lundi. (It’s Monday.)
17. Où se trouve… ? / Où est… ? / Comment va-t-on à… ?
Où se trouve…  literally means “Where is this specific thing found/situated?” But Où est… is
just as common. They both mean “Where is… ?”
Another common variation of the question is more direction-based. “Comment va-t-on
à…” is what someone would say when they want directions. It means “How do I get to… ?”
To respond, you can say, for example, “Il faut aller tout droit” (You have to go
straight) or  “Désolé, mais je ne sais pas”  (I’m sorry, but I don’t know).
And here’s some more info about asking for and giving directions in French!
18. Est-ce que vous savez où je peux trouver… ?
Perfect for asking someone “Do you know where I can find… ?” This is great for when
you’re shopping and need to find something specific quickly, without running around the
store aimlessly for half an hour (we’ve all been there).
A common response would be “Ça se trouve au deuxième étage,” or “That’s on the second
floor.”
But you can also use this in non-shopping contexts, as well. Use it to ask where you can find
the restroom, a specific classroom, etc.
19. Combien ça coûte ?
And finally, to avoid that uncomfortable moment of “Uh-oh, I didn’t realize this
T-shirt/coffee/pastry/etc. was so expensive” when you’re already at the cash register, just
memorize how to ask, “How much does this cost?”
And when that barista responds “Ça coûte sept euros,” telling you that your morning latte is
about to set you back a whopping seven euros, you can prepare yourself (and your wallet)
adequately for the shock.
 
And there you have it, folks! All the common French questions you could ever want to know.
Now go forth and use ’em to your heart’s content!
And one more thing...
If you like learning French on your own time and from the comfort of your smart device, then
I'd be remiss to not tell you about FluentU.
FluentU has a wide variety of great content, like interviews, documentary excerpts and web
series, as you can see here:

FluentU brings native French videos with reach. With interactive captions, you can tap on
any word to see an image, definition and useful examples.

For example, if you tap on the word "crois," you'll see this:

Practice and reinforce all the vocabulary you've learned in a given video with learn
mode. Swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you’re learning, and play the
mini-games found in our dynamic flashcards, like "fill in the blank."

All throughout, FluentU tracks the vocabulary that you’re learning and uses this information
to give you a totally personalized experience. It gives you extra practice with difficult words
—and reminds you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned.
Start using FluentU on the website with your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the
FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play stores.

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