Questions & Negatives - French Grammar

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❓ Questions & Negatives — French has several ways to ask questions: intonation (rising voice), est-ce que, and inversion. Negatives are formed by putting ne...pas around the verb. This lesson covers all question forms and negative structures (ne...pas, ne...jamais, ne...rien, ne...personne, etc.) with pronunciation guides in Urdu and English.

🔊 Click the Listen button next to each example to hear the pronunciation using Text-to-Speech.

💡 Key Rule: In French, ne comes before the verb and pas (or other negative word) comes after the verb. In spoken French, the ne is often dropped.

❓ Three Ways to Ask Questions

There are three main ways to ask a question in French: intonation, est-ce que, and inversion.

#	Method	Explanation	Example	Translation	ترجمہ (Urdu)
1	Intonation	Rising voice at the end (informal)	Tu parles français ?	Do you speak French?	کیا تم فرانسیسی بولتے ہو؟
2	Est-ce que	est-ce que + subject + verb (neutral)	Est-ce que tu parles français ?	Do you speak French?	کیا تم فرانسیسی بولتے ہو؟
3	Inversion	Verb + subject (formal/written)	Parles-tu français ?	Do you speak French?	کیا تم فرانسیسی بولتے ہو؟

📌 Usage:

• Intonation: Casual, spoken French.

• Est-ce que: Neutral, used in all situations.

• Inversion: Formal, written French.

🔤 Question Words

Common question words in French and how to use them.

#	French	Pronunciation (English)	تلفظ (Urdu)	Meaning	معنی (Urdu)
1	Qui	kee	کی	Who / Whom	کون / کسے
2	Que / Quoi	kuh / kwah	کو / کوا	What	کیا
3	Où	oo	او	Where	کہاں
4	Quand	kon	کون	When	کب
5	Pourquoi	poor-kwah	پورکوا	Why	کیوں
6	Comment	ko-mon	کمون	How	کیسے
7	Combien	kom-byen	کم بین	How much / many	کتنا / کتنے
8	Lequel	luh-kel	لوکیل	Which one	کون سا
9	Quel	kel	کیل	Which / What	کون سا

📌 Note:

• Que is used before a vowel or in formal contexts.

• Quoi is used in informal questions and after prepositions.

• Lequel agrees with the noun (lequel, laquelle, lesquels, lesquelles).

🔄 Inversion Rules

Inversion is the formal way to ask questions. The subject pronoun is placed after the verb with a hyphen.

#	Subject	Inversion Form	Example	Translation	ترجمہ (Urdu)
1	je	-je (with -ai/-rai → -ai-je)	Puis-je ?	May I?	کیا میں کر سکتا ہوں؟
2	tu	-tu	Parles-tu ?	Do you speak?	کیا تم بولتے ہو؟
3	il/elle	-t-il / -t-elle	Parle-t-il ?	Does he speak?	کیا وہ بولتا ہے؟
4	nous	-nous	Parlons-nous ?	Do we speak?	کیا ہم بولتے ہیں؟
5	vous	-vous	Parlez-vous ?	Do you speak?	کیا آپ بولتے ہیں؟
6	ils/elles	-t-ils / -t-elles	Parlent-ils ?	Do they speak?	کیا وہ بولتے ہیں؟

📌 Important:

• When the verb ends in a vowel and the subject starts with a vowel, add -t- (Parle-t-il?).

• With je, inversion is only used with certain verbs (puis-je, ai-je, suis-je).

🚫 Negative Structures

French uses ne...pas around the verb for basic negation. There are also other negative structures.

#	Structure	Meaning	Example	Translation	ترجمہ (Urdu)
1	ne...pas	not	Je ne parle pas.	I don't speak.	میں نہیں بولتا۔
2	ne...jamais	never	Je ne parle jamais.	I never speak.	میں کبھی نہیں بولتا۔
3	ne...rien	nothing	Je ne vois rien.	I see nothing.	میں کچھ نہیں دیکھتا۔
4	ne...personne	nobody	Je ne vois personne.	I see nobody.	میں کسی کو نہیں دیکھتا۔
5	ne...plus	no longer / not anymore	Je ne parle plus.	I no longer speak.	میں اب نہیں بولتا۔
6	ne...que	only	Je ne parle que français.	I only speak French.	میں صرف فرانسیسی بولتا ہوں۔

📌 Important:

• In spoken French, the ne is often dropped (Je parle pas).

• Personne and rien come after the past participle in passé composé.

• Ne...que is used to mean "only."

⏳ Negatives in Passé Composé

In passé composé, ne...pas goes around the auxiliary verb (avoir or être).

#	Affirmative	Negative	Translation	ترجمہ (Urdu)
1	J'ai parlé	Je n'ai pas parlé	I didn't speak / I haven't spoken	میں نے نہیں بولا
2	Il est allé	Il n'est pas allé	He didn't go / He hasn't gone	وہ نہیں گیا
3	Nous avons fini	Nous n'avons pas fini	We didn't finish / We haven't finished	ہم نے ختم نہیں کیا

📌 Rule:

• ne before the auxiliary, pas after the auxiliary.

• This applies to all negative structures (ne...jamais, ne...rien, ne...personne, etc.).

📝 Negatives with Infinitives

In negative infinitive constructions, ne...pas goes together before the infinitive.

#	Structure	Example	Translation	ترجمہ (Urdu)	Audio
1	ne pas + infinitive	Je préfère ne pas parler.	I prefer not to speak.	میں نہ بولنا پسند کرتا ہوں۔
2	ne jamais + infinitive	Il a décidé de ne jamais fumer.	He decided to never smoke.	اس نے کبھی نہ سگریٹ پینے کا فیصلہ کیا۔

📌 Rule:

• With infinitives, ne and pas come together before the infinitive.

• This is the only time they are together (no verb between them).

📖 Important Rules

❓ Three Ways to Ask

Tu parles ? / Est-ce que...

1. Intonation: Rising voice (informal)
2. Est-ce que: Neutral (all situations)
3. Inversion: Formal (written)
سوال پوچھنے کے تین طریقے

🔄 Inversion

Parles-tu ?

Rule: Verb + subject pronoun with hyphen.
• Add -t- if the verb ends in a vowel.
• Only used in formal situations.
فعل + فاعل (ہائفن کے ساتھ)

🚫 Negative Structures

ne...pas / ne...jamais

Common negatives:
• ne...pas — not
• ne...jamais — never
• ne...rien — nothing
• ne...personne — nobody
• ne...plus — no longer
• ne...que — only
منفی جملے بنانے کے طریقے

🗣️ Spoken French

Je parle pas.

Rule: In spoken French, the ne is often dropped.
• Je ne parle pas.
• Il ne vient pas.

This is very common in everyday conversation.
بول چال میں "ne" اکثر چھوڑ دیا جاتا ہے

📝 Practice Tips:

Practice all three question forms: Use intonation, est-ce que, and inversion.
Learn question words: Practice asking questions with qui, que, où, quand, pourquoi, comment, combien.
Practice negatives: Use ne...pas, ne...jamais, ne...rien, etc. in sentences.
Practice spoken French: Drop the "ne" in casual conversation.
Practice passé composé negatives: Place ne...pas around the auxiliary.
Listen and repeat: Use the audio buttons to hear each question and practice repeating it.

💡 Quick Reference — Question Words:

Qui ? — Who?

Que ? — What?

Où ? — Where?

Quand ? — When?

Pourquoi ? — Why?

Comment ? — How?

Combien ? — How much/many?

Lequel ? — Which one?