French negative structures can also be used in questions by using negative statements, inverted word order with negation expressions, interrogative pronouns with negation expressions, or even negative . In this post, we are going to focus on how to ask negative questions, as well as how to respond to them, both negatively and positively. But how often do you ask negative questions? Honestly, probably not that often. Still, you may ask something like, “Isn’t Marie upstairs?” However, in French, you will usually express it slightly differently from English. Would you like to find out how? Let’s get started!
What is the proper word order in French negative questions?
There are different word orders that you can use when asking negative questions, depending on the type of French question you want to use: statement word order, inverted word order, and word order using interrogative pronouns.
However, regardless of what word order you use, the negation generally surrounds the verb in simple tenses and surrounds the in . Let’s look at negation in each question structure:
| Tu ne connais pas cet acteur ? Don’t you know this actor? | Vous n’avez pas voulu regarder le film ? You didn’t want to watch the movie? |
| Ne comprends-tu pas l’italien ? Don’t you understand Italian? | Haven’t they eaten anything ? |
| Pourquoi (est-ce que) tu ne connais pas cet acteur ? Why don’t you know this actor? | Qui n’a pas pris son ticket ? Who hasn’t taken their ticket ? |
⤷Did you know? In spoken French, we often “double up” on the or of a negative question. What does that mean?
To double up on the subject of a negative question, use both a noun phrase and its corresponding . The subject pronoun will come before the conjugated verb, while the noun phrase comes at the beginning or end of the sentence:
noun phrasesubject pronoun
Le facteur, il n’est pas passé ?
lit. The mailman, he didn’t come?
noun phrasesubject pronoun
Il n’est pas passé, le facteur ?
lit. He didn’t come, the mailman?
To double up on the object of a negative question, use both a noun phrase and its corresponding . As with the pronoun above, the definite article comes before the conjugated verb and the noun phrase comes at the beginning or end of the sentence
noun phrasedefinite article
Tu ne les as pas encore finis, tes devoirs ?
(compare: Haven’t you finished it yet, your homework?)
But of course, you can always simply say: Le facteur n’est pas passé ? or Tu n’as pas fini tes devoirs ?
How to answer a negative question positively?
If someone asks you a negative question in French, you must answer “yes” with the French response si and not oui.
Tu n’as plus de chocolat ?
Don’t you have any more chocolate?
Oui is, however, used to respond to affirmative questions. You can see the difference in the response in the two dialogues below:
What are tag questions in French?
Tag questions are little phrases that you can add to the end of an affirmative sentence to make it a question, often because you’re asking for confirmation. In French, the main tag questions are n'est-ce pas ?, non, si, hein, ou quoi, ah bon, and déjà.
Some of these tag questions are negative, such as n'est-ce pas ? and non, but all French tag questions are invariable.
Let’s state something crucial here: English question tags such as “did you?,” “is he?,” or “would you?” can’t be translated into French! Let’s see what the equivalent of English question tags would be in French!
How to use ‘n’est-ce pas ?’ (isn’t it?) in French?
N'est-ce pas is a question tag that can be added to any affirmation and that is most commonly translated as “isn’t it?”. Unlike in English, it doesn’t matter which verb or subject was used, n'est-ce pas can be tagged onto any sentence. However, keep in mind it is a tiny bit formal.
Il fait beau aujourd’hui, n’est-ce pas ?
The weather is nice today, isn’t it?
Le colis est arrivé, n’est-ce pas ?
The parcel has arrived, hasn’t it?
How to use ‘non,’ ‘si,’ ‘hein,’ and ‘ou quoi’ in French?
For less formal contexts, non, si, hein, and ou quoi are some additional French question tags. These can’t be translated literally into English, but the examples below should help you understand their meaning.
... non ? after affirmative questions | Vous vivez dans le 3ème arrondissement, non ? You live in the 3rd district, right? |
... si ? after negative questions | Ce n’est pas compliqué, si ?! It’s not complicated, is it? |
| You’ll let me know, won’t you? |
... ou quoi ? (informal and even a bit pushy!) | Are you buying it or not? |
How to use ‘ah bon ?!’ (really?) in French?
Ah bon ?! is one of my favorite tag questions and, if it is not already yours, I’m pretty sure it’ll become so. It is very useful, as it is a great, quick conversation filler. Whenever you are trying to interact and feel the urge to say, “Do you?!” or “Has he?!” just say Ah bon ?!
Il est arrivé aujourd’hui !
How to use ‘déjà’ (already) in French?
By using déjà — which usually means “already” — at the end of a question, it implies the speaker once knew the answer but forgot.
Il s’appelle comment déjà ?
What’s his name (again)? I forgot…
