Hi, I have heard that the inversion is not used often, and rarely used among young people. Maybe it is used more often with an older generation? Which of the 3 forms is the most used in everyday conversational French? And my second question is: What is the tone or feeling behind each form? (casual, friendly, condescending, written versus conversation, unnatural, etc). Thank you in advance for your time and your answer! :)
Who / When to use inversion to form a question?
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Caroline A.Kwiziq community member
Who / When to use inversion to form a question?
This question relates to:French lesson "Inverted questions in the present tense (Le Présent) in French - regular forms (except il/elle/on forms)"
Asked 5 years ago
Generally speaking, the inverted form is the most formal way to ask a question. Used in a familiar setting, where you'd normally use intonation only, it sounds stilted. However there are certain phrases where it is commonly used, even in a less formal context, e.g., comment vas-tu?
Asking with "est-ce que" or "qu'est-ce que" falls somewhere in the middle. But again, it depends and that rule should be taken only as a rough guideline.
Caroline A. asked:
Who / When to use inversion to form a question?
Hi, I have heard that the inversion is not used often, and rarely used among young people. Maybe it is used more often with an older generation? Which of the 3 forms is the most used in everyday conversational French? And my second question is: What is the tone or feeling behind each form? (casual, friendly, condescending, written versus conversation, unnatural, etc). Thank you in advance for your time and your answer! :)
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