To form questions by inverting in Passé composé when the subject is a noun (Marie, la fille, etc), you follow this order:
Anne est allée au marché. -> Anne est-elle allée au marché ?
Anne went to the market. -> Did Anne go to the market?
Note that when turning the sentence into a question, you still need to include the subject pronoun il, elle, nous, vous, ils or elles that matches the subject noun.
-> If the noun is Anne, you will use elle (feminine singular), but if it's garçon, you will use il (masculine singular).
Here are more examples:
Anne est-elle allée au marché?
Did Anne go the market?
Où ma sœur et moi avons-nous fait nos études ?
Where did my sister and I study?
Thomas et toi êtes-vous partis tôt?
Did Thomas and you leave early?
Pourquoi mon frère est-il venu te voir ?
Why did my brother come to see you?
Les enfants ont-ils pris leur petit-déjeuner?
Did the children have their breakfast?
ATTENTION:
See Forming inverted questions with subject pronouns in Le Passé Composé (conversational past)
and Forming inverted questions with reflexive verbs in Le Passé Composé
See also Forming inverted questions in Le Présent (except il, elle, on forms)
Forming inverted questions in Le Présent with il, elle, on
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
Quand Juliette et Pauline ont-elles déménagé ?
When did Juliette and Pauline move out?
Pourquoi mon frère est-il venu te voir ?
Why did my brother come to see you?
Où ma sœur et moi avons-nous fait nos études ?
Where did my sister and I study?
Thomas et toi êtes-vous partis tôt?
Did Thomas and you leave early?
Le chien a-t-il mangé l'os?
Did the dog eat the bone?
Le petit garçon est-il entré dans la classe?
Did the small boy go in the classroom?
Anne est-elle allée au marché?
Did Anne go the market?
Julie a-t-elle fait ses courses hier?
Did Julie do her shopping yesterday?
Les enfants ont-ils pris leur petit-déjeuner?
Did the children have their breakfast?
Q&A
CrystalMaiden
Kwiziq community member
4 May 2018
1 reply
Way to make it easier: " About... X...? "
So I imagine, in the English more literal translations, " about " before the first noun. " About Paul, has he left? " " The kids, have they had their breakfasts? " Is that a good habit?
Chris
Kwiziq community member
5/05/18
Inverted questions are more elegant. Depending on the actual situation, it might sound approriate or over-the-top. It isn't a good habit in general. You need to develop a feel for when they fit and when not.
-- Chris (not a anative speaker).
Megan
Kwiziq community member
30/11/17
Ron
Kwiziq community member
5/10/17
Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
6/10/18
Hi Helen,
You can say: "Est-ce que Anne est allée au marché?
Hope this helps!
Petros
Kwiziq community member
23 December 2018
4 replies
Que
It would seem "Qu'ont fait les hommes" is an accepted sentence. According to the logic of this article, it should be "Que les hommes ont-ils fait." Can anyone explain this difference? Is one of these wrong? Is there some exception for "que?"
Chris
Kwiziq community member
23 December 2018
23/12/18
These are just two different ways of forming questions. Either is correct.
Alan
Kwiziq community member
23 December 2018
23/12/18
Yes, I think "que" is an exception.
This lesson (and the associated lesson for the present tense) describes what's known as "complex inversion", where you put the noun first, then use an additional pronoun for the inversion. With "simple inversion" you just invert the noun and verb. The lesson seems to imply that you always have to use complex inversion with nouns, but I believe this is an oversimplification - it actually depends on what the question word is, and various other aspects of the sentence.
In particular, with "que" you can only use simple inversion.
Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
24 December 2018
24/12/18
Hi,
You can also say :
"Qu'est-ce que les hommes ont fait?"
Petros
Kwiziq community member
12 February 2019
12/02/19
Thanks for all your answers. Alan, yours was especially helpful. Though Chris commented that either is fine, "que les hommes ont-ils fait," and "qu'ont fait Les hommes." Is this truly the case? Is one of these wrong (making que an exception), or are they both fine?