In French, there's (almost) no inversion of Je + verb to ask a question in Le Présent Indicatif, except for pouvoir, être, avoir and aller.
Simple Yes/No Questions
The inverted forms of je peux, je vais, je suis, j'ai are as follow:
Note that these forms are rarely used nowadays, as they're considered quite formal and old-fashioned. French people will use est-ce que or "statement order" questions instead.
Case of puis-je
In the case of pouvoir, note that je peux becomes irregular in the inverted form: puis-je, in order to ease pronunciation.
This structure is very formal as we stated before, and is usually used to sound particularly polite or even a bit affected: the nearest English equivalent would be to use May I...?
This structure is very formal as we stated before, and is usually used to sound particularly polite or even a bit affected: the nearest English equivalent would be to use May I...?
More Complex Questions
You can also use all of the question words (Comment, Quand,...) at the beginning with puis-je, ai-je and suis-je:
Want to make sure your French sounds confident? We’ll map your knowledge and give you free lessons to focus on your gaps and mistakes. Start your Braimap today »
