est-ce que

French

Alternative forms

est-ce qu’ (elided before a vowel)
esque (informal)

Etymology

From the subject-verb inversion of c’est que (“it is that”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɛs kə/
- Audio (Lyon): (file)
- Audio: (file)
Rhymes: -ə

Particle

est-ce que

Used to introduce a yes-or-no question.
Est-ce que tu veux une chambre ? ― Do you want a bedroom?

Est-ce qu’elle est arrivée ? ― Has she arrived?
Used after a preposed interrogative to introduce the remainder of the question.
Quand est-ce que les élèves retournent à l’école ?
When do the students return to school?

Combien de musées est-ce qu’il y a en France ?
How many museums are there in France?

Usage notes

Before a vowel, est-ce que becomes est-ce qu’:
est-ce qu’elle

est-ce qu’il
In older forms of French, and in more formal registers of present-day French, the role of est-ce que is often fulfilled by subject-verb inversion:
Quand viendrez-vous ? ― When will you come?

In fact, est-ce que itself results from subject-verb inversion; it comes from c’est que — however, in modern French, est-ce que is a set phrase that does not necessarily function as the inversion of c’est que and the former can be used to introduce a question beginning with the latter:

Est-ce que c’est que les hommes sont partis ?

Have the men left?

In colloquial French, yes-or-no questions are often indicated solely by punctuation (in writing) or intonation (in speech), with no special lexical or syntactic marker:
T’es prête ? ― You ready?

Similarly, non–yes-or-no questions often use the same structure as statements, with question words not being preposed:

Il a dit quoi ? ― He said what?

In informal or colloquial French, question syntax is often used instead of subject-verb inversion in indirect questions:
Il veut savoir où est-ce qu’ils habitent.
He wants to know where (it is that) they live.

Descendants

Haitian Creole: èske
Louisiana Creole: èske
Seychellois Creole: eski