tu travailles?
When…?
| C’est quand ton anniversaire? | When is your birthday? |
| Quand est-ce que tu arrives? | When will you be here? |
| Quand est-ce que Laurent doit arriver? | When is Laurent supposed to get here? |
| Quand est-ce que James vient nous rendre visite? | When is James coming to visit us? |
| À quelle heure on se retrouve? | What time are we meeting? |
If you want to ask how long someone has been doing something, use Ça fait longtemps que…? (How long have you…?) followed by the present tense. For more information on the present tense, see here.
How long have…?
| Ça fait longtemps que tu es en France? | How long have you been in France? |
| Ça fait longtemps que tu travailles ici? | How long have you been working here? |
| Ça fait longtemps que vous attendez? | How long have you been waiting? |
A very versatile way of asking someone socially how something is going or has gone is to use Ça se passe bien,…? (How is…?) or Ça s’est bien passé,…? (How was…?).
How…?
| Ça s’est bien passé, tes vacances? | How was your holiday? |
| Ça s’est bien passé, votre vol? | How was your flight? |
| Ça se passe bien, à l’université? | How’s university going? |
Sometimes you’ll want to ask why a friend or acquaintance did or didn’t do something. You can use Pourquoi…? (Why…?) and the past tense to ask. For more information on the past tense, see here.
Why…?
| Pourquoi est-ce que tu ne m’as pas téléphoné? | Why didn’t you call me? |
| Pourquoi est-ce que tu n’y es pas allé? | Why didn’t you go? |
| Pourquoi est-ce que tu as déménagé? | Why did you move house? |
| Pourquoi est-ce qu’elle a démissionné? | Why did she quit her job? |
When you’re talking to friends or colleagues you will often need to be able to talk about what you would like to do. To say what you want to do, use je voudrais (I’d like). voudrais comes from the verb vouloir. For more information on vouloir, see here.
I’d like to…
| Je voudrais te remercier de m’avoir aidé. | I’d like to thank you for helping me. |
| Je voudrais parler à M. Gautier, s’il vous plaît. | I’d like to speak to Mr Gautier, please. |
| On voudrait t’inviter à prendre un verre. | We’d like to take you out for a drink. |
| On voudrait te présenter un ami. | We’d like you to meet a friend. |
You can also use je veux (I want) to talk about what you want to do. If you want to say that you want someone to do something, you use je veux que followed by the subjunctive. For more information on the subjunctive, see here.
I want to…
| Je veux organiser une soirée surprise. | I want to organize a surprise party. |
| Je veux inviter quelques amis pour mon anniversaire. | I want to have a few friends over for my birthday. |
| Je veux que tu viennes avec moi. | I want you to come with me. |
| Je veux que la soirée soit réussie. | I want the evening to be a success. |
One easy way of making suggestions to your friends and colleagues is to use on pourrait (we could) followed by the verb in the infinitive. pourrait comes from the verb pouvoir. For more information on pouvoir, see here.
We could…
| On pourrait demander à Paul de se joindre à nous. | We could ask Paul to join us. |
| On pourrait se voir à un autre moment. | We could meet another time. |
| On pourrait prendre un verre un de ces jours. | We could go out for a drink some time. |
| On pourrait se retrouver au Café de la Poste. | We could meet up at the Café de la Poste. |
Just as in English you can make a suggestion by simply asking Pourquoi ne… pas? (Why don’t…?). You will notice that French speakers very often omit ne to make sentences shorter – this is mainly in spoken French.
Why don’t…?
| Pourquoi ne pas se donner rendez-vous un de ces jours? | Why don’t we get together sometime? |
| Pourquoi pas inviter Fabien et sa copine? | Why don’t we invite Fabien and his girlfriend? |
| Pourquoi pas déjeuner avec moi? | Why don’t you meet me for lunch? |
| Pourquoi tu ne les appelles pas? | Why don’t you phone them? |
You can also make a suggestion using the French phrase Et si…? (How about?) which is followed by a verb in the imperfect tense. For more information on the imperfect tense, see here.
How about…?
| Et si on les invitait à dîner? | How about asking them round for dinner? |
| Et si tu venais avec nous? | How about if you came with us? |
| Et si je passais te prendre le matin? | How about if I picked you up in the morning? |
Use Est-ce que je devrais…? (Should I…?) followed by the verb in the infinitive to ask if you should do something. devrais comes from the verb devoir. For more information