Is it correct to ask tu vas où instead of où vas-tu?

Yes, in speech. Tu vas où is what French speakers say to each other constantly, and nobody hears it as an error. It is a register choice rather than a grammar one, so keep it out of formal writing and use où vas-tu or où est-ce que tu vas there.

Why does que become quoi at the end of a question?

Que is an unstressed form and French will not leave it in a stressed final position. Quoi is its stressed counterpart, which is why you get tu fais quoi rather than tu fais que, and de quoi rather than de que.

What's the difference between c'est quoi and qu'est-ce que c'est?

None in meaning, only in register. C'est quoi is the spoken version and qu'est-ce que c'est the careful one. Both ask what something is, and you will hear c'est quoi far more often in conversation.

Can I really drop ne in a question?

In speech, yes, and French speakers do it all the time: tu viens pas, t'as pas compris. In writing it looks careless outside of dialogue, so keep the ne when you type anything more formal than a message to a friend.

What does hein mean at the end of a question?

It works like the English tag right or eh, inviting agreement: tu viens, hein. It is friendly and informal, and used too often it can start to sound insistent. Non serves the same purpose slightly more neutrally: c'est joli, non.

French grammar · Intermediate

Informal Questions in French: How People Actually Ask

Written by Camille Laurent, Lead French Curriculum Editor · Reviewed May 2026

In conversation, French asks questions by leaving the word order of a statement intact and either raising the voice at the end or parking the question word at the end of the sentence. Tu vas où and c'est quoi are the everyday equivalents of où vas-tu and qu'est-ce que c'est, and textbook inversion barely appears in casual speech at all.

Tu fais quoi ce soir ?

What are you doing tonight?

What it is

Textbooks teach inversion, and inversion is genuinely correct, but a French speaker chatting with a friend hardly ever uses it. Spoken French prefers to leave the sentence exactly as it would be in a statement and mark the question some other way: with intonation, or by shifting the question word to the end where it does the least damage to the rhythm.

Tu vas où ? Tu fais quoi ? C'est combien ? — Where are you going? What are you doing? How much is it?

How to spot it

If the subject comes before the verb and there is no est-ce que, you are looking at an informal question. Check the end of the sentence for the question word.

Tu viens avec nous ? — Are you coming with us? (intonation alone)
Il arrive quand ? — When's he arriving? (question word at the end)
C'est qui ? — Who is it? (c'est plus a question word)
T'as pas faim ? — Aren't you hungry? (ne dropped, tu reduced)

These forms are informal, not incorrect. They belong in speech and in messages between friends, not in an application letter.

Informal Questions Quick Reference

The careful version and its spoken equivalent

Careful French	What people say	English
Venez-vous ?	Tu viens ?	Are you coming?
Où allez-vous ?	Tu vas où ?	Where are you going?
Que faites-vous ?	Tu fais quoi ?	What are you doing?
Qu'est-ce que c'est ?	C'est quoi ?	What is it?
Qui est-ce ?	C'est qui ?	Who is it?
Combien cela coûte-t-il ?	Ça coûte combien ?	How much does it cost?
N'avez-vous pas faim ?	T'as pas faim ?	Aren't you hungry?

Common Informal Questions Examples in French

The patterns of spoken questioning:

Intonation and Nothing Else

Tu viens ?: Are you coming?
Vous avez fini ?: Have you finished?
Il est déjà là ?: Is he here already?
On y va ?: Shall we go?

This works for yes-or-no questions only, and it is the single most common question form in spoken French.

Question Word at the End

Tu habites où ?: Where do you live?
Il arrive quand ?: When is he arriving?
Ça coûte combien ?: How much does it cost?
Elle part avec qui ?: Who's she going with?

The whole preposition-plus-question-word group moves together, which is why avec qui stays in one piece.

C'est Plus a Question Word

C'est quoi, ce bruit ?: What's that noise?
C'est qui, ce type ?: Who's that guy?
C'est où, la gare ?: Where's the station?
C'est pour quand ?: When's it due?

The noun is often added at the end after a comma, which gives you time to work out what to call it.

Tags and Follow-Ups

Tu viens, hein ?: You're coming, right?
C'est bon, non ?: That's fine, isn't it?
Ça va, toi ?: How are you doing?
Où ça ?: Where's that then?

Hein and non do the work of the English tag question, and both are informal.

How Informal Questions Are Put Together

Almost every spoken question form is the result of leaving the statement alone and doing as little extra work as possible.

Statement Order Survives Intact

Nothing moves. Tu as compris is a statement and tu as compris is a question, the difference being entirely in the voice. That is why French speakers can ask questions without planning the sentence in advance.

Vous partez demain ?

Are you leaving tomorrow?

Same words, rising voice.

Que Turns Into Quoi When It Moves

Que is too weak to stand at the end of a sentence, so it is replaced by its stressed form quoi. Que fais-tu becomes tu fais quoi, and de quoi parles-tu becomes tu parles de quoi.

Tu penses quoi de ce film ?

What do you think of this film?

At the end, que → quoi.

C'est Swallows the Question

Rather than build qu'est-ce que c'est, spoken French puts the question word straight after c'est. This gives the compact family c'est quoi, c'est qui, c'est où, c'est quand, and c'est combien.

C'est combien, l'entrée ?

How much is the entrance fee?

c'est + question word.

Ne Disappears in the Negative

In casual speech the ne of a negative question is simply not pronounced, leaving pas to do the work. Tu ne viens pas becomes tu viens pas, and with tu as reduced to t'as you get t'as pas vu.

T'as pas vu mes clés ?

Haven't you seen my keys?

Drop ne, keep pas.

The Subject Can Be Added at the End

Speakers often start with a pronoun and then name the person afterwards, separated by a comma in writing. This buys time and puts the emphasis where they want it.

Il est où, ton frère ?

Where's your brother?

Pronoun first, noun as an afterthought.

Common Mistakes with Informal Questions

Incorrect: Quoi tu fais ce soir ? — What are you doing tonight?

Correct: Tu fais quoi ce soir ? — What are you doing tonight?

Quoi is the stressed form and cannot open a question. At the front you need qu'est-ce que or que with inversion; quoi only works at the end or after a preposition.

Incorrect: Est-ce que tu vas où ? — Where are you going?

Correct: Tu vas où ? — Where are you going?

Est-ce que belongs to the neutral register and a final question word to the informal one. Mixing them marks the sentence as a question twice over.

Incorrect: C'est que ? — What is it?

Correct: C'est quoi ? — What is it?

After c'est the question word is stressed, and the stressed form of que is quoi. The same applies after any preposition: de quoi, à quoi.

Incorrect: Monsieur, vous voulez quoi ? — What would you like, sir?

Correct: Monsieur, que souhaitez-vous ? — What would you like, sir?

The grammar is fine but the register clashes with monsieur. Addressing a stranger politely calls for inversion or est-ce que, not a final quoi.

Sounding Natural Without Sounding Sloppy

The informal question forms are not all equally casual, and knowing where the line falls is worth more than knowing the forms themselves.

What survives in writing

Intonation questions appear in dialogue and messages without any trouble. A question word at the end is spoken only, and reductions like t'as belong in speech.

Tu viens demain ?: Are you coming tomorrow?
On se voit à quelle heure ?: What time are we meeting?
Vous avez reçu mon message ?: Did you get my message?

A question mark still needs its space in front of it, however informal the sentence is.

Reductions worth recognising

Spoken French compresses common words. You do not need to produce these, but you do need to hear them.

T'es prêt ?: Are you ready? (tu es)
Y a quelqu'un ?: Is anyone there? (il y a)
Tu l'as vu, çui-là ?: Have you seen that one? (celui-là)

Qu'est-ce que is regularly compressed to a single syllable in speech, which is why fast questions can be hard to catch.

Echo questions

A bare question word plus ça asks someone to specify what they just said.

Où ça ?: Where exactly?
Quand ça ?: When was that?
Comment ça ?: How do you mean?
Qui ça ?: Who do you mean?

Comment ça is also a mild expression of disbelief, roughly what do you mean by that.

Informal Questions FAQs

Is it correct to ask tu vas où instead of où vas-tu?: Yes, in speech. Tu vas où is what French speakers say to each other constantly, and nobody hears it as an error. It is a register choice rather than a grammar one, so keep it out of formal writing and use où vas-tu or où est-ce que tu vas there.
Why does que become quoi at the end of a question?: Que is an unstressed form and French will not leave it in a stressed final position. Quoi is its stressed counterpart, which is why you get tu fais quoi rather than tu fais que, and de quoi rather than de que.
What's the difference between c'est quoi and qu'est-ce que c'est?: None in meaning, only in register. C'est quoi is the spoken version and qu'est-ce que c'est the careful one. Both ask what something is, and you will hear c'est quoi far more often in conversation.
Can I really drop ne in a question?: In speech, yes, and French speakers do it all the time: tu viens pas, t'as pas compris. In writing it looks careless outside of dialogue, so keep the ne when you type anything more formal than a message to a friend.
What does hein mean at the end of a question?: It works like the English tag right or eh, inviting agreement: tu viens, hein. It is friendly and informal, and used too often it can start to sound insistent. Non serves the same purpose slightly more neutrally: c'est joli, non.