What are the French interrogative adverbs?

Où for place, quand for time, comment for manner, pourquoi for reason, and combien for quantity. They ask for information rather than a yes or no, and they combine with prepositions to give d'où, par où, depuis quand, and jusqu'à quand.

What's the difference between Où tu vas and Où vas-tu?

Only register. Où tu vas and tu vas où belong to relaxed speech, où est-ce que tu vas is neutral and safe in any situation, and où vas-tu is the formal written form. All three are correct French and mean exactly the same thing.

Is it combien de or combien des?

Combien de, with the noun left bare: combien de temps, combien d'amis. Combien des only appears when you're picking from a group already identified: combien des étudiants sont venus, how many of the students came.

Why does French add a -t- in questions like va-t-il?

Purely for pronunciation. When a verb ends in a vowel and is followed by il, elle, or on, the two vowels would collide, so a -t- is inserted between hyphens: parle-t-il, va-t-elle, y a-t-il. Verbs already ending in t or d don't need it: vient-il, prend-elle.

How do you ask what something is like in French?

Use comment, not quoi. Comment est ton appartement ? asks what your flat is like, and comment est-il ? asks what he's like. The English word what is misleading here, because French treats it as a question about manner and quality.

French grammar · Beginner

French Interrogative Adverbs: Où, Quand, Comment, Pourquoi, Combien

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

French has five interrogative adverbs: où, quand, comment, pourquoi, and combien. Each one asks for a piece of information rather than a yes or no, and each can be used with three different question structures — rising intonation, est-ce que, or inversion — depending on how formal you want to sound.

Où vas-tu et quand reviens-tu ?

Where are you going and when are you coming back ?

What it is

An interrogative adverb asks about the circumstances of an action: its place, its time, its manner, its reason, or its quantity. French has one word for each, and unlike English it doesn't need a helper verb to build the question. What it needs instead is a decision about register, because the same question can be asked three ways.

Tu pars quand ? / Quand est-ce que tu pars ? / Quand pars-tu ? — When are you leaving ? (casual, neutral, formal)

How to spot it

Match the question word to the kind of answer you want: a place, a time, a manner, a reason, or a number.

Où habites-tu ? — Where do you live ?
Comment ça marche ? — How does that work ?
Pourquoi es-tu parti ? — Why did you leave ?
Combien ça coûte ? — How much does it cost ?

French uses no equivalent of do in questions. The question word attaches directly to the verb, which is why Où tu habites ? needs nothing extra to work.

Interrogative Adverbs Quick Reference

The five interrogative adverbs

Adverb	Asks about	Example
où	place	Où est la gare ? — Where's the station ?
quand	time	Quand arrive-t-il ? — When does he arrive ?
comment	manner	Comment vas-tu ? — How are you ?
pourquoi	reason	Pourquoi pleures-tu ? — Why are you crying ?
combien	quantity	Combien coûte ce livre ? — How much is this book ?
combien de	quantity + noun	Combien de frères as-tu ? — How many brothers do you have ?
d'où	origin	D'où venez-vous ? — Where are you from ?
depuis quand	starting point	Depuis quand attends-tu ? — How long have you been waiting ?

Common Interrogative Adverbs Examples in French

The same five words across the three question structures:

Casual: Question Word at the End

Tu vas où ?: Where are you going ?
Il arrive quand ?: When's he arriving ?
Ça coûte combien ?: How much does it cost ?
On fait comment ?: How do we do this ?

This is by far the most common structure in everyday speech, and it needs nothing but a rising tone.

Neutral: Est-ce Que

Où est-ce que tu habites ?: Where do you live ?
Quand est-ce qu'ils partent ?: When are they leaving ?
Pourquoi est-ce que tu ris ?: Why are you laughing ?
Comment est-ce que ça s'écrit ?: How is that spelt ?

Est-ce que is a fixed block that lets you keep normal word order after it. It's neutral rather than formal.

Formal: Inversion

Où allez-vous ?: Where are you going ?
Quand partez-vous ?: When are you leaving ?
Comment s'appelle-t-il ?: What's his name ?
Combien de temps reste-t-il ?: How much time is left ?

A -t- is inserted between a verb ending in a vowel and il, elle, or on, purely to make it pronounceable.

With a Preposition

D'où viens-tu ?: Where do you come from ?
Par où passe-t-on ?: Which way do we go ?
Jusqu'où va cette route ?: How far does this road go ?
Depuis quand est-il malade ?: How long has he been ill ?

French never strands a preposition at the end of a question the way English does. It travels with the question word.

How These Questions Are Built

The choice of structure is about register, but a few rules are grammatical rather than stylistic.

Three Registers, One Meaning

Tu pars quand, quand est-ce que tu pars, and quand pars-tu all ask the same thing. The first belongs to conversation, the second is safe everywhere, and the third belongs to writing and formal speech.

Vous partez quand ? Quand est-ce que vous partez ? Quand partez-vous ?

When are you leaving ? — the same question at three levels of formality.

End position casual, est-ce que neutral, inversion formal.

Pourquoi Won't Go at the End

Four of the five adverbs can be dropped to the end of the sentence in casual speech, but pourquoi resists it. Tu pars pourquoi is possible but marked; pourquoi tu pars is the ordinary casual form.

Pourquoi tu ne réponds pas ?

Why aren't you answering ?

pourquoi stays at the front.

Combien Takes De Before a Noun

On its own, combien asks about a price or an amount. In front of a noun it needs de, and the noun stays bare: combien de livres, combien de temps, never combien des livres.

Combien de personnes attendent ?

How many people are waiting ?

combien de + bare noun.

Noun Subjects Can Invert with Où, Quand, and Comment

With a short question word and no object, a noun subject can simply swap places with the verb: où est Marie, comment va ton père. This is simple inversion, and it doesn't work after pourquoi.

Où sont les clés ?

Where are the keys ?

Où / quand / comment + verb + noun.

Pourquoi Needs Double Inversion

With a noun subject, pourquoi requires the noun to stay in front and a pronoun to be added after the verb: pourquoi ton frère est-il parti. Simple inversion is not available here.

Pourquoi les enfants sont-ils rentrés si tôt ?

Why did the children come home so early ?

pourquoi + noun + verb + pronoun.

Common Mistakes with Interrogative Adverbs

Incorrect: Où tu viens de ? — Where do you come from ?

Correct: D'où viens-tu ? — Where do you come from ?

French can't leave a preposition at the end of a question. De attaches to où and elides, giving the fixed opener d'où.

Incorrect: Combien des enfants as-tu ? — How many children do you have ?

Correct: Combien d'enfants as-tu ? — How many children do you have ?

Combien is a quantity expression, and quantity expressions take bare de. The article never appears unless you mean how many of a specific group.

Incorrect: Pourquoi est ton frère parti ? — Why did your brother leave ?

Correct: Pourquoi ton frère est-il parti ? — Why did your brother leave ?

Pourquoi doesn't allow a noun subject to jump behind the verb. The noun stays put and a matching pronoun is added after the verb instead.

Incorrect: Depuis quand tu as attendu ? — How long have you been waiting ?

Correct: Depuis quand attends-tu ? — How long have you been waiting ?

Depuis describes something still going on, so French uses the present tense. The English perfect tempts learners into the passé composé, which would mean the waiting is over.

Prepositions and Question Words

English happily leaves a preposition dangling at the end of a question. French never does, and this produces a set of compound question openers.

Où with prepositions

D'où asks about origin, par où about route, jusqu'où about limit. The preposition always precedes où.

D'où vient cette odeur ?: Where's that smell coming from ?
Par où êtes-vous passés ?: Which way did you come ?
Jusqu'où peut-on aller ?: How far can we go ?

Où vient-il de is not a possible French sentence. The preposition cannot be separated from its question word.

Quand with prepositions

Depuis quand asks how long something has been going on, jusqu'à quand asks how much longer, and pour quand asks about a deadline.

Depuis quand travaillez-vous ici ?: How long have you worked here ?
Jusqu'à quand restes-tu ?: How long are you staying ?
C'est pour quand ?: When is it due ?

Depuis quand takes the present tense in French where English uses a perfect: depuis quand attends-tu, how long have you been waiting.

Comment beyond how

Comment also asks what someone or something is like, and serves as a polite request for repetition.

Comment est ton nouvel appartement ?: What's your new flat like ?
Comment s'appelle-t-elle ?: What's her name ?
Comment ? Je n'ai pas entendu.: Sorry ? I didn't hear.

Quoi ? as a request for repetition is blunt to the point of rudeness; comment ? is the polite version.

Interrogative Adverbs FAQs

What are the French interrogative adverbs?: Où for place, quand for time, comment for manner, pourquoi for reason, and combien for quantity. They ask for information rather than a yes or no, and they combine with prepositions to give d'où, par où, depuis quand, and jusqu'à quand.
What's the difference between Où tu vas and Où vas-tu?: Only register. Où tu vas and tu vas où belong to relaxed speech, où est-ce que tu vas is neutral and safe in any situation, and où vas-tu is the formal written form. All three are correct French and mean exactly the same thing.
Is it combien de or combien des?: Combien de, with the noun left bare: combien de temps, combien d'amis. Combien des only appears when you're picking from a group already identified: combien des étudiants sont venus, how many of the students came.
Why does French add a -t- in questions like va-t-il?: Purely for pronunciation. When a verb ends in a vowel and is followed by il, elle, or on, the two vowels would collide, so a -t- is inserted between hyphens: parle-t-il, va-t-elle, y a-t-il. Verbs already ending in t or d don't need it: vient-il, prend-elle.
How do you ask what something is like in French?: Use comment, not quoi. Comment est ton appartement ? asks what your flat is like, and comment est-il ? asks what he's like. The English word what is misleading here, because French treats it as a question about manner and quality.