A MINI-GUIDE TO A MEGA-MYSTERY:

How do the Québécois use tu when

asking questions in French?

offqc.com
KEVIN FELIX POLESELLO
One of the things that stumps learners the most about the French of
Québec is the tiny two-lettered word tu! I’m not talking about the word
tu that means “you.” I’m talking about the tu that’s used to ask yes-no
questions, like:

C’est-tu important?
Is it important?

You can answer either yes or no to this question. And, in this case,
the answer is yes – learning how tu is used really is important to
improve your understanding of spoken French!

That question means the exact same thing as ones like these, which
you’re more familiar with:

C’est important?
Est-ce que c’est important?

This mini-guide will provide you with lots of examples of how tu is

used to ask yes-no questions. A few things to bear in mind:

 Using tu to ask yes-no questions is an informal usage. It’s avoided

in formal speech and writing. You’ll hear tu used very frequently
during regular, everyday conversations.

 In Québec, tu is pronounced tsu. Say the English word “cats.”

That ts sound is how the letter t in tu sounds.

 Tu is placed right after the conjugated verb. Look at again at our

example above. The conjugated verb is est, so tu goes right after
it: c’est-tu important? When there are two verbs, like in the past
tense, tu goes after the first verb: j’ai-tu dit ça? We’ll come back
to this.

 Tu is used to ask yes-no questions. It’s never used to ask who,

when, where, what, why, etc. We’ll come back to this too.

Let’s get started!

Imagine this simple scenario. A mechanic is explaining what a car’s
problem is to its owner.

The mechanic tells the owner that it’s the motor that isn’t working:

C’est le moteur qui marche pas!

It’s the motor that isn’t working!

Now imagine a scenario where the mechanic hasn’t offered the

customer any explanation at all.

The customer suspects that it’s the motor that isn’t working, so he
speaks up by asking the mechanic:

C’est-tu le moteur qui marche pas?

Is it the motor that isn’t working?

C’est became c’est-tu. That’s what transformed the statement into a

yes-no question. Let’s keep going.

C’est vraiment ça qu’on veut.

C’est-tu vraiment ça qu’on veut?
That’s really what we want.
Is that really what we want?
Pronunciation tip:

Say that example again like this:

C’est-tsu vraiment ça qu’on veut?

I won’t keep writing tu as tsu because it complicates the spelling too

much.

Just remember that it’s pronounced like that.

C’est vraiment nécessaire.

C’est-tu vraiment nécessaire?
It’s really necessary.
Is it really necessary?
C’est une joke!
C’est-tu une joke?
It’s a joke!
Is that a joke?
Pronunciation tip:
C’est une joke can be pronounced as c’t’une joke.

C’est bon ça.

C’est-tu bon ça?
That’s good.
Is that good?

C’est bon signe.

C’est-tu bon signe?
That’s a good sign.
Is that a good sign?

C’est cher.
C’est-tu cher?
It’s expensive.
Is it expensive?

Here are those examples again, but just the ones using tu. Read
through them all together:

C’est-tu vraiment ça qu’on veut?

C’est-tu vraiment nécessaire?
C’est-tu une joke?
C’est-tu bon ça?
C’est-tu bon signe?
C’est-tu cher?

Remember, using tu isn’t the only way to ask yes-no questions in

French. You can also use est-ce que. There’s nothing formal about
est-ce que, so don’t be afraid to use it. It’s used all the time in
Québec too!
Est-ce que c’est vraiment ça qu’on veut?
Est-ce que c’est vraiment nécessaire?
Est-ce que c’est une joke?
Est-ce que c’est bon ça?
Est-ce que c’est bon signe?
Est-ce que c’est cher?

You can also leave out tu and est-ce que altogether:

C’est vraiment ça qu’on veut?

C’est vraiment nécessaire?
C’est une joke?
C’est bon ça?
C’est bon signe?
C’est cher?

But this mini-guide is about how to use tu, so let’s get back to that!

In the next examples, I’ll be using the word gonna a lot to maintain
the overall informal feel of the yes-no questions. Before continuing,
know that il and ils are commonly pronounced as i in conversations.
In this mini-guide, I’ll use the spelling y.

Ça va marcher.
Ça va-tu marcher?
It’s going to work.
Is it gonna work?

Y vont aimer ça.

Y vont-tu aimer ça?
They’re gonna like it.
Are they gonna like it?

Did you notice where the tu is placed? It goes right after the
conjugated verb. In ça va marcher, the conjugated verb is va. We
can ask: ça va-tu marcher? In y vont aimer ça, the conjugated verb
is vont. We can ask: y vont-tu aimer ça?
Remember, tu is used to ask yes-no questions. To both of those
questions, we can answer yes or no:

Ça va-tu marcher?
Oui, je pense que oui.

Y vont-tu aimer ça?

Non, non et non!

Let’s keep going with more examples.

Ça va finir un jour.
Ça va-tu finir un jour?
It’s going to end someday.
Is it gonna end someday?

Y vont comprendre un jour.

Y vont-tu comprendre un jour?
They’re gonna understand someday.
Are they gonna understand someday?

Y vont la retrouver.
Y vont-tu la retrouver?
They’re gonna find her.
Are they gonna find her?

Tu m’aimes.
Tu m’aimes-tu?
You love me.
Do ya love me?

That last question has tu in it twice!

But now you know which one means “you” and which one acts as the
yes-no question word:

The first tu means “you.” The second one means yes-no.

Tu m’aimes-tu?
Tu m’aimes-(oui ou non)?
Here’s that last set of examples using tu again. Read through them
all together:

Ça va-tu marcher?
Y vont-tu aimer ça?
Ça va-tu finir un jour?
Y vont-tu comprendre un jour?
Y vont-tu la retrouver?
Tu m’aimes-tu?

Can you transform those questions into ones using est-ce que
instead?

Est-ce que ça va marcher?

Est-ce qu’y vont aimer ça?
Est-ce que ça va finir un jour?
Est-ce qu’y vont comprendre un jour?
Est-ce qu’y vont la retrouver?
Est-ce que tu m’aimes?

Let’s look now at examples of where there are two verbs involved,
like in the past tense.

It’s not difficult, so hang in there!

J’ai vraiment dit ça.

J’ai-tu vraiment dit ça?
I really said that.
Did I really say that?

There are two verbs in that example: ai and dit. Just put tu after the
first verb. That’s it!

J’ai vraiment fait ça.

J’ai-tu vraiment fait ça?
I really did that.
Did I really do that?
Before looking at more examples, know that il a and il est are
frequently said as y’a and y’est. Know also that tu as and tu es are
frequently said as t’as and t’es.

Y’a perdu sa job.

Y’a-tu perdu sa job?
He lost his job.
Did he lose his job?

Y’est parti.
Y’est-tu parti?
He left.
Did he leave?

T’as vu mon dessin.

T’as-tu vu mon dessin?
You saw my drawing.
Did you see my drawing?

T’es tombé en amour avec elle!

T’es-tu tombé en amour avec elle?
You fell in love with her!
Did you fall in love with her?

Look at that last example again. Can you identify which part of t’es-tu
means “you” and which part is the yes-no question word?

If you said that t’ means “you” and tu means yes-no, you’re right!

Here’s that last round of examples using tu again:

J’ai-tu vraiment dit ça?

J’ai-tu vraiment fait ça?
Y’a-tu perdu sa job?
Y’est-tu parti?
T’as-tu vu mon dessin?
T’es-tu tombé en amour avec elle?
If you wanted to use est-ce que instead, here’s how you could say
these questions:

Est-ce que j’ai vraiment dit ça?

Est-ce que j’ai vraiment fait ça?
Est-ce qu’y’a perdu sa job?
Est-ce qu’y’est parti?
Est-ce que t’as vu mon dessin?
Est-ce que t’es tombé en amour avec elle?

Guess what?

You’ve now pretty much taken the tour of what there is to know about
the yes-no question word tu! That wasn’t so bad, was it?

I bet that you’ll start hearing this tu pop up all over the place during
conversations now.

When you hear tu used in questions that aren’t covered here, you’ll
be able to put two and two together and figure it out on your own.

But just for good measure, I’ll leave you with more examples that you
can read through.

Here goes…

Ça va-tu mieux?
Are things better?

J’peux-tu savoir pourquoi?

Can I know why? And just why is that?
Pronunciation tip:
J’peux sounds like chpeu.

T’as-tu vu ma photo?
Have you seen my photo?

Y vont-tu nous lâcher avec ça?

Are they ever gonna stop bugging us about that?
On a-tu le droit de faire ça?
Do we have the right to do that?

On est-tu le 22 mars?
Is it the 22nd of March today?

On a-tu le temps?
Do we have time?

Ça vaut-tu la peine?
Is it worth the trouble?

Y’en a-tu qui ont déjà fait ça?

Is there anybody who’s ever done that?
Huh??

I can feel you scratching your head over that last one!

Y’en a is an informal pronunciation of il y en a.

By inserting tu after the verb, we can transform y’en a into a yes-no

question by asking y’en a-tu?

As for what that en is doing in there, let’s just say that it means “anybody”
here. Here are two more examples.

Y’en a-tu qui connaissent ça?

Is there anybody who knows what that is?

Y’en a-tu qui ont déjà essayé ça?

Is there anybody who’s ever tried that?

You may hear questions like these when the speaker is addressing a
larger group of people.

Let this simmer in your head if it’s still unclear.

Now that you’ve been initiated to it, it will sink in as you keep listening to
spoken French.

Let’s look at just a few more examples of yes-no questions using tu.
On a-tu vraiment besoin de ça?
Do we really need this?

T’as-tu vraiment besoin de savoir pourquoi?

Do you really need to know why?

T’as-tu vraiment dit ça?

Did you really say that?

C’est-tu clair?
Is that clear?

Ça se peut-tu?
Is that possible?

J’peux-tu t’appeler?
Can I call you?

I know that I’ve said it many times already: tu is used to ask yes-no
questions, but I’m going to say it one more time: tu is used to ask
yes-no questions! You can’t use it to ask when, or why, or how, or
who, or what...

These three examples are wrong:

(x) Pourquoi tu dis-tu ça?

(x) Comment on fait-tu ça?
(x) Qui a-tu écrit ça?

Why are they wrong? Because you can’t answer yes or no to them (at
least not without sounding like you’re completely out to lunch!).

Remember, tu isn’t used to ask just any old question in French. If you
can’t answer the question with a simple yes or no, tu can’t be used.
Here’s how to ask those last three questions in a conversation:

Pourquoi tu dis ça?

Comment on fait ça?
Qui a écrit ça?
Even if some of the examples in this mini-guide seem a little
mysterious to you, just smile.

My best advice for understanding what still eludes you in French:

Don’t struggle trying to force yourself to understand. Relax, let it go

for now.

If it’s important enough to know, you can be sure that you’ll be

coming across it many more times. It will all fall into place when your
brain is good and ready for it.

Read through the examples in this mini-guide a few times, then carry
on listening to French and speaking with francophones.

This mini-guide is yours!

If you found this mini-guide to be helpful, feel free to send it along to

someone else who’s learning French.

You can print it out and share it that way too.

You can learn more French from Québec on offqc.com.

Kevin Felix Polesello, “A mini-guide to a mega-mystery: How do the Québécois

use tu when asking questions in French?” Montréal, 2013.