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Inversion by Bruce Sallee and David Hebert

Inversion involves changing the word order in the sentence, putting the verb before the subject pronoun. English does the same thing. For example, “You are going to the store” is a declarative statement. To create a question, you may ask, “Are you going to the store?”

“You,” the subject pronoun, appears first in the declarative statement, immediately before the verb, “are.” In an inverted question, however, the verb begins the statement and the pronoun directly follows the verb.

<tgroup cols="2"> <colspec colname="col1" colnum="1" colwidth="50%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="left"/> <colspec colname="col2" colnum="2" colwidth="50%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="left"/> <tbody> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>Habitez-vous en France?</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>Do you live in France?</p></td> </tr> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> <p>In order to ask a question using inversion, the subject and object are reversed. In written French, a hyphen is placed between the two words to indicate their relationship. In spoken French, anytime you hear a verb come before the subject, remember that you're being asked a question. Listen to the CD for the pronunciation of the questions seen below.</p> <p><emphasis>Est-ce que Paul est ici?</emphasis></p> <p><emphasis>Paul est ici?</emphasis></p> <p><emphasis>Habitez-vous en France?</emphasis></p> <div class="npmo"> <img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/np/french/track.jpg"> <div class="npcp"><p><B>TRACK 37</B></p></div> </div> <!--/gc--> <div id="pagination"><ul><li class="prev"><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/french/asking-questions-and-giving-orders/intonation.htm" title="Intonation">Intonation</a></li><li class="next"><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/french/asking-questions-and-giving-orders/asking-questions-about-people.htm" title="Asking Questions about People">Asking Questions about People</a> </li></ul></div></div> <div id="coda"> <div id="rel"><div class="n5">Related Articles</div><ul> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/french/asking-questions-and-giving-orders/inversion.htm" zT="18/1YL/Zn"> Inversion - French </a></li> <li><a href="http://french.about.com/library/weekly/aa110601.htm" zT="18/1YL/Zn"> Inversion - Uses of French Inversion - French Word Order </a></li> <li><a href="http://french.about.com/od/grammar/g/inversion.htm" zT="18/1YL/Zn"> Inversion - French Grammar + Pronunciation Glossary </a></li> <li><a href="http://french.about.com/od/grammar/a/pronominalverbs_3.htm" zT="18/1YL/Zn"> French Pronominal Verbs and Word Order </a></li> <li><a href="http://grammar.about.com/od/correctingerrors/a/SpecSVA.htm" zT="18/1YL/Zn"> Tricky Cases of Subject-Verb Agreement </a></li> </ul></div> <div id="sec"><div class="n5">Read More Asking Questions and Giving Orders</div><ul><ul class="col1"><li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/french/asking-questions-and-giving-orders/est-ce-que.htm">Est-ce que</a></li> <li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/french/asking-questions-and-giving-orders/intonation.htm">Intonation</a></li> <li class="btO">Inversion</li> <li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/french/asking-questions-and-giving-orders/asking-questions-about-people.htm">Asking Questions about People</a></li> </ul><ul class="col2"><li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/french/asking-questions-and-giving-orders/asking-other-kinds-of-questions.htm">Asking Other Kinds of Questions</a></li> <li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/french/asking-questions-and-giving-orders/giving-orders-the-imperative-verb-form.htm">Giving Orders: The Imperative Verb Form</a></li> <li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/french/asking-questions-and-giving-orders/activit-7.htm">Activité 7</a></li> </ul></ul></div> </div> <script>if(zSbL<1)zSbL=3;zSB(2);zSbL=0</script> </div> <div id="widgets"><script type="text/javascript">if(z336>0){w('<div id="adB">'+ap[0]+at[4]+as[0]);adunit('','','about.com',ch,gs,336,280,'1','bb',3);w('</div>')}if(z155>0){w('<div id="adP">'+ap[0]+at[4]+as[0]);adunit('','','about.com',ch,gs,336,155,'1','ps',4);w('</div>')}</script> <div id="pg" class="pane"><div class="n3">Shopping</div><div class="cntnr"><a href="http://shop.everything.com/product/the-everything-learning-french-book-with-cd-2nd-edition/"><img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/np/french/Cover.jpg"></a><h4><a href="http://shop.everything.com/product/the-everything-learning-french-book-with-cd-2nd-edition/">THE EVERYTHING LEARNING FRENCH BOOK</a></h4><p><a href="http://shop.everything.com/product/the-everything-learning-french-book-with-cd-2nd-edition/">By Bruce Sallee and David Hebert</a></p><div id="fp"><a href="http://shop.everything.com/product/the-everything-learning-french-book-with-cd-2nd-edition/">Buy This Book</a></div></div></div> <div id="toc" class="pane"><div class="n3">French Sections</div><ul><li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/french/pronouncing-and-writing-french/">Pronouncing and Writing French</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/french/using-everyday-expressions/">Using Everyday Expressions</a></li> <li><a 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<li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/french/forming-past-tense-verbs/">Forming Past-Tense Verbs</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/french/using-reflexive-verbs/">Using Reflexive Verbs</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/french/forming-the-future-tense/">Forming the Future Tense</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/french/forming-the-conditional-tense/">Forming the Conditional Tense</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/french/understanding-the-subjunctive-mood/">Understanding the Subjunctive Mood</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/french/traveling-in-french-speaking-countries/">Traveling in French-Speaking Countries</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/french/studying-and-working-in-french-speaking-countries/">Studying and Working in French-Speaking Countries</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/french/family-friends-and-you/">Family, Friends, and You</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/french/your-house-or-apartment/">Your House or Apartment</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/french/appendix-a-answer-key/">Answer Key</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/french/appendix-french-to-english-glossary/">French-to-English Glossary</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/french/appendix-c-english-to-french-glossary/">English-to-French Glossary</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/french/appendix-d-verb-conjugation-tables/">Verb Conjugation Tables</a></li> </ul></div></div> <script type="text/javascript">zCi();validateForms();</script> <div id="abf" style="padding-right:0"><ol class="crumbtrail"><li class="home"><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/">Home</a></li><li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/french/">French</a></li><li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/french/asking-questions-and-giving-orders/">Asking Questions and Giving Orders</a></li><li>Inversion</li></ol></div> <div id="aboutinfo" 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