📖LearnModule 7 · Lesson 17 of 30Independent User · CEFR B1, completedUnit 4 · Rapporter ce qu'on dit
Il demande si — passing on a question
Module 7 of the free French course (CEFR B1, completed), lesson 17 of 30: A reported question loses its question mark and its inversion. On this page: 8 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's lesson 17.
The words
French
English
Say it
il demande si tu viens
he asks whether you are coming
eel duh-mah(n)d see tew VYA(n)
ce que tu fais
what you are doing
suh kuh tew FEH
demander
to ask
duh-mah(n)-DAY
la question
the question
lah kehs-TYOH(n)
l'ordre des motsmasculine — the article elides to l'
the word order
lordr day MOH
savoir si
to know whether
sah-vwahr SEE
la réponse
the answer
lah ray-POH(n)S
curieux
curious
kew-RYUH
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
Hear the words
Each word is read twice — say it back in the gap. Computer-generated voice; credits on the course page.
La règle · The rule
A reported question loses its question mark and its inversion. « Est-ce que tu viens? » becomes il demande si tu viens — he asks whether you are coming. Si is the word for whether.
Et aussi · And also
For a what-question French uses ce que or ce qui: « Qu'est-ce que tu fais? » becomes il demande ce que tu fais. The word order goes back to normal — subject, then verb.
Attention · Watch out
A reported question loses its inversion and its question mark: il demande si tu viens. A what-question becomes ce que: il demande ce que tu fais.
dire, passé composé — the table
je ai dit · tu as dit · il/elle a dit · nous avons dit · vous avez dit · ils/elles ont dit
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with il demande si tu viens.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out dire, passé composé in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The French Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.