Est-ce qu'il travaille au café le lundi, le mercredi et le vendredi?Travaille-t-il au café parce qu'il a besoin d'argent?Est-ce que Martin étudie la chimie?A-t-il quatre cours ce trimestre?Est-ce qu'il admire son prof d'histoire?
Explanation:
Using "est-ce que" is perhaps the most common, and the most simple, manner of formulating a question in French. It means "does/do," and was used, as indicated in the directions, in questions 1, 3, and 5. It simply means, in this case (#1, for example), "does he work at the café on Monday, Wednesday and Friday?" It is correct to use "est-ce que" at any point when posing a question.
Using an inversion is the second-most common, and a more efficient way of posing a question, and was used in questions 2 and 4 as indicated in the guidelines. It is essentially saying the same thing as when one uses "est-ce que," the format being different, and being more efficient in speech and writing alike (consider "est-ce qu'il a" and "a-t-il" - both meaning the same thing, "does he have," but the second, with an inversion, being quicker). When using an inversion, you place the verb first, then the "t" if needed (see below paragraph for explanation on the "t"), and then the subject, hence why it's often referred to as a subject-verb inversion (when using "est-ce que," you place the subject first, then the verb. e.g. "est-ce qu'elle mange la pomme?" means "does she eat the apple?" and has the subject, "elle" ("she") in front of the verb "mange" ("eat").)
Notice the use of the letter "t" when using an inversion. It is used in French when the first of the words that would be joined together ends with a vowel and the second begins with a vowel as well Let's use "a" and "il" as an example - the first word starts with a vowel and the second ends with one, and it does not flow smoothly to say "a-il." You would then add the "t" in between, joining the words with hyphens (-), turning it into "a-t-il." This is much easier to say.
