In French, the noun-verb order can be inverted to verb-noun when asking a question. This is done in English as well, but not in all cases. The inversion includes a hypen:
| Vous avez un maison. | — You have a house. |
| Avez-vous un maison? | — Have you a house? |
| Vous avez allé au marché. | — You have gone to the market. |
| Avez-vous allé au marché? | — Have you gone to the market? |
When negated, the ne/n' precedes the verb, while the pas follows the inverted noun. The compounded verb-noun is a helpful reminder:
| Ne sommes-nous pas à les Etas-Unis maintenant? | — Aren't we in the United States now? |
With few exceptions, je is not inverted. Questions can be asked with a rising intonation, or with Est-ce que?:
| Je suis l'homme pour le travaille? | — Am I the man for the job? |
| Est-ce que je suis le mieux? | — Is it that I am the best? |
However, être, pouvior, and devoir can have an inverted first-person subject, although this is considered somewhat formal speech:
| Suis-je à la heure? | — Am I on time? |
| Puis-je que reste ici? | — Can I stay here? |
| Dois-je que descendre ici? | — Must I descend here? |
In some cases, a -t- is placed within an inverted form to aid pronunciation. This happens when a verb form ends in a vowel. It also is in common use with the phrase Y a-t-il... ("Is there…? Are there…?"):
| A-t-on assez nourriture? | — Have we have enough food? |
| Y a-t-il une libre en votre sac? | — Is there a book in your bag? |
However, these may be simplified in common speech:
| Il y a assez nourriture? | — Is there enough food? |
| Il y a une libre en votre sac? | — Is there a book in your bag? |
Questions using inverted verb-noun formations that have a noun subject, will restate the subject using the subject's pronoun. This formation can be found in English:
| Michel a-t-il un velo? | — Michael, has he a bicycle? (Does Michael have a bicycle?) |
Note how a simplified form of this is "Michel a un velo?" ("Michael has a bicycle?"). French adds a couple of extra details. The pronoun il creates the phrase "Michael a il un velo?" ("Michael, has he a bicycle?"). And the -t- is added between the a and il strictly to aid prononciation — it is pronounced, but it refers to nothing and cannot be translated to English.