The three ways of asking a question
CEFR A1 · part 2
edumaterial's parts within the level. The European framework does not subdivide them.
The partitive: du, de la, desUsing du, de la or des before uncountable things, and switching to de after a negative.à and de with the article: au, aux, du, desContracting à + le into au, à + les into aux, de + le into du and de + les into des…Adjectives: before or after the nounPlacing the adjective correctly and making it agree, including irregular feminine forms.Passé composé: avoir or être?Choosing the auxiliary, forming the participle and agreeing when required.Son, sa, ses: they agree with the thingChoosing the possessive by the gender and number of the thing owned, not the owner; and…C'est or il estUsing c'est to introduce or identify —with an article after— and il/elle est to describe…The rule, in three lines
The same question, three registers. Intonation: Tu viens ? — the sentence does not change, only the voice rises. Est-ce que: Est-ce que tu viens ? — works everywhere. Inversion: Viens-tu ? — the written, formal one, with a hyphen.
The usual slip. Learning just one and using it everywhere. Inversion in a text to a friend reads like a novel; intonation alone will not do in written work.
Why it catches you out. English builds questions with do and with inversion, so changing the word order is familiar. What is new is that French has THREE levels, and that the spoken one keeps the statement order untouched.