Combien coûte ce livre ?

Question

Hello , to my understanding , there are 2 types of question ,formal and informal . But what type is this that the question "Combien coûte ce livre ?" belongs to ?, Because it's not follow the formulas for formal type ( Est-ce que or inversion ) . And it's not also follow the formula itonation for informal type (question word + statement itonation) like Combien ce livre coûte ?. Why combien is an adverb but can be followed by a verb (coûte).  So it confuses me here  . Can you explain for me please ?

Accepted Answer

Thanh, 
it is an ‘ inverted question ‘, - the same structure as - ‘ combien coûte-t-il ? ‘, - question word - verb - subject. However, the article-noun ‘ ce livre ‘ is used for the subject, not a pronoun. 
For example, the context could be that the book is being identified for the first time, or is one of a few under consideration and to avoid ambiguity/confusion the specific demonstrative ‘ ce livre ‘ is used, as a pronoun would not be appropriate.
From the lesson description 
“ You use the question word at the beginning of the sentence, followed by the inverted verb and then the subject. This is a more elegant and more formal way to ask questions in French. “ 
Don’t be confused by the bold ‘ inverted verb ‘ - the inversion is the reversal from the usual ‘ subject- verb ‘ order of a statement to the inverted  ‘ verb - subject ‘ structure of a question. 
The other difference is that a trait d’union is used between the verb and a subject pronoun ( plus or minus a euphonic ‘ t ‘ as needed, as in this example ), but not between verb and subject nouns. 
 https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/grammar/forming-questions-by-inverting-in-the-present-tense-il-elle-on-forms
 https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/my-languages/french/view/506
Perhaps a similar inverted example with a noun could be added in relevant section of the lesson to clarify.

Answer

Thank you Maaten K . Your explaination is very clear and easy to understand . So if i want to say "Your mother speaks France ?" with inverted question i can just write "Parle sa mère le francais ?"

Answer

Hi Thanh,
Just to add to Maarten's very detailed explanation and to concentrate on your examples

informal : Ce livre coûte combien ?
formal : Combien coûte ce livre ?
             Combien ce livre coûte-t-il ?

informal : Est-ce-que ta mère parle français? 
               Ta mère parle français ? ( with raised intonation                    at the end)
formal : Ta mère parle-t-elle français ?

Hope this helps!

Answer

Thank you cecile , i just have a wonder

In formal case with inversion we can write "Combien coûte ce livre ?" but can we write "Parle ta mère le francais ?" ? If not , then why ? i think "ce livre" and "ta mère" are the same , they not subject pronouns , i think they both are subject nouns. Please help me , I'm very much appreciate !