A somewhat more accurate word-for-word translation would be, "What is it that it is, that?"

The French phrase "est-ce que", or "is it that" is used quite often to precede questions, as in "Est-ce que vous avez du fromage?" literally "Is it that you have of the cheese?", meaning, "Do you have any cheese?". Other means of forming questions in French include that of inversion, where the subject and the verb trade places, as in "Avez-vous du fromage?", literally "Have you of the cheese?"; or one can simply change the pitch of speech upward towards the end of the sentence: "Vous avez du fromage?"

Log in or register to write something here or to contact authors.