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I am used to seeing questions phrased like this:

Combien la France compte-t-elle d'habitants ? Combien la France compte-t-elle de millionaires ?

But I came across a website page whose headline runs:

Combien la France compte d'immigrés et d'étrangers ?

That lack of verb/pronoun inversion looks very strange to me. Or is it perfectly acceptable?

Tom Adair
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Lack of inversion is now the norm in spoken French.

Here the written sentence would be considered relaxed by some people but I believe most find it perfectly acceptable as it reproduces what we could have say orally.

jlliagre
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    Let's say it's becoming more normal, but the "-t-elle" is not completely dead yet either? At least in written form. In spoken language, maybe something like "Y'a combien d'immigrés et d'étrangers en France?" – Frank Aug 10 '23 at 14:04
  • merci jlliagre - très utile :) – Tom Adair Aug 10 '23 at 16:59
  • @Frank Yes, oral French can be even more relaxed but Y'a combien [...] is less likely to be written as the title of a web article, unless a special effect is requested. – jlliagre Aug 10 '23 at 19:42
  • @jlliagre Yes, I prefaced with "in spoken language" - I wouldn't see it in a title, for sure. – Frank Aug 10 '23 at 19:50