In this article a modal aspect of extra words, functioning in total question utterance is studied, regularities of prepositional and postpositional usage of such modalizers in affirmative and negative total question constructs are established and their role in the illocutionary focus of these questions is defined. In questions extra words play not only the role of the operators in the verbal interaction, which are used by the speaker to specify one’s communicative intention, but they also create the «cumulative effect», in other words, the continuum of question – narration with a peripheral question seme and with the central declarative seme, that is, they are used mostly in improper interrogative utterances. Among the special markers of the «cumulative effect» there are morphemes: non, oui, n’est-ce pas, hein, pas vrai and utterances with idea predicates in postposition and (rarely) in preposition (je crois, crois-tu?, tu imagines?, je suppose, je pense, etc.). Constructs with prepositional idea predicates characterize proper interrogative utterances (bipolar constructs, which request the alternative to reply oui or non). Markers under analysis are used to request approving of the proposition (thinkable content of the utterance) and play the role of support (modus) of the question (dictum), because they are the explicit modus part, that directs the question illocutionary in some communicative case.