Questions
In Spanish, there may be several ways to ask the same question. Note the inverted question
mark that begins each question.
żMaría habla espaÅ„ol?
żHabla María espaÅ„ol?
żHabla espaÅ„ol María?
The following questions mean exactly the same thing:
Does María speak Spanish?
żMaría habla espaÅ„ol?
żHabla María espaÅ„ol?
żHabla espaÅ„ol María?
Possible answers would be:
Sí, María habla espaÅ„ol.
No, María no habla espaÅ„ol.
Another method of forming questions is to add a tag question to the end of a statement.
María habla espaÅ„ol, żno?
María habla espaÅ„ol, żverdad?
Each of these questions could be translated as:
Maria speaks Spanish, doesn't she?
Common words used to introduce other questions are:
żAdónde?
żDónde?
żDe dónde?
żCómo?
żCuál (- es)?
żCuándo?
żCuánto (- a)?
żCuántos (- as)?
żQué?
żDe qué?
żQuién (- es)?
żA quién (- es)?
żCon quién (- es)?
żDe quién (- es)?
żPor qué?
żPara qué?
Note: Each has a written accent mark.
Notice how the subject and verbs are inverted. That is, the subject comes after the verb.
żQué estudia Pilar?
żCuándo comen ustedes?
żDónde está mi coche?
żCuánto cuesta la corbata?
żDónde? means "Where?" żAdónde? means "To where?" Thus, dónde asks for a location, while
adónde asks for a destination.
żDónde está la biblioteca?
Where is the library?
żAdónde va Raśl?
Where is Raul going?
(Literally: To where goes Raul?)
żDe dónde? means "From where?"
żDe dónde es Gerardo?
Where is Gerardo from?
żCómo? means "How?"
żCómo está usted?
How are you?
żCuál? and żCuáles? mean "What?" or "Which?"
żCuál es tu nombre?
What is your name?
żCuáles son tus libros favoritos?
What (Which) are your favorite books?
żCuándo? means "When?"
żCuándo van a ir ustedes?
When are you- all going to go?
żCuánto(- a)? means "How much?"
żCuánto dinero gana Eduardo?
How much money does Eduardo earn?
żCuántos(- as)? means "How many?"
żCuántas chicas hay en la clase?
How many girls are there in the class?
żQué? means "What?"
żQué es la libertad?
What is liberty?
żQué estudias?
What do you study?
żDe qué? means "About what?" or "Of what?"
żDe qué material es la pluma?
What is the pen made of?
Literally: Of what material is the pen?
żDe qué hablan ustedes?
What are you- all talking about?
Literally: Of what do you- all speak?
żQuién(- es)? means "Who?"
żQuién es Gregorio?
Who is Gregorio?
żQuiénes son esos chicos?
Who are those boys?
żA quién(- es)? means "Whom?"
żA quién buscas?
For whom are you looking?
żA quiénes vas a dar tantos libros?
To whom are you going to give so many books?
żCon quién(- es)? means "With whom?"
żCon quién hablo?
With whom am I speaking?
żCon quiénes estudia Mario?
With whom does Mario study?
żDe quién(- es)? means "Whose?"
żDe quién es aquel sombrero?
Whose hat is that?
żDe quiénes son estas monedas?
Whose coins are these?
żPor qué? means "Why? (for what reason)"
żPor qué estudias espaÅ„ol?
For what reason do you study Spanish?
Possible answer:
Porque es un requisito.
Because it's required.
żPara qué? means "Why? (for what purpose)"
żPara qué estudias espaÅ„ol?
For what purpose do you study Spanish?
Possible answer:
Para ser profesor de espańol.
In order to become a Spanish teacher.
When used with the verb ser, cuál and qué can both mean "what," but they are not
interchangeable. Cuál is more common, and is used to indicate a selection, or choice of
possibilities. Qué is used to elicit a definition or an explanation.
żCuál es la capital de EspaÅ„a?
What is the capital of Spain?
żQué es la capital?
What is the (definition of) capital?
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