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2.3: Las palabras interrogativas

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    Forming Questions in Spanish

    In Spanish, when writing a question, an upside-down question mark (¿) is necessary at the beginning of the question, and a regular question mark (?) is used at the end. There are two types of questions that we use:

    1. Yes/No questions.
    2. Questions that require information.

    Yes/No Questions

    There are four ways to ask a yes/no question:

    Simply add question marks to a statement and raise the pitch of your voice at the end. The sentence structure remains the same:

    Option 1: Raise the Pitch
    Statement Question
    subject + verb + complement upward arrow
    Raquel estudia en la biblioteca. ¿Raquel estudia en la biblioteca?

    By placing the subject pronoun after the verb:

    Option 2: Change Subject and Verb Order
    Statement Question
    subject + verb + complement verb + subject + complement
    Raquel estudia en la biblioteca. ¿Estudia Raquel en la biblioteca?

    By placing the subject pronoun at the end of the sentence:

    Option 3: Placing the Subject Pronoun at the End
    Statement Question
    subject + verb + complement verb + subject
    Raquel estudia en la biblioteca. ¿Estudia en la biblioteca Raquel?

    By leaving the sentence as is and adding a tag question "¿no?," "¿verdad?" or "¿cierto?" at the end of a statement:

    Option 4: Adding a Tag Question
    Statement Question
    subject + verb + complement subject + verb + complement + tag question
    Raquel estudia en la biblioteca. Raquel estudia en la biblioteca, ¿no?
    Raquel estudia en la biblioteca. Raquel estudia en la biblioteca, ¿verdad?

    Interrogative Words for Open-Ended Questions

    Interrogative words are used to ask questions that seek specific information. These words always carry an accent mark.

    Spanish Interrogative Words
    Interrogative Word English Interrogative Word English
    ¿Adónde? Where (to)? ¿De dónde? From where?
    ¿Cómo? How? ¿Dónde? Where?
    ¿Cuál?, ¿Cuáles? Which?, Which one(s)? ¿Por qué? Why?
    ¿Cuándo? When? ¿Qué? What?, Which?
    ¿Cuánto/a? How much? ¿Quién? Who?
    ¿Cuántos/as? How many? ¿Quiénes? Who? (plural)
    Girl listening to music

    "Women's break" by eommina, Pixabay is licensed under CC0 1.0
    Women traveling
    "Women" by RoadLight, Pixabay is licensed under CC0 1.0


    Ejemplos:

    • ¿Qué música escuchas? ¿Cuándo escuchas música? - What music do you listen to? When do you listen to music?
    • ¿Adónde viajan ellas? ¿Quiénes viajan? - Where do they travel to? Who travels?

    Por qué and porque

    • In Spanish, "Why?" is written as two words with an accent: ¿Por qué?
    • The answer "because" is written as one word without an accent: porque

    ¡ATENCIÓN!

    Some prepositions are placed before question words in Spanish. These include:

    • "a" (to)
    • "para" (for)
    • "de" (of/from)

    For example:

    • "quién/quiénes" means "who"
    • "de quién(es)" → "whose"
    • "a quién(es)" → "to whom"
    • "para quién(es)" → "for whom"

    This page titled 2.3: Las palabras interrogativas is shared under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Sara Jacome-Thompson, Evergreen Valley College (ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative) .