Severn Spanish

Questions I/II: Question words

 

Introduction

In Spanish, as in English, there are special question words — we’ll call them Q-words — that are used to, logically, ask questions. Sometimes, figuring out how to word a question in Spanish can be tricky, especially when sing Q-words, so this section is dedicated to helping you understand and create simple questions using these new words. Before moving on, make sure you are comfortable with the ideas about word order and implied subjects discussed in Questions I: Structure, because those concepts hold true here, too.

 

The Q-Words

There are a pretty large handful of Q-words for you to learn. One of the most challenging things for English speakers is that some of the Q-words don’t have exact translations, so deciding between two of them can be a challenge. The first order of business, however, is to memorize the Q-words and their most basic meanings.

• ¿Qué? — What?

• ¿Cuál? — Which?

• ¿Cómo? — How?

• ¿Quién? — Who?

• ¿Dónde? — Where?

• ¿Por qué? — Why? (literally, “For what?”)

 

Using Q-Words

Now we can focus on the individual words and how they are used. If you are learning these one at a time, use the Quick Reference section to jump to the appropriate word; otherwise, you can read through all of them or work however you wish.

 

¿Qué? and ¿Cuál? (“What?” and “Which?”)

These two are paired because they are the hardest for non-native speakers to figure out. The table below shows how each is used and what each means in different contexts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Above all, do NOT fret if this seems really complex and impossible at first. It is challenging to understand even for experienced speakers/learners. If it helps you to start out by just thinking of ¿Qué? as “What?” and ¿Cuál? as “Which?” no one will fault you.

A final note about cuál: if you are asking about a plural thing — for instance, if you want to know the names of two people — you must pluralize cuál too.

Examples:

¿Cuáles son sus nombres? (What are your names?/What are their names?)

¿Cuáles son los autos más rápidos? (Which are the fastest cars?)

¿Cuáles dulces quieres? (Which candies do you want?)

 

¿Cómo? (“How?”)

This word means “How?” and works pretty much as you would expect.

Examples:

¿Cómo estudias? (How do you study?)

¿Cómo estás? (How are you?)

In English, we say, “What?” when we don’t understand something. However, in Spanish, the word ¿Cómo? is used instead.

Example:

Marta: Voy al banco.

Jorge (he did not hear her well): ¿Cómo?

Marta (louder): Voy al banco.

 

¿Dónde? and ¿Adónde? (“Where?” and “To where?”)

This pair is grouped because the two words are pretty similar. The distinction between “Where?” and “To where?” is not frequently made in English, but it is important in Spanish. Look at this example to understand the difference between the two.

Example:

¿Dónde estás? (Where are you?)

¿Adónde vas? ([To] where are you going?)

As a general rule of thumb, use ¿Dónde? when the question is about where something is; use ¿Adónde? when there is movement involved (i.e. “Where are you running?”). You can also try this test: if it makes sense to put a “to” in front of the “where,” ¿Adónde? is the best bet (i.e. “To where are you running?” makes sense, but “To where are you?” does not. Use ¿Adónde? in the first case, and ¿Dónde? in the second).

 

¿Quién? (Who?)

Again, this one works pretty much like you would expect.

Examples:

¿Quién es él? (Who is he?)

¿Quién enseña la clase de español? (Who teaches Spanish class?)

¿Quién estudia? (Who studies?)

However, like ¿Cuál?, if you are asking about more than one person, ¿Quién? must be pluralized.

Example:

¿Quiénes son ellos? (Who are they?)

 

¿Por qué? (Why?)

This one can be little bit tricky, simply because of the answer. The classic answer to “Why?” is “Because.” In Spanish, “Why?” is ¿Por qué? and “because,” is porque. These two are pronounced almost identically — ¿Por qué? has a little bit more emphasis on the qué part.

Examples:

María: ¿Por qué quieres aprender español? (Why do you want to learn Spanish?)

Juan: Porque quiero hablar con todos. (Because I want to talk to everyone.)

 

Longer questions

The neat thing about the upside-down question mark required before all questions is that you can insert it in the middle of sentences to help set off the question from the rest.

Examples:

Vamos a la playa mañana; ¿quieres venir? (We are going to the beach tomorrow; do you want to come?)