Questions

Asking and answering questions is fundamental to conversation. Spanish questions follow straightforward patterns once you know the structure.

Yes/No questions

Spanish forms yes/no questions primarily through intonation. The word order can remain the same as a statement:

Statement	Question
🔊 Hablas español.	🔊 ¿Hablas español?
(You speak Spanish.)	(Do you speak Spanish?)
🔊 Ella viene mañana.	🔊 ¿Ella viene mañana?
(She comes tomorrow.)	(Is she coming tomorrow?)

Optionally, invert subject and verb:

• 🔊 ¿Viene ella mañana? — Is she coming tomorrow?
• 🔊 ¿Habla usted inglés? — Do you speak English?

Answering yes/no questions

Affirmative answers:

Spanish	English
🔊 Sí.	Yes.
🔊 Sí, claro.	Yes, of course.
🔊 Sí, por supuesto.	Yes, of course.
🔊 Claro que sí.	Of course.
🔊 Cómo no.	Of course. (Latin America)
🔊 Eso es.	That's right.
🔊 Exacto.	Exactly.

Negative answers:

Spanish	English
🔊 No.	No.
🔊 No, gracias.	No, thank you.
🔊 Claro que no.	Of course not.
🔊 Creo que no.	I don't think so.
🔊 Todavía no.	Not yet.
🔊 Ya no.	Not anymore.

Uncertain answers:

Spanish	English
🔊 Quizás. / 🔊 Tal vez.	Maybe. / Perhaps.
🔊 No sé.	I don't know.
🔊 Depende.	It depends.
🔊 Puede ser.	Maybe. / Could be.
🔊 A lo mejor.	Maybe.

Question words

All Spanish question words carry an accent mark:

Spanish	English	Example
🔊 ¿Qué?	What?	🔊 ¿Qué quieres? (What do you want?)
🔊 ¿Quién?	Who?	🔊 ¿Quién es? (Who is it?)
🔊 ¿Quiénes?	Who? (plural)	🔊 ¿Quiénes son? (Who are they?)
🔊 ¿Cuál?	Which?/What?	🔊 ¿Cuál prefieres? (Which do you prefer?)
🔊 ¿Cuáles?	Which? (plural)	🔊 ¿Cuáles quieres? (Which ones do you want?)
🔊 ¿Dónde?	Where?	🔊 ¿Dónde vives? (Where do you live?)
🔊 ¿Adónde?	Where to?	🔊 ¿Adónde vas? (Where are you going?)
🔊 ¿De dónde?	Where from?	🔊 ¿De dónde eres? (Where are you from?)
🔊 ¿Cuándo?	When?	🔊 ¿Cuándo llega? (When does it arrive?)
🔊 ¿Por qué?	Why?	🔊 ¿Por qué estudias? (Why do you study?)
🔊 ¿Para qué?	What for?	🔊 ¿Para qué es esto? (What is this for?)
🔊 ¿Cómo?	How?	🔊 ¿Cómo estás? (How are you?)
🔊 ¿Cuánto/a?	How much?	🔊 ¿Cuánto cuesta? (How much does it cost?)
🔊 ¿Cuántos/as?	How many?	🔊 ¿Cuántos años tienes? (How old are you?)

Qué vs Cuál

Both can translate to "what," but they're used differently:

Use ¿Qué...? for:

• Definitions: 🔊 ¿Qué es esto? (What is this?)
• Before nouns: 🔊 ¿Qué libro quieres? (What/Which book do you want?)

Use ¿Cuál...? for:

• Selection from options: 🔊 ¿Cuál prefieres? (Which do you prefer?)
• With ser for "what is your...": 🔊 ¿Cuál es tu nombre? (What is your name?)
• 🔊 ¿Cuál es tu dirección? (What is your address?)

Por qué vs Porque vs Por que vs Porqué

Form	Usage	Example
🔊 ¿Por qué?	Why? (question)	🔊 ¿Por qué vienes? (Why are you coming?)
🔊 Porque	Because (answer)	🔊 Vengo porque quiero. (I'm coming because I want to.)
🔊 Por que	For which	🔊 La razón por que vino... (The reason for which he came...)
🔊 El porqué	The reason (noun)	🔊 No sé el porqué. (I don't know the reason.)

Common question patterns

About people

Question	Answer pattern
🔊 ¿Cómo te llamas?	🔊 Me llamo...
(What's your name?)	(My name is...)
🔊 ¿De dónde eres?	🔊 Soy de...
(Where are you from?)	(I'm from...)
🔊 ¿A qué te dedicas?	🔊 Soy... / 🔊 Trabajo en...
(What do you do?)	(I'm a... / I work in...)
🔊 ¿Cuántos años tienes?	🔊 Tengo... años.
(How old are you?)	(I'm... years old.)
🔊 ¿Estás casado/a?	🔊 Sí/No, estoy...
(Are you married?)	(Yes/No, I'm...)
🔊 ¿Tienes hermanos?	🔊 Sí, tengo... / 🔊 No, soy hijo único.
(Do you have siblings?)	(Yes, I have... / No, I'm an only child.)

About things

Question	Meaning
🔊 ¿Qué es esto?	What is this?
🔊 ¿Cómo funciona?	How does it work?
🔊 ¿Dónde puedo comprarlo?	Where can I buy it?
🔊 ¿Cuánto cuesta?	How much does it cost?
🔊 ¿Tiene otro color?	Do you have another colour?
🔊 ¿Tiene uno más grande?	Do you have a bigger one?

About time

Question	Meaning
🔊 ¿Qué hora es?	What time is it?
🔊 ¿A qué hora abre?	What time does it open?
🔊 ¿A qué hora cierra?	What time does it close?
🔊 ¿Cuánto tiempo dura?	How long does it last?
🔊 ¿Cuándo es la reunión?	When is the meeting?

About places

Question	Meaning
🔊 ¿Dónde está el banco?	Where is the bank?
🔊 ¿Cómo llego a...?	How do I get to...?
🔊 ¿Hay un restaurante cerca?	Is there a restaurant nearby?
🔊 ¿Está lejos?	Is it far?
🔊 ¿Por dónde se va a...?	Which way to...?

Indirect questions

When embedding a question within a statement, keep the question word but use normal word order:

Direct question	Indirect question
🔊 ¿Dónde está el banco?	🔊 No sé dónde está el banco.
(Where is the bank?)	(I don't know where the bank is.)
🔊 ¿Cuánto cuesta?	🔊 ¿Puede decirme cuánto cuesta?
(How much does it cost?)	(Can you tell me how much it costs?)
🔊 ¿Por qué no vino?	🔊 No entiendo por qué no vino.
(Why didn't he come?)	(I don't understand why he didn't come.)

For yes/no questions, use si (if/whether):

Direct question	Indirect question
🔊 ¿Viene mañana?	🔊 No sé si viene mañana.
(Is he coming tomorrow?)	(I don't know if he's coming tomorrow.)

Tag questions

Spanish has several ways to add "right?" or "isn't it?":

Tag	Example	Usage
🔊 ¿verdad?	🔊 Hablas español, ¿verdad?	Most common, any context
🔊 ¿no?	🔊 Vienes mañana, ¿no?	Common, informal
🔊 ¿cierto?	🔊 Es tu hermano, ¿cierto?	More formal
🔊 ¿no es así?	🔊 Esto es correcto, ¿no es así?	Formal

Rhetorical questions

Spanish	Meaning
🔊 ¿Quién sabe?	Who knows?
🔊 ¿Qué puedo decir?	What can I say?
🔊 ¿Por qué no?	Why not?
🔊 ¿Cómo es posible?	How is that possible?
🔊 ¿Y qué?	So what?
🔊 ¿Qué más da?	What does it matter?

Question punctuation

Spanish uses inverted punctuation at the start of questions and exclamations:

• 🔊 ¿Cómo estás? — How are you?
• 🔊 ¡Qué sorpresa! — What a surprise!

For sentences that are partly questions:

• 🔊 Si vienes mañana, ¿puedes traer el libro?
• (If you come tomorrow, can you bring the book?)

The inverted mark goes where the question portion begins.

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