Question words
Qué, quién, cuál, cuándo, dónde, cómo, cuánto and por qué — and how to build a Spanish question.
The question words
All Spanish question words carry a written accent, even though the same word without an accent exists as a conjunction (que, quien, cuando, donde, como without an accent mean 'that', 'who' (relative), 'when' (in a clause), 'where' (in a clause), 'as/like').
A question is always framed by ¿ and ? — the inverted question mark at the start is required in written Spanish.
| es | nl | en |
|---|---|---|
| qué | wat | what |
| quién / quiénes | wie | who |
| cuál / cuáles | welke, wat | which, what |
| cuándo | wanneer | when |
| dónde | waar | where |
| cómo | hoe | how |
| cuánto/a/os/as | hoeveel | how much/many |
| por qué | waarom | why |
Examples
Qué versus cuál
This is often tricky for English speakers too, since both can be translated as 'what'.
- Qué asks for a definition, or comes directly before a noun: ¿Qué es esto? (What is this?), ¿Qué libro lees? (Which book are you reading?).
- Cuál/cuáles asks for a selection from a group, and usually comes before the verb ser: ¿Cuál es tu nombre? (What is your name? — literally: which [of all names] is yours?), ¿Cuáles son tus colores favoritos?
Examples
Cuánto/a/os/as: agreeing with the noun
Cuánto ('how much/many') behaves like an adjective and agrees in gender and number with the following noun: cuánto dinero (masc. sing.), cuánta agua (fem. sing.), cuántos libros (masc. pl.), cuántas personas (fem. pl.).
Examples
Word order in questions
In a question with a question word, the order is usually question word + verb + subject: ¿Dónde vive tu hermana? (literally: where lives your sister?) — not ¿Dónde tu hermana vive?
In a yes/no question without a question word, the word order often stays the same; only intonation and the question marks make it a question: ¿Vives en Madrid?
Examples
💡 Tips
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