qué/quién/cuál/cómo/dónde/cuándo/por qué
Question Words
These interrogative words ask for information and take written accents in their interrogative use. They often lead the question, but can occur later, especially in echo questions such as ¿Vas dónde?
How It Works
In Spanish, asking questions often starts with one of these special words. Think of them as the tools you need to gather information. A key rule to remember is that when these words function as interrogatives, they have a written accent mark, including in indirect questions such as No sé dónde vive. This helps distinguish them from other words that are spelled the same but have different meanings (like que which means 'that').
Ordinary direct written questions are enclosed by ¿ and ?. The opening mark begins the interrogative segment, not necessarily the whole sentence: Y tú, ¿dónde vives? An indirect question such as No sé dónde vive does not need question marks.
Here are the most common question words and what they ask about:
- ¿Qué? - Asks what something is or requests other information, including a thing or action. (What?)
Example: ¿Qué es eso? (What is that?) - ¿Quién? / ¿Quiénes? - Asks about a person or people. (Who?)
Example: ¿Quién es el profesor? (Who is the teacher?) - ¿Cuál? / ¿Cuáles? - Asks for a choice from a group. (Which? / What?)
Example: ¿Cuál es tu color favorito? (What is your favorite color?) - ¿Cómo? - Asks about the way something is or is done. (How?)
Example: ¿Cómo estás? (How are you?) - ¿Dónde? - Asks about a location. (Where?)
Example: ¿Dónde está la estación? (Where is the station?) - ¿Cuándo? - Asks about a time or date. (When?)
Example: ¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños? (When is your birthday?) - ¿Por qué? - Asks for a reason. (Why?)
Example: ¿Por qué aprendes español? (Why are you learning Spanish?)
To form complete questions, you'll combine these words with verbs. You can learn how to form basic verbs with patterns like ser and -ar verbs.
Function, Not Just Punctuation
A question mark does not turn every que or donde into an interrogative: ¿Que no vienes? repeats or queries the statement that you are not coming. The conjunction que remains unaccented. In an echo question such as ¿Vas dónde?, dónde asks for the missing place and keeps its accent even at the end.
Examples (6)
- ¿Qué es esto?
What is this?
Word by Word: What is this?
- ¿Quién es tu amigo?
Who is your friend?
Word by Word: Who is your friend?
- ¿Dónde está el baño?
Where is the bathroom?
Word by Word: Where is the bathroom?
- ¿Cuándo empieza la película?
When does the movie start?
Word by Word: When starts the movie?
- ¿Cómo te llamas?
What is your name?
Word by Word: How / are you called [pronominal]?
This is a standard way to ask someone’s name. Llamarse takes a matching pronoun; it does not require the person to literally call themselves by name.
- ¿Por qué no vienes?
Why don't you come?
Word by Word: Why not you-come?
Common Mistakes
Forgetting the accent mark on the question word.
¿Que hora es?¿Qué hora es?In ¿Qué hora es?, qué is an interrogative determiner and takes an accent. Judge its function, not just the presence of question marks; a conjunction que can be unaccented inside a different direct question.
Forgetting the opening, inverted question mark (¿).
Dónde vives?¿Dónde vives?This ordinary direct written question needs both ¿ and ?. An indirect question such as No sé dónde vives is a different construction and does not need these marks.
Confusing 'por qué' (why) with 'porque' (because).
¿Porque estás triste?¿Por qué estás triste?To ask for the reason here, write por qué as two words with an accent. Porque introduces a cause; it can occur inside a larger question about that cause, so a question mark alone does not forbid porque.
How It Connects
Related Patterns
- soy/eres/es/somos/sonSer Present Tense
Many basic questions use the verb 'ser' (to be) to ask about identity, characteristics, or origin. For example: '¿Quién es él?' (Who is he?).
Foundations - estoy/estás/está/estamos/estánEstar Present Tense
The verb 'estar' (to be) is frequently used with question words, especially '¿dónde?' to ask about location and '¿cómo?' to ask about feelings. For example: '¿Dónde está?' (Where is it?).
Foundations - no + VerbBasic Negation
Just as you learn to ask questions, learning how to form negative statements is a fundamental building block of sentence structure. You can also ask negative questions, like '¿Por qué no vienes?' (Why don't you come?).
Foundations - -o/-as/-a/-amos/-áis/-anPresent Tense -AR Verbs
To ask more complex questions, you'll need to use action verbs. Learning the basic conjugation for -ar verbs is the first step to asking questions like '¿Qué buscas?' (What are you looking for?).
Level 1 - yo/tú/él/ella/ustedSubject Pronouns (Singular)
Understanding subject pronouns is essential for knowing who a question is about. For example, '¿Quién es ella?' (Who is she?) uses a subject pronoun to clarify the subject.
Foundations
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Patterns that build on this one.
Words in This Pattern
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