¿Cómo están, muchachos? When is the last time you had a conversation where nobody asked any questions? Most people can’t remember when because it’s pretty much impossible to do, right? That should illustrate how important it is to master asking questions when learning Spanish. Every good conversation will have multiple questions. Fortunately, if you’re not sure how to form questions in Spanish, don’t worry. It’s much easier than it is in English because there aren’t any auxiliary verbs.
So, as soon as you know how to use the question words in Spanish, you’ll feel much more confident when speaking. ¡Vamos!
How? – ¿Cómo?
One of the most common Spanish interrogative pronouns is cómo. It translates pretty directly to “how” in English. Here are some examples of very common questions with cómo.
- ¿Cómo estás? (Pron: KOH-moh es-TAHS)
How are you? - ¿Cómo se dice “chair” en español? (Pron: KOH-moh se DEE-se chair en es-PAH-nyol)
How do you say chair in Spanish? - ¿Cómo te llamas? (Pron: KOH-moh te YAH-mahs)
What’s your name? - ¿Cómo llego a la Plaza de Armas? (Pron: KOH-moh YE-goh a lah PLAH-zah de AHR-mahs)
How do I get to the main square?
Important side note: In English, we use “how” in combination with adjectives and adverbs to create additional question words, but Spanish has separate interrogative pronouns for these. Here are a few of the most common ones you’ll probably find useful:
- How long…? – ¿Cuánto tiempo…?
- How old…? – ¿Cuántos años…?
- How much…? – ¿Cuánto…?
- How many…? – ¿Cuántos…?
What – ¿Qué?
Short and sweet, qué, is how you translate the interrogative pronoun “what” most of the time. It doesn’t always work, because sometimes you need to use cuál instead, which generally translates to which. Further on, there are some specific examples to understand when to use qué and cuál. Here are the examples with qué:
- ¿Qué quieres? (Pron: ke kee-YE-res)
What do you want? - ¿Qué hora es? (Pron: ke OH-rah es)
What time is it? - ¿En qué sector trabajan ustedes? (Pron: en ke sek-TOHR trah-BAH-jahn oos-TE-des)
What sector do you work in? - ¿Qué opinas de este libro? (Pron: ke oh-PEE-nahs de ES-te LEE-broh)
What do you think about this book?
Which – ¿Cuál/cuáles?
There are two Spanish interrogative pronouns for which, cuál to ask about singular objects (which, which one) and cuáles to ask about plural objects (which ones). Examples:
- ¿Cuál te gusta más? (Pron: KWAHL te GOOS-tah mahs)
Which one do you like more? - ¿Cuál es tu color favorito? (Pron: KWAHL es too koh-LOHR fah-boh-REE-toh)
What is your favorite color? - ¿Cuáles son más baratos? (Pron: KWAH-les sohn mahs bah-RAH-tohs)
Which ones are cheaper? - ¿Cuáles de los queques son saludables? (Pron: KWAH-les de lohs KE-kes sohn sah-loo-DAH-bles)
Which of the cakes are healthy?
When to use qué or cuál
There are some common questions where qué and cuál are used a little differently than in English. The main thing to remember is that cuál is often used when you’re asking for information that has only one option or a known number of options. Examples:
- ¿Cuál es tu nombre/dirección/comida favorita?
What’s your name/address/favorite food?
You use qué if you’re asking for a definition of the object:
- ¿Qué es esto?
What is this? - ¿Qué comen los cuervos?
What do crows eat?
Who? – ¿Quién/quiénes?
Spanish has two interrogative pronouns that mean who, depending on whether the question is about one person (quién) or several people (quiénes). Tip to make things easier: if you’re not sure if the answer is one or more people, just use the singular quién. Examples:
- ¿Quién es? (Pron: kee-YEN es)
Who is it/that? - ¿Quién quiere más pan? (Pron: kee-YEN kee-YE-re mahs pahn)
Who wants more bread? - ¿Quién está tocando la puerta? (Pron: kee-YEN es-TAH toh-KAN-doh lah PWER-tah)
Who is knocking on the door? - ¿Quiénes limpiarán hoy? (Pron: kee-YE-nes leem-pya-RAHN oy)
Who will clean today?
Where – ¿Dónde?
Dónde means where and beginners probably all agree that, of all the interrogative pronouns, it’s the easiest one to pronounce! And it’s used a lot when asking for and giving directions. Examples:
- ¿De dónde eres? (Pron: de DOHN-de E-res)
Where are you from? - ¿Dónde vives? (Pron: DOHN-de BEE-bes)
Where do you live? - ¿Dónde queda el parque Bolívar? (Pron: DOHN-de KE-dah el PAHR-ke boh-LEE-var)
Where is Parque Bolívar located? - ¿Dónde venden buenas empanadas? (Pron: DOHN-de BEN-den BWE-nahs em-pah-NAH-das)
Where do they sell good empanadas?
When – ¿Cuándo?
Cuándo means “when”, and is a very important and common interrogative pronoun. When asking someone in Latin America about the time of an event, however, remember strict timekeeping isn’t really a thing there. Latinos are pretty casual about times and deadlines. Take their answer with a big grain of salt! Examples:
- ¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños? (Pron: KWAHN-doh es too koom-ple-AH-nyos)
When’s your birthday? - ¿Cuándo llegamos a la playa? (Pron: KWAHN-doh ye-GAH-mohs ah lah PLAH-yah)
When do we arrive at the beach? - ¿Cuándo abre el centro comercial? (Pron: KWAHN-doh AH-bre el SEN-troh ko-mer-SYAL)
When does the mall open? - ¿Cuándo sale el autobus? (Pron: KWAHN-doh SAH-le el au-toh-BOOS)
When does the bus leave?
Why – ¿Por qué?
Why, the question word of choice for toddlers’ worldwide, is por qué in Spanish. Yes, it also means because, but please note the spelling difference: in the question it’s separate and has an accent, but when used to denote because it’s spelled porque. Examples:
- ¿Por qué no hay limonada? (Pron: pohr-KE oh ay lee-moh-NAH-dah)
Why isn’t there any lemonade? - ¿Por qué estás estudiando castellano? (Pron: pohr-KE es-TAHS es-too-dee-YAHN-do kahs-te-YAH-noh)
Why are you studying Spanish? - ¿Por qué me miras así? (Pron: pohr-KE me MEE-rahs ah-SEE)
Why are you looking at me like that? - ¿Por qué sigues en la cama? (Pron: pohr-KE SEE-gues en lah KAH-mah)
Why are you still in bed?
Quiz time: Interviewing Salma Hayek
Time for a little quiz to see if you’re ready to interview a famous Latina in Spanish! Imagine you’re going to interview Mexican actress Salma Hayek in Spanish for your Latin cinema blog. Below is the list of questions you’d like to ask, but the question words in Spanish are missing. Complete them, and good luck with the interview! (Answer key can be found at the bottom of the page.)
1. ¿ ________ estudiaste inglés? (Where did you study English?)
2. ¿ ________ fue tu papel favorito como actriz? (What was your favorite role as an actress?)
3. ¿ ________ decidiste empezar a dirigir películas? (Why did you decide to start directing movies?)
4. ¿ ________ recibiste tu primer galardón internacional? (When did you win your first international award?)
5. ¿ ________ es tu director favorito? (Who is your favorite director?)
6. ¿ ________ se siente ser tan famosa? (How does it feel to be so famous?)
From theory to practice
Now that you know how to use the question words in Spanish, please go out and use them boldly and frequently! Your budding Spanish skills will grow quickly if you integrate lots of interrogative Spanish sentences into your conversations, and with a bit of luck you’ll also make some new Latin American friends. ¡Nos vemos pronto, muchachos!
(Answer key for the quiz: 1) Dónde 2) Cuál 3) Por qué 4) Cuándo 5) Quién 6) Cómo )
