The Only Guide You’ll Ever Need to Use Question Words in Spanish
I love teaching question words in Spanish. If you know the question words, you can ask about anything and become independent in the Spanish-speaking world. After all, it’s “better to ask the way than to go astray.”
I like to start my lesson about question words in Spanish with an Argentinean song “Cómo, dónde y por qué” (How, where and why?):
¿Por qué cae la lluvia? ¿Por qué?
¿Dónde se encuentra Dios? ¿Por qué?
¿Cómo nacen los chicos?
¿De dónde vengo yo?
¿Por qué existe la guerra? ¿Por qué?
¿Y cómo se inventó? ¿Por qué?
¿Dónde termina el cielo?
¿Qué cosa es el amor?
(..)
¿Por qué los animales, por qué,
no viven en la selva? ¿Por qué?
¿Por qué les pones rejas?
¿Y quién los engañó?
Do you know why? Yes! There are so many question words in this Spanish song. I didn’t include the translation so that you can see if you understand it after you finish reading this article. Don’t worry, you’ll be able to check if your translation is right at the end.
Ready for the challenge?
Question Words in Spanish
Question words in Spanish and English have the same function—they start interrogative sentences. In Spanish, you always need to put an accent mark over them.
Remember that in Spanish, questions always start with an upside-down question mark and end with the normal one.
Let me show you in detail the 7 most important question words in Spanish.
1. ¿Qué? – What?
Qué usually means “what.” It’s the most common question word in Spanish and one of the most common Spanish words in general. It holds third place on the list of most frequently used Spanish words.
¿Qué es esto?
What’s this?
¿Qué quieres?
What do you want?
¿Qué me vas a decir?
What are you going to tell me?
¿Qué hiciste ayer?
What did you do yesterday?
¿Qué debería comer?
What should I eat?
2. ¿Quién/Quiénes? – Who?
Another popular question word in Spanish is quién, meaning “who.” In Spanish, it varies in number—it has a singular form quién and a plural form quiénes.
If you’re asking about the identity of more than one person, and your verb is in the plural, you’ll use quiénes.
¿Quién es él?
Who is he?
¿Quiénes son ellos?
Who are they?
¿Quién habla?
Who’s speaking?
¿Quién es?
Who is it?
¿Quiénes son esas personas?
Who are these people?
3. ¿Dónde? – Where?
A useful question word in Spanish when traveling is dónde (where). It will help you avoid getting lost in a new place.
¿Dónde está la farmacia?
Where is the pharmacy?
¿Dónde están los baños?
Where are the bathrooms?
¿Dónde estás?
Where are you?
You can also use it in combinations ¿de dónde? (From where?) And ¿A dónde? (To where?)
¿De dónde venimos?
Where do we come from?
¿A dónde vamos?
Where do we go?
¿De dónde eres?
Where are you from?
¿A dónde viajas?
Where are you traveling to?
4. ¿Cuándo? – When?
Another key question word in Spanish is cuándo (when).
¿Cuándo vienes?
When are you coming?
¿Cuándo sale el tren?
When does the train leave?
¿Cuándo empieza la película?
When does the movie start?
5. ¿Cómo? – How?
Cómo usually (but not always) translates to “how.”
¿Cómo se dice esto en español?
How do you say it in Spanish?
¿Cómo quieres tu taco?
How do you want your taco?
¿Cómo lo haces?
How do you do it?
¿Cómo te llamas?
What’s your name?
6. ¿Cuál/Cuáles? – Which?
Cuál is another question word in Spanish with both singular and plural forms. Use the plural form, cuáles, when asking about more than one thing.
¿Cuál manzana quieres?
Which apple do you want?
¿Cuáles zapatos quieres?
Which shoes do you want?
Cuál and cuáles usually translate into “which” but you can also translate it into “what.”
¿Cuál es tu libro favorito?
What’s your favorite book?
¿Cuál es tu nombre?
What’s your name?
What’s the difference then between qué and cuál, if they can both translate into “what”?
¿Qué? asks to identify a thing. It asks for its name or definition, and there’s only one possible answer.
Meanwhile ¿cuál? requires you to select from a bigger group. There might be many possible answers.
¿Qué es un “guajolote”?
What is a “guajolote”?
¿Cuál es tu película favorita?
What’s your favorite movie?
7. ¿Por qué? – Why?
This is the kids’ favorite question word in Spanish: ¿por qué? (why?).
Remember to write it as two separate words and with an accent (not to confuse it with porque meaning “because”).
¿Por qué quieres verme?
Why do you want to see me?
¿Por qué el cielo es azul?
Why is the sky blue?
¿Por qué los Mexicanos comen tanto chile?
Why do Mexicans eat so much chili?
Question Words in Spanish – Summary
Let’s put everything together one more time.
Today, you learned how to say 7 English question words in Spanish. They are:
Remember to include the accent mark and the inverted question mark at the beginning.
Are you ready to translate the song from the beginning? Try it!
Check if you got it right below. I put the question words in Spanish and English in bold:
¿Por qué cae la lluvia? ¿Por qué?
¿Dónde se encuentra Dios? ¿Por qué?
¿Cómo nacen los chicos?
¿De dónde vengo yo?
¿Por qué existe la guerra?¿ Por qué?
¿Y cómo se inventó? ¿Por qué?
¿Dónde termina el cielo?
¿Qué cosa es el amor?
(..)
¿Por qué los animales, por qué,
no viven en la selva? ¿Por qué?
¿Por qué les pones rejas?
¿Y quién los engañó?
Why does the rainfall? Why?
Where is God located? Why?
How are children born?
Where do I come from?
Why does war exist? Why?
And how was it invented? Why?
Where does heaven end?
What is love?
(..)
Why animals, why,
do not live in the jungle? Why?
Why do you put bars on them?
And who tricked them?
Did you manage to get them all right? Great! Now, you’re ready for the quiz.
Question Words in Spanish – Quiz
Choose the correct question words in Spanish. Remember there is only one possible answer.
1. ¿______ es ella?(Who is she?)
2. ¿______ vivían los Aztecas? (Where did the Aztecs live?)
3. ¿______ me vas a llamar? (When are you going to call me?)
4. ¿______ es tu nombre? (What’s your name?)
5. ¿______ te llamas? (What’s your name?)
6. ¿______ son ellos? (Who are they?)
7. ¿______ me preguntas a mí? (Why are you asking me?)
8. ¿______ quieres para comer? (What do you want to eat?)
9. ¿______ vestido me queda mejor? (Which dress suits me better?)
10. ¿______ llegaste aquí? (How did you get here?)
Why Learn Spanish?
Well done! You’ve learned a lot about question words in Spanish! Your next goal should be to use all the question words in Spanish in a conversation.
Being bilingual is worth the effort. Who knows, maybe one day, you’ll get a raise because you know Spanish? Yes! According to a study by The Economist, you can earn anywhere from $50,000 to $125,000 extra just by knowing a foreign language alone.
Start today! Sign up right now for a free trial class at Homeschool Spanish Academy. Let our friendly and professional teachers from Guatemala help you reach your fluency goals and practice question words in Spanish in a 1-to-1 conversation! Check out our affordable pricing and flexible programs!
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