Spanish grammar
Question words
Learn the words that start a question (what, who, where, when, how, how much, why) and why they carry a written accent.
Spanish questions open with an upside-down question mark and close with a normal one: ¿Qué es? - What is it? The question word usually comes first, and the verb usually comes right after it.
The Question Words
| Spanish | English | Example |
|---|---|---|
| qué | what | ¿Qué quieres? - What do you want? |
| quién / quiénes | who | ¿Quién es ella? - Who is she? |
| dónde | where | ¿Dónde está el baño? - Where is the bathroom? |
| cuándo | when | ¿Cuándo llegas? - When do you arrive? |
| cómo | how | ¿Cómo estás? - How are you? |
| cuánto | how much, how many | ¿Cuánto cuesta? - How much does it cost? |
| cuál / cuáles | which, what | ¿Cuál es tu nombre? - What is your name? |
| por qué | why | ¿Por qué lloras? - Why are you crying? |
Words That Change Form
Quiénes and Cuáles
Use the plural when you expect more than one answer: ¿Quiénes son ellos? - Who are they? ¿Cuáles son tus libros? - Which ones are your books?
Cuánto
Before a noun, cuánto matches it like an adjective.
- ¿Cuánto dinero? - How much money?
- ¿Cuánta agua? - How much water?
- ¿Cuántos años tienes? - How old are you? (literally "How many years do you have?")
- ¿Cuántas personas? - How many people?
Where To and Where From
Dónde asks about place. Add a for direction and de for origin.
- ¿Dónde vives? - Where do you live?
- ¿Adónde vas? - Where are you going? (¿A dónde vas? is also correct.)
- ¿De dónde eres? - Where are you from?
The answers use the same small words: Voy a casa. - I’m going home. Soy de Colombia. - I’m from Colombia.
Qué or Cuál?
Both can mean "what".
- Use qué before a noun or to ask for a definition: ¿Qué hora es? - What time is it? ¿Qué es esto? - What is this?
- Use cuál with ser when you mean one answer out of many possible ones: ¿Cuál es tu número? - What is your number? ¿Cuál es la capital de Perú? - What is the capital of Peru?
Asking With Cómo
Cómo means "how": ¿Cómo estás? - How are you? ¿Cómo llego al centro? - How do I get downtown?
Spanish also asks "how" for names: ¿Cómo te llamas? - What’s your name? (literally "How do you call yourself?"). For someone you speak to as usted: ¿Cómo se llama?
On its own, ¿Cómo? is a polite way to say "Sorry?" when you didn’t hear something.
Por Qué and Porque
These sound almost the same but are written differently.
- ¿por qué? (two words, accent) - why?
- porque (one word, no accent) - because
¿Por qué no vienes? Porque estoy cansado. - Why aren’t you coming? Because I’m tired.
A quick tip: por qué starts the question, and porque starts the answer.
The Accent Mark
Every question word has a written accent. The same words also exist without an accent, as ordinary linking words.
| With accent (question) | Without accent (linking word) |
|---|---|
| ¿Qué quieres? - What do you want? | Creo que sí. - I think so. |
| ¿Dónde vives? - Where do you live? | la casa donde vivo - the house where I live |
| ¿Cuándo comes? - When do you eat? | Cuando llego, como. - When I arrive, I eat. |
| ¿Cómo estás? - How are you? | Es como su padre. - He’s like his father. |
| ¿Quién es? - Who is it? | el hombre con quien hablo - the man I’m talking with |
The accent does not change the vowel sounds. It shows, in writing, that the word is asking something, and the question word is said with a little more stress.
Questions Inside a Sentence
The accent stays when the question is inside a sentence, with no question marks at all.
- No sé dónde está. - I don’t know where it is.
- Dime qué quieres. - Tell me what you want.
- No entiendo por qué. - I don’t understand why.
- ¿Sabes cuánto cuesta? - Do you know how much it costs?
Exclamations
Qué, cómo and cuánto also start exclamations, which open with an upside-down exclamation mark and keep the accent:
- ¡Qué bonito! - How pretty!
- ¡Qué suerte! - What luck!
- ¡Cómo llueve! - It’s really pouring!
- ¡Cuánto tiempo! - Long time no see!
- ¡Qué rico! - How delicious!