🔧 Grammar ★ Core Say it yourself

Questions and interrogatives

Ask and answer common information and yes/no questions with natural intonation.

Spanish usually keeps statement word order and uses question marks and rising intonation; interrogative words carry written accents.

Patterns to reuse
¿Interrogative + verb + …?
information question
¿Verb + …?
yes/no question
¿Por qué…? — Porque…
Why…? — Because…
Watch out for
¿Porque estudias español?
¿Por qué estudias español?

The question phrase is two words and accented.

Donde vives?
¿Dónde vives?

Use the accent and both question marks.

¿Dónde trabajas?
Where do you work?
DOHN-deh trah-BAH-hahs
¿Qué haces los fines de semana?
What do you do at weekends?
keh AH-thehs lohs FEE-nehs deh seh-MAH-nah
¿Cuánto cuesta esta chaqueta?
How much does this jacket cost?
KWAHN-toh KWEHS-tah EHS-tah chah-KEH-tah
¿Por qué estudias español? Porque quiero trabajar en España.
Why do you study Spanish? Because I want to work in Spain.
pohr keh ehs-TOO-dyahs ehs-pah-NYOHL POHR-keh KYEH-roh trah-bah-HAHR ehn ehs-PAH-nyah
Words
qué
what
quién
who
dónde
where
cuándo
when
cómo
how
cuánto
how much
cuántos
how many
por qué
why
cuál
which/what
Punctuation

Use both opening ¿ and closing ? marks.

Personal a

¿A quién…? when a person is the direct object.

Try it out loud
production
Ask eight questions about a new classmate using eight interrogatives.
What to include

Keep the verb in the present tense.

transform
Turn “Vives en Londres” into a yes/no and an information question.
What to include

¿Vives en Londres? ¿Dónde vives?

answer
Answer “¿Por qué estudias español?” in two ways.
What to include

Porque + reason.

Happy with all of this?
  • I can recall the main question words with accents.
  • I can ask follow-up questions without translating full English syntax.

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