How to ask questions in Spanish

In Spanish there are several ways to ask.

The first way is to ask with a "normal" affirmative sentence, but adding two question marks, one at the beginning of the statement and another at the end. To pronounce it we raise the intonation of the voice at the end.

These types of questions usually have a very short answer: almost always yes or no (or I don't know).

We can also use these types of "questions" to express rejection, refusal or disbelief about something that we have just been told. For that, a part of the previous statement is repeated with an interrogative intonation.

- Hoy es jueves...- Today is Thursday...

- ¿Jueves? ¡No! ¡Hoy es miércoles! - Thursday? No! Today is Wednesday!

- ¿Quieres bailar? - You want to dance?

- ¿Bailar? ¿Yo? No, bailo muy mal. - Dance? Me? No, I dance very badly.

- En China viven más de mil millones de personas. - More than a billion people live in China.

- ¿Más de mil millones? ¡Son muchísimos! - Over a billion? They are many!

Sometimes, we repeat part of the question to “confirm” what we have been asked.

- ¿A qué hora parte el tren a Madrid? - What time does the train leave for Madrid?

- ¿El tren a Madrid? Parte a las 8:00 desde el andén 2. - The train to Madrid? Departs at 8:00 from platform 2.

The interrogative pronouns

Another way to ask is by using words that indicate that we are asking a question. These words are the interrogative pronouns. All these words have a graphic accent (a tilde).

We also use an interrogative intonation when we speak, and we also write the two question marks, at the beginning and at the end of the question.

¿Dónde?

We use the interrogative pronoun ¿dónde? to ask for information about positions or places.

¿Cuándo?

The question ¿cuándo? serves to ask for time.

¿Quién? ¿Quiénes?

The question ¿Quién? , or its plural form ¿Quiénes?, always asks for people. The answer is the name of a person or a noun that indicates a person or group of people.

¿Qué?

We use ¿Qué? to ask for things or people when we seek information, when we know nothing of the answer.

We can use the pronoun ¿qué?:

• With a noun

• With a verb, when we ask for actions.

To ask about people we always have to use the combination ¿qué? + noun. If we don't use the noun, the form is ¿quién? (which never appears with the noun next to it).

¿Cuál? ¿Cuáles?

The question '¿Cuál?', or its plural form '¿Cuáles?', are used to ask for one thing among several possible ones. They are used when we have some information.

We also use ‘¿Cuál?’ To ask for the name.

¿Por qué?

We use the question '¿Por qué?' to ask the reasons or reasons for an event or situation. To answer we use the form 'porque', which is written together and without a graphic accent.

¿Cuánto?

To ask for quantities we use the pronoun '¿Cuánto?' The most frequent answer is a number or a word that expresses quantity (very, many, enough).

This pronoun can be used with a verb or with a noun:

• With a verb

• With a noun

It will change depending on the nooun that accompanies it. This interrogative pronoun has masculine and feminine, singular and plural.

-- With uncountable nouns we use singular forms:

-- With countable nouns the plural forms are used:

¿Cómo?

The question "¿cómo?" is used to ask:

-- the characteristics of something or someone.

-- the form or procedure in which a thing is performed.

A question to confirm

There is another way to ask even if it's not really a question. It is a way to confirm if the things you say are correct. For that, add questions at the end like, ¿verdad?, ¿no?, ¿sí? This way of asking is used when speaking and not in written language.

We hope you find this article useful. Let's continue learning Spanish!

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