Question Words in Catalan

In Brief

Catalan uses què (what), qui (who), on (where), quan (when), com (how), per què (why), quant (how much or how many), and quin (which or what). Most are invariable, but quant and quin agree with a noun in gender and number: quanta aigua, quants dies, quina hora, quines sabates. Catalan does not add an equivalent of English do to form a question: Què vols? means “What do you want?”

Overview

Question words let you ask for one missing piece of information: a person, thing, place, time, manner, reason, quantity, or choice. They are among the most useful A1 forms because they turn statements into practical questions such as On vius? (“Where do you live?”) and Quan arriba el tren? (“When does the train arrive?”).

For an English-speaking learner, the basic meanings are familiar, but the sentence structure needs attention. English often uses do, does, or did and places an explicit subject before the main verb. Catalan normally puts the question word first, uses an ordinary conjugated verb, and often leaves out the subject pronoun because the verb ending already identifies the person: Com et dius?, literally “How do you call yourself?”, is the natural way to ask someone’s name.

One spelling point is especially important: unlike Spanish question words, Catalan interrogatives do not all take a written accent. In this core set, què has a grave accent; qui, on, quan, com, quant, and quin do not. The accent distinguishes què from unstressed que in many common structures.

How It Works

The core question words

Catalan	Basic meaning	What it asks about	Example
què	what	a thing, action, or idea	Què necessites?
qui	who	a person or people	Qui truca?
on	where	a place or destination	On aneu?
quan	when	a time or occasion	Quan comença?
com	how	manner, condition, or description	Com estàs?
per què	why	a reason or cause	Per què rius?
quant, quanta, quants, quantes	how much, how many	an amount or number	Quantes entrades vols?
quin, quina, quins, quines	which, what	a choice or identifying detail	Quin autobús agafem?

Basic sentence pattern

The usual beginner pattern is:

question word + conjugated verb + the rest of the sentence

• Què menges? — What are you eating?
• On treballes? — Where do you work?
• Quan sortiu? — When are you leaving?

There is no extra auxiliary corresponding to English do/does/did. Do not try to translate “Where do you live?” one word at a time. Catalan simply uses On vius?: on plus the second-person singular form of viure.

When the subject is a noun rather than an omitted pronoun, it commonly follows the verb in a neutral information question:

• On viu la Marta? — Where does Marta live?
• Quan arriba el teu germà? — When does your brother arrive?
• Què volen els nens? — What do the children want?

Other word orders are possible when context or emphasis changes, but this verb-before-noun pattern is a safe and natural model for beginners. Catalan uses a question mark only at the end; it does not use the opening ¿ found in Spanish.

Què: “what”

Use què to ask about a thing, action, meaning, or idea. It can stand alone or follow a preposition (a short linking word such as “with” or “about”):

• Què fas? — What are you doing?
• Què vol dir això? — What does that mean?
• De què parleu? — What are you talking about?
• Amb què ho talles? — What are you cutting it with?

Do not place què directly before a noun when you mean “which/what + noun.” Use a form of quin instead: Quin llibre vols? (“Which/what book do you want?”).

Qui: “who”

Qui asks about people and never changes form for gender or number. It can be the subject (the person doing the action), the object (the person affected by it), or the form after a preposition:

• Qui canta? — Who is singing?
• Qui has vist? — Who did you see?
• Amb qui vens? — Who are you coming with?
• A qui has donat les claus? — Who did you give the keys to?

Because qui itself does not show singular or plural, the surrounding context supplies that information: Qui és? asks for one identity, while Qui són? can ask who several people are.

On, quan, and com

On asks about location or destination. Add a preposition when you need a more precise relation:

• On és el lavabo? — Where is the bathroom?
• D’on ets? — Where are you from?
• Per on hem d’anar? — Which way do we have to go?
• Fins on arriba l’autobús? — How far does the bus go?

Quan asks about time. Useful combinations include des de quan (“since when”) and fins quan (“until when”):

• Quan tens vacances? — When are you on holiday?
• Des de quan vius aquí? — Since when have you lived here?

Com usually asks about manner or condition:

• Com ho fas? — How do you do it?
• Com està la teva mare? — How is your mother?
• Com és el pis? — What is the apartment like?

Notice that English “what … like?” often corresponds to Catalan com, not què. Two essential expressions are Com et dius? (“What is your name?”) and Com va? (“How’s it going?”).

Per què: “why”

Write the question phrase per què as two words, with an accent on què:

• Per què estudies català? — Why are you studying Catalan?
• Per què no vens? — Why aren’t you coming?

The answer normally uses perquè, one word, meaning “because”:

• Per què marxes? — Perquè estic cansada. — Why are you leaving? — Because I’m tired.

Also distinguish per a què, usually “what for?” or “for what purpose?” It asks about purpose rather than cause:

• Per a què serveix aquesta clau? — What is this key for?

Quant: asking about amount or number

Before a noun, quant agrees with that noun. Agreement means that its ending changes to match masculine or feminine, singular or plural.

Form	Used with	Example	Meaning
quant	masculine singular or an uncounted amount	quant temps	how much time
quanta	feminine singular or an uncounted amount	quanta llet	how much milk
quants	masculine plural	quants llibres	how many books
quantes	feminine plural	quantes persones	how many people

Use singular forms with things treated as a mass or amount, and plural forms with countable items. Quant can also stand without a following noun:

• Quant costa? — How much does it cost?
• Quant pesa? — How much does it weigh?
• Quants anys tens? — How old are you? (literally, “How many years do you have?”)

Quin: asking for a choice or identifying detail

Quin also agrees with its noun:

Form	Noun	Example	Meaning
quin	masculine singular	quin carrer	which street
quina	feminine singular	quina llengua	which language
quins	masculine plural	quins dies	which days
quines	feminine plural	quines fotos	which photos

Use quin when a noun is stated or understood and you want the listener to identify one or more possibilities. English sometimes uses “what” where Catalan still uses quin:

• Quina hora és? — What time is it?
• Quin temps fa? — What is the weather like?
• Quina és la teva adreça? — What is your address?

Do not put an article between quin and the noun: say quin tren, not quin el tren.

Examples in Context

Catalan	English	Note
Què vols?	What do you want?	què asks about a thing or action.
Qui és?	Who is it?	qui asks for a person’s identity.
On vius?	Where do you live?	No equivalent of English “do” is needed.
D’on surt aquest tren?	Where does this train leave from?	de + on becomes d’on before a vowel.
Quan podem parlar?	When can we talk?	quan asks for a time.
Com arribo al centre?	How do I get to the city centre?	com asks about the method or route.
Com és la nova professora?	What is the new teacher like?	English “what … like?” corresponds to com.
Per què aprens català?	Why are you learning Catalan?	per què asks for a reason.
Per a què necessites el meu número?	What do you need my number for?	per a què asks about purpose.
Quant costa el menú?	How much does the set menu cost?	quant stands alone as an amount.
Quanta aigua beus cada dia?	How much water do you drink each day?	Feminine singular agrees with aigua.
Quants anys tens?	How old are you?	Catalan expresses age with tenir (“to have”).
Quantes parades falten?	How many stops are left?	Feminine plural agrees with parades.
Quin autobús va a l’aeroport?	Which bus goes to the airport?	Masculine singular agrees with autobús.
Quines claus són teves?	Which keys are yours?	Feminine plural agrees with claus.

Common Mistakes

Adding English “do” to the Catalan sentence

• Wrong: Què fas tu fer?
• Right: Què fas?
• Why: Catalan uses the conjugated main verb directly. There is no separate word corresponding to question-forming English do.

Using què before a noun

• Wrong: Què pel·lícula vols veure?
• Right: Quina pel·lícula vols veure?
• Why: Use quin/quina/quins/quines before a stated noun when asking which one or what kind.

Forgetting agreement with quant or quin

• Wrong: Quant persones hi ha?
• Right: Quantes persones hi ha?
• Why: Persones is feminine plural, so the question word must also be feminine plural.

Confusing per què and perquè

• Wrong: Perquè estàs enfadat?
• Right: Per què estàs enfadat?
• Why: Per què is the two-word question “why?”; perquè is normally the one-word answer connector “because.”

Copying Spanish accent rules

• Wrong: ¿Ón víus? or Cóm estàs?
• Right: On vius? and Com estàs?
• Why: Catalan writes only a final question mark, and on and com have no written accent. Què does have a grave accent.

Using què for “what … like?”

• Wrong: Què és el teu poble? when asking for a description
• Right: Com és el teu poble?
• Why: Com és …? asks what someone or something is like. Què és …? asks what the thing actually is.

Usage Notes

In everyday conversation, short questions are extremely common. On?, Quan?, Amb qui?, and Per què? can stand alone when the situation makes the missing verb obvious. Tone of voice can make these sound curious, surprised, or demanding, just as in English; adding si us plau or a polite introductory phrase softens a request.

Catalan generally omits subject pronouns, but a pronoun may appear for contrast: I tu, on vius? (“And you, where do you live?”). With a named subject, On treballa la Júlia? is usually more neutral than copying English order mechanically. You will nevertheless hear other orders when speakers highlight the subject or connect the question to previous information.

Both on and a on are used for destination, although plain on is concise and widely suitable: On vas? (“Where are you going?”). You may also hear the contracted spelling aon in contexts where that form is accepted. As a beginner, consistently using on for “where” and d’on for “from where” will serve you well.

Beyond the Basics: Indirect Questions and Advanced Use

You do not need to master these patterns at A1, but you will meet them early in real Catalan.

An indirect question embeds the missing information inside a larger sentence rather than asking it directly. The same question words are retained, but the sentence does not take a question mark unless the whole sentence is itself a question:

• No sé on viu. — I don’t know where he or she lives.
• Explica’m què ha passat. — Tell me what happened.
• Voldria saber quan obren. — I would like to know when they open.
• Saps per què no ha vingut? — Do you know why he or she didn’t come?

Do not confuse interrogative forms with similar linking words. Unaccented que can mean “that” or “which”: El llibre que llegeixo (“The book that I am reading”). Quan, on, and com can also introduce non-question clauses, where context determines their role: Quan arribis, truca’m (“When you arrive, call me”).

Catalan can make a yes-or-no question with intonation alone: Vens demà? (“Are you coming tomorrow?”). In speech and some writing, unaccented que may introduce such a question: Que vens demà? This que is a question particle, not the interrogative pronoun què, and it does not mean “what.”

For more precise questions, prepositions combine freely with the core words: de qui (“whose/from whom”), sobre què (“about what”), fins quan (“until when”), and per on (“by which route”). Advanced learners will also encounter com de + adjective or adverb to ask about degree: Com de lluny és? (“How far is it?”).

Practice Tips

1. Build questions from categories. Choose one person, place, time, reason, quantity, and choice from your day, then ask: Qui? On? Quan? Per què? Quant? Quin? Answer each question aloud in a full sentence.
2. Practise agreement in pairs. Match quant and quin with everyday nouns: quant cafè, quanta estona, quants bitllets, quantes hores; quin dia, quina parada, quins carrers, quines botigues.
3. Listen for the missing English words. When you hear On treballes? or Què menges?, notice that Catalan needs neither do nor an explicit you. Repeating these short patterns helps natural word order become automatic.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Negation and Questions — learn how Catalan forms yes-or-no questions and places no before the verb.