Basic Questions in Spanish

Overview

Asking questions is one of the most important skills in any language, and Spanish makes it relatively straightforward. At the CEFR A1 level, you will learn the essential question words -- quién, qué, dónde, cuándo, cómo, and por qué -- that let you gather basic information in any conversation. These words open doors: they help you find places, learn about people, and understand the world around you.

One feature that sets Spanish apart is its use of inverted question marks. Every question in written Spanish begins with ¿ and ends with ?, giving you a visual heads-up that a question is coming. In spoken Spanish, yes/no questions often rely simply on rising intonation, which means word order can stay the same as in a statement.

How It Works

Question words

All Spanish question words carry an accent mark. This distinguishes them from their non-question counterparts (e.g., qué = "what?" vs. que = "that").

Spanish	English	Example
quién / quiénes	who	¿Quién es? (Who is it?)
qué	what	¿Qué quieres? (What do you want?)
dónde	where	¿Dónde vives? (Where do you live?)
cuándo	when	¿Cuándo llegas? (When do you arrive?)
cómo	how	¿Cómo estás? (How are you?)
por qué	why	¿Por qué estudias español? (Why do you study Spanish?)

Yes/no questions

To form a yes/no question, you have two options:

Method	Example
Rising intonation (most common)	¿Hablas español? (Do you speak Spanish?)
Subject-verb inversion	¿Tienes tú hermanos? (Do you have siblings?)

In everyday speech, the intonation method is far more common. Simply raise your voice at the end of the sentence, and the listener understands it is a question.

Word order with question words

When you use a question word, it typically comes first, followed by the verb:

¿Question word + verb + (subject) + rest?

• ¿Dónde vive tu hermano? -- Where does your brother live?
• ¿Qué come ella? -- What does she eat?

The subject often comes after the verb in questions, which is the opposite of English word order.

Answering questions

Question	Typical answer
¿Quién es?	Es mi amigo. (It's my friend.)
¿Dónde vives?	Vivo en Madrid. (I live in Madrid.)
¿Hablas español?	Sí, hablo español. / No, no hablo español.

Examples in Context

Spanish	English	Note
¿Quién es?	Who is it?	asking about identity
¿Qué haces?	What are you doing?	asking about activity
¿Dónde vives?	Where do you live?	asking about location
¿Por qué estudias español?	Why do you study Spanish?	asking about reason
¿Cuándo es la fiesta?	When is the party?	asking about time
¿Cómo te llamas?	What's your name?	literally "how do you call yourself?"
¿Hablas inglés?	Do you speak English?	yes/no question
¿Tienes tiempo?	Do you have time?	yes/no question
¿De dónde eres?	Where are you from?	preposition + question word
¿A qué hora sales?	What time do you leave?	preposition + question word

Common Mistakes

Forgetting the accent on question words

• Wrong: ¿Donde vives?
• Right: ¿Dónde vives?
• Why: Question words always have an accent mark. Without it, the word has a different grammatical function (donde = "where" as a relative pronoun, not a question word).

Confusing por qué, porque, and porqué

• Wrong: ¿Porque estudias español?
• Right: ¿Por qué estudias español?
• Why: Por qué (two words, with accent) is for questions. Porque (one word, no accent) means "because" and is used in answers. They look similar but have different roles.

Using English word order

• Wrong: ¿Dónde tú vives?
• Right: ¿Dónde vives? or ¿Dónde vives tú?
• Why: In Spanish questions, the verb typically comes before the subject. Subject pronouns are often omitted entirely since the verb ending indicates the person.

Forgetting the inverted question mark

• Wrong: Qué haces?
• Right: ¿Qué haces?
• Why: Written Spanish requires the opening inverted question mark ¿ at the start of every question.

Practice Tips

• Learn question words as a set. Memorize all six together -- quién, qué, dónde, cuándo, cómo, por qué -- as a group. Practice them as a quick daily drill until they come to you automatically.

• Turn statements into questions. Take any statement you know and convert it into a question: Vives en Madrid becomes ¿Dónde vives? or ¿Vives en Madrid? This builds flexibility.

• Practice answering your own questions. Ask yourself a question in Spanish and answer it. This simple exercise trains both question formation and vocabulary recall at the same time.

Related Concepts

• Next steps: Quantity & Selection Questions -- Learn cuánto and cuál for asking about amounts and choices