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Basic Questions

CEFR A1 · Lesson 10 of 11

Question words let you ask for exactly the information you need — the fastest way to keep a conversation going.

Question words let you ask for exactly the information you need. In writing, Spanish questions also open with an upside-down question mark: ¿.

Question words
SpanishEnglish
¿Qué?What?
¿Quién?Who?
¿Cuándo?When?
¿Dónde?Where?
¿Por qué?Why?
¿Cómo?How?
¿Cuánto/a?How much?
¿Cuál?Which (one)?

Yes/no questions

For simple yes/no questions, Spanish often just adds question marks around a statement — no extra words needed, and word order barely changes:

¿Hablas español?Do you speak Spanish?
¿Vives aquí?Do you live here?

Wh-questions

¿Qué haces?What are you doing?
¿Dónde vives?Where do you live?
¿Cuándo es la clase?When is the class?
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Quick trick: every question word carries a written accent (qué, quién, cómo, cuándo…) — this is what distinguishes a question word from the same word used elsewhere in a sentence.

Practice

Check your understanding

1.Choose the word for "where":

2.¿___ te llamas?

3.True or false: Spanish questions start with an inverted question mark (¿).

4.Choose the word for "why":

5.¿___ es la fiesta? (When is the party?)

6.Choose the word for "how much":

7.True or false: question words never carry a written accent.

8.¿___ vives? (Where do you live?)

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