How many Spanish question words do you know? Can you write a question in Spanish correctly? Asking questions is one of the most essential skills when learning Spanish. In this lesson, you'll learn the most important interrogative words in Spanish and how to structure your questions properly.
Before we dive into the question words themselves, let's cover some basics about asking questions in Spanish.
'The word 'question' in Spanish is pregunta. It's a feminine noun, and its plural form is preguntas. Let's hear how to pronounce it:
Kevin, la pregunta es:
Kevin, the question is:
Caption 13, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 1
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Los voy a dejar con cuatro preguntas.
I am going to leave you with four questions.
Caption 48, Carlos explica - Tuteo, ustedeo y voseo: Ustedes y vosotros
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Writing questions in Spanish follows specific rules. Let's break down the structure you need to know.
Spanish uses inverted question marks. Every question starts with an opening question mark (¿) and ends with a closing one (?):
¿Cómo es Japón?
What's Japan like?
¿Qué te gusta de Japón?
What do you like about Japan?
Captions 69-70, Clase Aula Azul - Pedir deseos
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Creating yes/no questions is simple. Your intonation matters most here. Transform any statement into a question using this structure:
¿ + (subject) + conjugated verb + (additional information) + ?
📌 Elements in parentheses are optional.
Examples:
A Pedro le gusta comer pizza. (Pedro likes to eat pizza.)
¿A Pedro le gusta comer pizza? (Does Pedro like to eat pizza?)
📌 For negative questions, add "no" before the verb:
No quieres estudiar. (You don't want to study.)
¿No quieres estudiar? (Don't you want to study?)
Listen to these examples and notice how the speaker's voice rises at the end:
Mmm... ¿Quieres ir al cine?
Mmm... Do you want to go to the movies?
-Sí, ¡buena idea!
-Yes, good idea!
Captions 45-46, Conversaciones en el parque - Cap. 5: Me gusta mucho este parque.
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¿Necesitas ayuda?
Do you need help?
-Mmm... Sí.
-Mmm... Yes.
Captions 9-10, Español para principiantes - La hora
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¿No conoces Manhattan?
You don't know Manhattan?
Caption 37, Yago - 2 El puma
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📌 Yes/no questions commonly start with a conjugated verb.
When asking for specific information, use this structure:
¿ + (preposition) + question word + conjugated verb + (additional information) + ?
📌 Elements in parentheses are optional.
Example:
¡Oh! ¿Dónde está el cajero automático?
Oh! Where's the ATM?
Caption 36, Natalia de Ecuador - Palabras de uso básico
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Structure breakdown:
¿ + question word (dónde) + conjugated verb (está) + additional information (el cajero automático) + ?
Let's listen to another clip:
¿Desde cuándo tienes este piso?
Since when have you had this apartment?
Caption 35, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos
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Structure breakdown:
¿ + preposition (desde) + question word (cuándo) + conjugated verb (tienes) + additional information (este piso) + ?
Ready to learn the most important interrogative words? Here are the Spanish equivalents of 'what', 'which', 'when', 'where', 'who', 'why', and 'how'.
• What / Which (Qué / Cuál)
• When (Cuándo)
• Where (Dónde)
• Who (Quién)
• Why (Por qué)
• How (Cómo)
Now, let's see each one of these question words in action with a list of some of the most basic Spanish questions you can ask.
Diremos, "¿Qué hora es?"
We'll say, "What time is it?"
Caption 49, Español para principiantes - La hora
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O, ¿A qué te dedicas?
Or, What do you do? [with "tú"].
Caption 17, Karla e Isabel - Tú y Usted
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Oye, y ¿en qué trabajas?
Hey, and what do you do [for a living]?
Caption 82, Ricardo - La compañera de casa
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Por supuesto; ¿cuál es su dirección de correo?
Of course; what is your e-mail address?
Caption 69, Negocios - Empezar en un nuevo trabajo
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¿Recuerdas cuál era la copa para servir vino?
Do you remember which cup was the one for serving wine?
Caption 36, Ana Carolina - El comedor
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¿Y cuándo hizo el "check-in"?
And when did he check-in?
Caption 13, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa - Capítulo 3
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¿Cuándo terminas de estudiar?
When do you finish studying?
Caption 72, Carlos explica - Tuteo, ustedeo y voseo: Conjugación
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¿De dónde eres?
Where are you from?
Caption 36, Curso de español - ¿De dónde eres?
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Y ¿en dónde vives?
And where do you live?
Caption 8, Cleer - Entrevista a Lila
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Here's how to ask about locations:
¿Me podrías decir dónde está el baño?
Could you tell me where the bathroom is?
Caption 7, Raquel - Expresiones para un festival de música.
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¿Sabes dónde hay alguna farmacia?
Do you know where there's a pharmacy?
Caption 24, Raquel - Expresiones para un festival de música.
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Use quién to find out someone's identity:
Mi jugador favorito juega en el Real Madrid.
My favorite player plays for Real Madrid.
¿Quién es?
Who is it?
Captions 19-20, El Aula Azul - Las Profesiones
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¿Usted quién es?
Who are you?
Roberto. Un amigo.
Roberto. A friend.
Captions 24-25, Yago - 9 Recuperación
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¿Por qué dices eso? -No...
Why are you saying that? -No...
Caption 14, Cortometraje - Beta
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Para saludar, podemos decir: "Hola. ¿Cómo estás? ¿Todo bien?"
To greet (people), we can say: "Hello. How are you? (Is) everything good?"
Caption 7, Español en las calles - Varias expresiones
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📌 Remember: cómo doesn't always translate to 'how'. Here's a common example:
Buenos días, ¿cómo te llamas?
Good morning, what's your name?
Caption 8, La rutina diaria - La mañana
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To ask about age, price, or quantity, Spanish uses different question words:
Ah, lindo.
Oh, nice.
¿Cuánto cuesta?
How much does it cost?
Captions 33-34, Natalia de Ecuador - Palabras de uso básico
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¿Cuántos años tienes?
How old are you?
Caption 6, Cleer - Entrevista a Lila
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Ah, vale. ¿Cuántos hijos tienes?
Oh, OK. How many sons do you have?
Caption 39, Clase Aula Azul - El verbo parecer
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¿Y cuántas botellas de agua hay aquí?
And how many bottles of water are there here?
Caption 78, Español para principiantes - Los números del 1 al 100
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Now you're ready to ask questions in Spanish! Practice using these question words in your conversations. We'd love to hear from you—send us your thoughts and any questions you have about Spanish question words!
Let's talk about prepositions in Spanish! In this lesson, we will explore the very often used and common preposition de. This versatile preposition has numerous uses in Spanish and can translate to English prepositions like from, of, in, and even than. Understanding when and how to use de will significantly improve your Spanish fluency.
We use the preposition de when we want to indicate where someone or something comes from:
¿De dónde eres? -Soy de Alemania
Where are you from? -I am from Germany.
Captions 36-37, Curso de español - ¿De dónde eres?
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The preposition de tells us what something is made of:
El lápiz está hecho de madera.
The pencil is made of wood.
Caption 40, Aprendiendo con Karen - Útiles escolares
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We use de when we want to describe the features or characteristics of someone or something. In other words, when we want to describe a noun with another noun:
Se toma mucho el jugo de naranja que tiene mucha vitamina C.
Orange juice is consumed a lot as it has a lot of vitamin C.
Caption 74, Otavalo - Conozcamos el Mundo de las Frutas con Julia
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Eh, sobre todo aquí tenemos libros de historia de, eh…
Um, most of all, here we have history books about, um…
Caption 60, El Instituto Cervantes - Jefa de biblioteca
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Un profesor de español.
A Spanish teacher.
Caption 22, El Aula Azul - Cursos y actividades de la escuela
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One of the most common uses of the preposition de is to express possession. Let's look at an example:
Es una empresa de tradición familiar, de mis abuelos.
It's a company with a family tradition from my grandparents.
Caption 50, Europa Abierta - Carne ecológica y segura
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In the example above, you can see that the first de describes the company, while the second de indicates possession (the company belongs to the grandparents). We can also use de to indicate relationships between people:
El novio de Claudia es un tipo muy pinta.
Claudia's boyfriend is a very "pinta" [handsome] guy.
Caption 27, Carlos comenta - Confidencial - Jerga típica colombiana
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The preposition de helps us indicate a cause when it appears after an adjective and before a verb:
Estoy ya cansado de estar endeudado
I am tired of being in debt (I’m tired because I’m always in debt)
Caption 3, Bacilos - Mi Primer Millón
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We use de when we want to express comparisons or a point of reference with the expressions más de (more than) or menos de (less than):
Sí, un poquito menos de quinientos mil habitantes.
Yes, a little less than five hundred thousand inhabitants.
Caption 47, Buenos Aires - Heladería Cumelen
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We use the preposition de when talking about time expressions:
Supongamos que son las cinco de la tarde
Let's suppose that it's five in the evening
Caption 66, Carlos explica - El pretérito Cap. 2: Perfecto compuesto I
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We use de along with the preposition a to indicate a particular range or period:
El horario es de lunes a viernes
The schedule is from Monday to Friday
Caption 69, Negocios - La solicitud de empleo
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To recap, here are the most common uses of de in Spanish:
• To indicate nationality or origin
• To indicate the material something is made of
• To describe features or characteristics (noun + de + noun)
• To indicate possession
• To express cause or reason (after adjective + before verb)
• To make comparisons (with más de or menos de)
• In time expressions
• To indicate a range (with the preposition a)
When the preposition de goes before the definite article el, you need to combine the two words using the contraction del (de + el). Just as it happens with the contraction al (a + el), when you have the preposition de next to the article el, the contraction del is mandatory!
Estos son los números del uno al cien.
These are the numbers from one to a hundred.
Caption 44, El Aula Azul - Los Números del 1-100
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In this example, we can see both contractions (del and al) in action. Also, in this sentence, the speaker is using the preposition de and the preposition a together because she is indicating a range. Remember that it would be wrong to say that sentence in the following way: Estos son los números de el uno a el cien.
That's all for now. If you feel like it, try writing sentences with all the different uses we have mentioned for the preposition de. We'd love to hear from you—feel free to share your examples and any questions you might have!
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