Ask What Happened and When in Spanish
Past questions uncover an event's key details. Use qué pasó, cuándo, dónde, and con quién, then echo the relevant preterite form in a complete answer.
Learning objective
Ask and answer focused questions about a completed event.
A question word asks for a particular missing detail. ¿Qué pasó? means What happened? ¿Cuándo? asks when, ¿dónde? asks where, and ¿con quién? asks with whom. These words carry written accents in direct questions, and Spanish places an opening question mark before the question begins.
Use a preterite that matches the person addressed: ¿Qué hiciste? asks an informal singular listener what they did. ¿Qué hizo usted? is a respectful singular alternative. Forms and preferences for tú, usted, and vos vary across communities, so choose a model appropriate to the relationship rather than claiming one form is universally polite.
Spanish questions do not insert an equivalent of English did. Say ¿Cuándo llegaste?, not a construction modelled on ¿Cuándo hiciste llegar? A form of hacer changes the meaning toward making or causing an arrival. The conjugated main verb already carries the past information.
Follow an answer with one focused detail: —Tuve un accidente. —¿Dónde ocurrió? —En la estación central. —¿Con quién estabas? This exchange moves from the main event to place and company without demanding a complete story at once, and the responder can decline details that feel private.
Examples
¿Qué pasó después de la reunión?
What happened after the meeting?
Qué targets the event itself; pasó is third-person singular.
¿Cuándo llegaste y cuánto tiempo estuviste allí?
When did you arrive, and how long were you there?
Two accented question words request time and duration.
¿Dónde comieron ustedes?
Where did you all eat?
Comieron agrees with ustedes without an auxiliary meaning did.
¿Con quién fuiste al concierto? —Fui con mi hermana.
Who did you go to the concert with? —I went with my sister.
The answer echoes fui and supplies the requested companion.
Common mistake
- Instead of
- ¿Cuándo hiciste llegaste y dónde hiciste comiste?
- Try
- ¿Cuándo llegaste y dónde comiste?
English did can tempt learners to add hiciste, but Spanish preterites llegaste and comiste already express tú and completed past. Adding hiciste creates two conjugated verbs and changes the intended structure. The accented question words remain at the start of their clauses.
Practice
Try it yourself
A friend says: Ayer perdí mi teléfono en el centro, pero una empleada lo encontró. Write three focused past questions about time, exact place, and what the employee did next.