The Essential Spanish Question Words
Question words tell listeners what information you need. Meet qué, quién, dónde, cuándo, cómo, and por qué through one clear purpose and example each.
Learning objective
Recognise qué, quién, dónde, cuándo, cómo, and por qué.
Question words act like labels for the missing information. Qué asks what, quién asks who, dónde asks where, cuándo asks when, cómo asks how, and por qué asks why. In direct questions, these forms carry written accents. A direct question is one asked as a complete question to another person.
Sort the six words by the answer you expect. ¿Qué estudias? seeks a thing or activity: What do you study? ¿Quién es Ana? seeks a person: Who is Ana? ¿Dónde vives? seeks a place: Where do you live? The question word usually appears near the start and focuses your listening.
Time, method, and reason complete the set. ¿Cuándo estudias? asks when you study. ¿Cómo estás? asks how you are. ¿Por qué estudias español? asks why you study Spanish. Por qué is written as two words in a direct why question; porque, one word without an accent, commonly introduces a because answer.
You do not need to master every possible word order today. Learn one reliable purpose and one working frame for each question word. Both opening and closing question marks belong in careful Spanish writing. Regional accents may sound different, but the information requested by each word remains clear.
Examples
¿Qué estudias?
What do you study?
Qué asks for a thing, subject, or activity.
¿Quién es Ana?
Who is Ana?
Quién asks for a person's identity.
¿Dónde vives?
Where do you live?
Dónde asks for a place.
¿Cuándo estudias y cómo?
When do you study, and how?
Cuándo requests time; cómo requests a method or manner.
¿Por qué estudias español?
Why do you study Spanish?
Por qué requests a reason.
Common mistake
- Instead of
- ¿Porque estudias español?
- Try
- ¿Por qué estudias español?
The direct question asks for a reason, so it needs por qué as two words and an accent on qué. Porque normally introduces the answer, as in Porque vivo en Chile, meaning Because I live in Chile. The two spellings do different jobs.
Practice
Try it yourself
Match six answer cards to the question word that requests them: María; en casa; el lunes; español; en autobús; porque trabajo allí. Then write two complete questions using the matched words.