The position of pronouns in questions????
Which is proper, to say, "tu comes?" or "comes tu?" I can't seem to figure out which is most proper or when to put the pronoun before the verb when asking a question?
Can you point me in the right direction here?
4 Respuestas
..................................Asking Questions.............................................
A question is a sentence that results in a “Yes” or “No” answer, or, seeks specific or general information.
In Spanish, one way to ask a question is to raise the pitch of your voice at the end of your question sentence. This method requires no change in the sentence structure. Intonation Says Everything. There is no change in the order of the words in the sentence. Consider these examples:
- Tú vives en España. = You live in Spain. (Voice drops at end of sentence)
¿Tú vives en España? = Do you live in Spain? (Voice rises at end of sentence.)
Ellos leen el periódico cada día. = They read the paper every day.
(In this sentence, voice drops at end of sentence)- ¿Ellos leen el periódico cada día? = Do they read the paper every day.
(In this sentence voice rises at end of sentence.)
Another way to ask a question is to change or rearrange the order of the words. This is done by placing the conjugated verb in front of the sentence subject. Consider these examples:
- ¿Vives tú en España? = Do you live in Spain
(Same question as above but different word order.) - ¿Leen ellos el periódico cada día? = Do they read the paper every day.
(Same question as above but different word order.)
If you are not asking a simple “Yes” or “No” question, the question will begin with a “question word” like:
| ¿Quíen?¿Quíenes? | Who? | ¿Cual? | Which? (singular) |
| ¿Qué | What? | ||
| ¿Cuando? | When? | ¿Cuales? | Which (plural) |
| ¿Dónde? | Where? | ||
| ¿Por Qué? | Why? | ¿Cuanto/a? | How much? |
| ¿Cómo? | How? | ¿Cuantos/as? | How many |
Cactus, there is one truth which has not been mentioned yet:
forget about subject pronouns. So the most correct question is:
¿Comes ? ¿Estás comiendo?
It does not really matter, subject pronouns are simply NOT used in Spanish
¿Tú estás comiendo? Are you eating?
I think it's the same with question or statement for the most part (I could be wrong). But it makes it a question depending on how your voice fluctuates. (You will slightly raise your voice for questions, just like in english)
Thank you for your answers.
So either is proper. With the exception of the interrogatories mentioned above, there is no governing rule on how to ask the question. Correct?
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