Explanation
Asking questions is a great way to learn new things in Spanish, and it's a necessary skill for making your way around. If you need to get directions, ask what a word means, or find out the time, you will need to know how to ask questions correctly.
In this article we'll cover questions that can be answered with sí(yes) or no(no), as well as questions that are answered with more detailed information.
Check out these examples of questions in Spanish.
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Yes/No Questions
In Spanish, asking a question that can be answered sí or no is extremely easy.
- In written Spanish, all you have to do is frame what you want to ask with question marks (¿?).
- In spoken Spanish, you simply raise the pitch of your voice at the end of the question.
Statement | He speaks Spanish. | |
Question | Does he speak Spanish? | |
Statement | You like hip hop music. | |
Question | Do you like hip hop music? |
Note the upside-down question mark (¿) in front of the questions. This is required when writing questions in Spanish! If you're not sure how to type the ¿, check out this article!
Question Words
When asking information questions (questions that require an answer beyond sí or no), you'll need to begin your question with a question word. Check out this handy list of common Spanish question words.
Spanish Question Words
Spanish | English | Spanish | English |
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who | what | ||
when | where | ||
why | how, what | ||
which | which ones | ||
how much | how many | ||
from where | why, for what | ||
to where | to whom | ||
where/whereabouts | with whom |
Notice that the above question words have accents on them. This differentiates them from their non-interrogative counterparts.
Check out these examples of Spanish interrogative sentences.
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In Spanish, when only part of a sentence is a question, you only place the question marks around that specific part of the sentence.
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Learn all about adjectives in Spanish with these articles!