Catalan question words identify the missing piece of information: qui asks for a person, què for a thing or idea, quin for a choice, and on for a place. Unlike English, Catalan normally puts a required preposition before the question word: Amb qui parles? “Who are you talking to?” The interrogative itself therefore carries information about grammatical role that English can leave to word order or a stranded preposition.
The essential inventory
| Interrogative | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| qui | person; invariant | Qui truca? |
| què | thing, action, or idea; invariant | Què necessites? |
| quin, quina, quins, quines | identity or choice; agrees with a noun | Quina talla portes? |
| quant, quanta, quants, quantes | amount or number; agrees when it determines a noun | Quantes nits us quedeu? |
| com | manner or condition | Com estàs? |
| quan | time | Quan comença? |
| on | place | On vius? |
| per què | reason | Per què rius? |
Only què carries a written accent in this basic set. Do not copy Spanish accents onto com, quan, or on. The accent in què distinguishes the stressed interrogative or prepositional pronoun from unstressed que “that/which.”
Qui ha deixat aquesta nota a la porta?
Who left this note on the door?
Què vols fer després de dinar?
What do you want to do after lunch?
Com has trobat aquest restaurant tan petit?
How did you find such a small restaurant?
Qui and què: people versus things
Qui refers to people and has no plural ending. Number is usually clear from the verb or answer.
Qui ve a la reunió de veïns?
Who is coming to the residents' meeting?
Qui són aquelles persones que esperen fora?
Who are those people waiting outside?
Què asks about a nonhuman referent, an action, or the content of an idea. It can stand alone or follow a preposition.
Què hi ha dins d'aquesta capsa?
What is inside this box?
De què parleu tan fluixet?
What are you talking about so quietly?
Subject and object questions can look similar, but verb agreement and context reveal the role. In Qui ha trucat?, qui is the subject. In Qui has vist?, the second-person verb tells us that an omitted tu is the subject and qui is the direct object. When a verb selects a preposition, preserve it: A qui has telefonat?
Quin chooses or identifies and must agree
Quin behaves like a determiner. Match its gender and number to the following noun: quin carrer, quina plaça, quins dies, quines dates. The speaker is asking which member of a relevant set or what specific identity applies.
Quin tren arriba abans a Girona?
Which train gets to Girona first?
Quina contrasenya hem de fer servir ara?
Which password do we have to use now?
Quins dies tens lliures la setmana que ve?
Which days are you free next week?
Compare the minimal pair:
Què llegeixes?
What are you reading?
Quin llibre llegeixes?
Which book are you reading?
The first leaves the category open: the answer could be a novel, an email, or the news. The second supplies the category llibre and asks for its identity. In context, the noun can be omitted: D'aquests llibres, quin llegeixes primer?
Quant agrees with a noun but not as an adverb
Before a noun, quant agrees: quant temps, quanta aigua, quants bitllets, quantes cadires. When it asks for a price or degree without a noun, the adverbial form is invariable quant.
Quanta estona fa que feu cua sota la pluja?
How long have you been queuing in the rain?
Quants entrepans encarreguem per a l'excursió?
How many sandwiches should we order for the outing?
Quant costa llogar una bicicleta elèctrica tot el matí?
How much does it cost to rent an electric bicycle for the whole morning?
English “how much/many” uses two words and distinguishes count from mass. Catalan places that information in the ending of quant when a noun is present.
Com, quan, and on
Com asks about manner (Com ho fas?) or state (Com està l'avi?). Quan asks about time. On asks about location and combines with prepositions when the route or source matters.
Quan sabrem els resultats definitius?
When will we know the final results?
On heu aparcat la furgoneta?
Where did you park the van?
D'on surt aquesta olor de fum?
Where is this smell of smoke coming from?
Per on s'entra al recinte després de les deu?
Which way do you enter the grounds after ten?
Movement toward a place may be expressed with on or a on according to construction and usage: On aneu? is an unmarked, widely used question; A on aneu? makes the directional relation explicit. (regional) preferences among on, a on, and fused colloquial pronunciations vary across the Catalan-speaking territory. In edited writing, spell the selected preposition separately and do not invent a Spanish-style written form.
Per què asks for a reason
Write the question as two words: per què. The answer conjunction perquè is one word. Per a què can explicitly ask about purpose, “what for?”, especially in formal or contrastive contexts and in varieties that maintain per versus per a robustly.
Per què has apagat el router? —Perquè feia una llum vermella.
Why did you turn off the router? — Because it had a red light on.
Per a què necessiteu una còpia compulsada?
What do you need a certified copy for?
The first seeks a cause or reason; the second asks about intended use. For the wider spelling and clause contrast, continue to questions with prepositions.
Keep the preposition with its question word
English often strands a preposition at the end: “Who are you going with?” Standard Catalan normally fronts the whole unit: Amb qui hi vas? The verb or expression decides the preposition, so learn the government with the predicate rather than through Spanish or English.
Amb qui compartiràs l'habitació?
Who will you share the room with?
En què penses quan no pots dormir?
What do you think about when you can't sleep?
Amb què somies per al teu barri?
What do you dream of for your neighbourhood?
The last two expose a transfer trap: Catalan has pensar en and somiar amb in these meanings. Do not preserve Spanish soñar con by writing con què, and do not strand the translated preposition at the end.
A decision table
| Missing information | Ask with... | Quick test |
|---|---|---|
| a person | qui | Could the answer be a person's name? |
| a thing or action | què | Is there no following noun to agree with? |
| one identity or option | quin/a/s/es + noun | Can you name a relevant set? |
| amount or number | quant/a/s/es | Must the form agree with a noun? |
| manner, time, or place | com, quan, on | Would the answer describe how, when, or where? |
| reason | per què | Would the answer naturally begin with perquè? |
A natural dialogue
—On heu quedat? —Davant del teatre. —A quina hora comença l'obra? —A les nou. —I amb qui hi vas? —Amb la Mei i en Pol. Per què no vens també?
‘Where are you meeting?’ ‘In front of the theatre.’ ‘What time does the play start?’ ‘At nine.’ ‘And who are you going with?’ ‘With Mei and Pol. Why don't you come too?’
Notice a quina hora: English needs “at” in the answer, and Catalan keeps a in the question as well. In the embedded question Saps a quina hora comença?, the same interrogative phrase remains; only the sentence is no longer a direct request for an answer.
Common Mistakes
❌ Què carrer busques?
Incorrect: before a noun, use the agreeing interrogative quin, not què.
✅ Quin carrer busques?
Which street are you looking for?
❌ Cóm has arribat tan de pressa?
Incorrect Spanish-influenced accent: Catalan com has no accent.
✅ Com has arribat tan de pressa?
How did you get here so quickly?
❌ Qui vas al concert amb?
Incorrect English preposition stranding: Catalan fronts amb qui.
✅ Amb qui vas al concert?
Who are you going to the concert with?
❌ Con què somies últimament?
Incorrect Spanish government and spelling: Catalan somiar selects amb, and con is not the Catalan preposition.
✅ Amb què somies últimament?
What have you been dreaming about lately?
❌ Quants aigua queda a l'ampolla?
Incorrect agreement: aigua is feminine singular, so use quanta.
✅ Quanta aigua queda a l'ampolla?
How much water is left in the bottle?
Short correction task
Correct the question word, accent, agreement, or preposition.
- Què jaqueta t'agrada més?
- D'ón veniu?
- Qui preparareu el regal per?
Quina jaqueta t'agrada més?
Which jacket do you like best?
D'on veniu?
Where are you coming from?
Per a qui preparareu el regal?
Who will you prepare the gift for?
Key Takeaways
- Use qui for people, què for things or ideas, and agreeing quin/a/s/es before a noun that identifies an option.
- Quant/a/s/es agrees with a noun, while adverbial quant remains invariable.
- Catalan com, quan, and on carry no interrogative accent; què does.
- Keep a selected preposition before the interrogative: amb qui, de què, en què, and per a qui.
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Start learning Catalan →Related Topics
- Yes–No QuestionsA1 — How Catalan asks total questions through intonation and punctuation, without English do-support, and how subject position, tags, and short answers shape the expected response.
- Subject Position in QuestionsA2 — How Catalan places, omits, or postpones a question's subject according to grammatical role, information status, and contrast rather than English auxiliary inversion.
- Questions with PrepositionsA2 — How Catalan keeps required prepositions before qui, què, quin, and on in questions, including purpose, destination, source, and verb government.
- Embedded QuestionsA2 — How Catalan places questions inside statements and larger questions with si or an interrogative phrase, declarative punctuation, and non-inverted word order.
- Multiple InterrogativesB2 — How Catalan asks about two or more unknowns through one fronted interrogative, in-situ remnants, pair-list readings, and clearer paraphrases.
- Polite and Indirect QuestionsB1 — How Catalan softens requests for information and action with the conditional, the imperfect, embedded questions, address forms, and service-register choices.