This page is a one-stop reference for how Spanish asks questions. It synthesises material from the dedicated pages for each interrogative (qué, cuál, quién, dónde, cuándo, cómo, cuánto, por qué) and covers the cross-cutting topics that don't belong on any one of them: yes/no questions, punctuation, indirect questions, multiple-interrogative constructions, echo questions, rhetorical questions, and the pragmatic small-talk inventory (¿en serio?, ¿no me digas?, ¿qué tal si...?).
If you are at A2 or beyond, this page is the place to come for a panoramic view. For drilling a single interrogative, go to its dedicated page.
The master table of interrogatives
| Interrogative | Asks about | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| ¿qué? | thing, definition, choice from open set | what, which | can precede a noun: ¿qué libro? |
| ¿cuál? / ¿cuáles? | selection from a known set | which (one) | not normally before a noun in Spain (use qué) |
| ¿quién? / ¿quiénes? | person(s) | who | plural exists; takes personal a: ¿A quién viste? |
| ¿dónde? | place | where | with prep: ¿de dónde? ¿adónde? |
| ¿cuándo? | time | when | with prep: ¿desde cuándo? ¿hasta cuándo? |
| ¿cómo? | manner, state | how (sometimes "what") | ¿Cómo te llamas?; standalone re-ask ¿Cómo? |
| ¿cuánto/a/os/as? | quantity | how much, how many | four forms agreeing with noun |
| ¿por qué? | cause | why | two words, both accents |
| ¿para qué? | purpose | what for | distinct from ¿por qué? |
All of these carry an accent in interrogative or exclamative use — including when embedded inside another sentence with no visible question marks. The accent is the grammatical marker of interrogative force, not a punctuation decoration.
Yes/no questions: just intonation (or inversion)
Spanish does not have do/does auxiliaries. To turn a statement into a yes/no question, you just change the intonation — rising at the end — and add the question marks. The word order can stay the same as the statement, or you can invert subject and verb.
Hablas español. → ¿Hablas español?
You speak Spanish. → Do you speak Spanish? — Same words, intonation alone makes it a question.
Marta habla español. → ¿Marta habla español? / ¿Habla Marta español?
Marta speaks Spanish. → Does Marta speak Spanish? — Both word orders work in writing; subject-verb inversion is slightly more emphatic.
¿Vienes mañana?
Are you coming tomorrow?
¿Te gusta el queso manchego?
Do you like Manchego cheese?
In writing, the opening ¿ signals from the start that the sentence is a question — which is one of the most useful features of Spanish orthography, since long sentences become unambiguous from the first character. See the punctuation section below for the rule.
For the full treatment of yes/no questions (intonation, inversion, negative questions), see the yes/no questions page.
WH-questions: word order
In a WH-question, the interrogative word goes first, and the subject (if present) typically follows the verb:
¿Interrogative + verb + subject + (rest of clause)?
¿Dónde vive Pablo?
Where does Pablo live? — Interrogative + verb + subject.
¿Qué piensa tu madre del plan?
What does your mother think of the plan?
¿Cuándo llegan los invitados?
When do the guests arrive?
¿Por qué no viene Marta esta noche?
Why isn't Marta coming tonight?
The English speaker's trap here is leaving the subject before the verb (calquing English where Pablo lives?). Spanish strongly prefers the inverted order in WH-questions: ¿Dónde vive Pablo?, not ¿Dónde Pablo vive? (which is ungrammatical or at best heavily marked).
The opening ¿: mandatory in writing
Spanish is one of the few languages that uses an opening question mark ¿ at the start of every interrogative clause. This is a strict orthographic rule — not optional, not decorative.
¿Dónde vives?
Where do you live? — ¿ at the start, ? at the end.
¿No vienes con nosotros mañana?
Aren't you coming with us tomorrow? — The ¿ opens the question even when it's a negative yes/no.
The opening ¿ goes at the start of the interrogative portion of the sentence, which is not necessarily the start of the orthographic sentence. If a question follows a vocative or introductory phrase, the ¿ sits just before the question proper:
Marta, ¿puedes venir un momento?
Marta, can you come for a moment? — Vocative outside the question; ¿ opens just before puedes.
Para ser sincero, ¿qué opinas?
To be honest, what do you think? — Introductory phrase outside; ¿ opens before qué.
The same rule applies to exclamations with ¡…!.
Indirect (embedded) questions
When a question is embedded inside another sentence — after verbs like saber, preguntar, decir, contar, explicar, no recordar, querer saber — the question marks disappear. But the interrogative still keeps its accent, because the interrogative force is still grammatically present.
No sé dónde vive Pablo.
I don't know where Pablo lives. — Embedded question; dónde keeps its accent.
Me preguntó qué quería de regalo.
She asked me what I wanted for a present.
Cuéntame cómo conociste a Lucía.
Tell me how you met Lucía.
No tengo ni idea de cuánto cuesta.
I have no idea how much it costs.
Yes/no indirect questions use si ("if/whether") instead of an interrogative word:
No sé si va a llover hoy.
I don't know if it's going to rain today.
Me preguntó si quería café o té.
He asked me if I wanted coffee or tea.
The accent test: if the sentence could be paraphrased as a direct question ("where does Pablo live?", "what do I want?", "how much does it cost?"), then the interrogative inside the embedded form takes the accent. If you find yourself writing no sé donde vive, you have made an error. Always no sé dónde vive.
Multiple interrogatives in one sentence
Spanish allows you to ask two interrogatives at once, joined by y. Both keep their accents. This is something English actually struggles to do gracefully (you usually need to split into two questions or use "who… and when" as a roundabout phrase).
¿Quién y cuándo lo decidió?
Who decided it, and when?
¿Dónde y cómo nos conocimos?
Where did we meet, and how?
No sé quién ni cuándo lo dijo.
I don't know who said it, or when.
Both interrogatives keep their accents independently — quién and cuándo are each interrogative in their own right.
Echo questions
An echo question repeats something you just heard, with rising intonation, to signal surprise, disbelief, or a request for clarification. Spanish handles these with an interrogative inserted at the point of confusion.
— Me he comprado un caballo. — ¿Que te has comprado qué?
— I bought a horse. — You bought a what?! — Echo question marking disbelief. Note the unaccented que at the start (the reported-speech complementizer) plus the accented qué at the surprising point.
— Llegó a las cinco de la mañana. — ¿A qué hora llegó?
— He arrived at five in the morning. — At what time did he arrive? — Asking for clarification, less surprised.
— Se va a Australia. — ¿Que se va dónde?
— He's going to Australia. — He's going where?! — Note the unaccented que at the start (the reported-speech complementizer) plus the accented dónde at the surprising point.
Echo questions are very common in everyday conversation and convey real emotional reaction — surprise, indignation, "say that again?". They are particularly worth recognising because the structure deviates from canonical question word order and can be confusing in the wild.
Rhetorical questions
A rhetorical question is asked for effect, not because you want an answer. Spanish uses them heavily, especially with negation. The expected interpretation is the opposite of what the question literally asks.
¿Quién no querría unas vacaciones así?
Who wouldn't want a holiday like this? — Implies: everyone would.
¿Acaso te he mentido alguna vez?
Have I ever lied to you? — Implies: never. The acaso reinforces the rhetorical force.
¿Y qué quieres que haga yo?
And what do you want me to do? — Often rhetorical: implying I can't do anything.
The marker acaso is particularly characteristic of rhetorical questions in Spanish — it signals to the listener that the speaker is not expecting a literal answer.
Conversational fillers and pragmatic questions
Spanish has a rich vocabulary of short interrogative reactions that punctuate conversation. Memorising the common ones helps you sound less robotic.
| Expression | Meaning / use |
|---|---|
| ¿En serio? | Really? / Are you serious? |
| ¿De verdad? | Really? / Truly? |
| ¿No me digas? | You don't say! / Wow, really? |
| ¿Qué dices? | What are you saying?! (often disbelief) |
| ¿Cómo? / ¿Cómo dices? | Sorry? / Pardon? (re-ask) |
| ¿Y qué? | So what? |
| ¿Y eso? | How come? / What's that about? |
| ¿Qué tal? | How's it going? / How are things? |
| ¿Qué tal si...? | How about if...? / What if we...? |
| ¿Verdad que sí? | Right? / Don't you agree? |
| ¿O qué? | Or what? (mildly aggressive) |
— He sacado un diez en el examen. — ¿En serio? ¡Enhorabuena!
— I got a ten on the exam. — Really?! Congratulations!
¿Qué tal si vamos al parque y comemos algo allí?
How about we go to the park and eat something there? — Soft proposal; very common.
— Se ha mudado a Berlín. — ¿No me digas? Pero si acababa de llegar.
— He's moved to Berlin. — You don't say! But he'd just arrived.
— Hoy no puedo ir. — ¿Y eso?
— I can't go today. — How come?
Tag questions (¿no?, ¿verdad?, ¿vale?, ¿eh?, ¿a que sí?) are a separate inventory — see the tag questions page for the full treatment.
Negative questions
Spanish negative questions (with no before the verb) typically imply that the speaker expects or hopes for a positive answer, much like English negative questions do.
¿No vienes con nosotros?
Aren't you coming with us? — Implies: I expected you to come.
¿No has comido todavía?
Haven't you eaten yet? — Mild surprise; expected yes.
¿No te parece increíble?
Doesn't it seem amazing to you? — Inviting agreement.
There is no double-question contortion (no Spanish equivalent of "do you not?" — Spanish just uses ¿no...? and answers sí or no as in any question).
Asking for things politely
Polite requests in Spain often take the form of questions, frequently in the conditional or with softening adverbs like por favor. The bare imperative is much rarer than English speakers expect.
¿Me puedes pasar la sal, por favor?
Can you pass me the salt, please?
¿Te importaría cerrar la ventana?
Would you mind closing the window? — Conditional softens the request.
¿Sería tan amable de explicármelo otra vez?
Would you be so kind as to explain it to me again? — Formal usted.
The English calque "please pass the salt" delivered as a flat imperative sounds gruff in Spanish; ¿me pasas la sal? (literally do you pass me the salt?) is the natural polite form.
Punctuation summary
| Rule | Example |
|---|---|
| Always open with ¿ | ¿Dónde vives? |
| Open at the start of the question, not necessarily the sentence | Por cierto, ¿has visto a Pablo? |
| Embedded questions: no ¿…? | No sé dónde vive. |
| Tag questions: separate ¿…? | Vienes, ¿no? |
| Accents on interrogatives stay in embedded form | No sé qué quiere. |
Common mistakes
❌ Dónde vives?
Missing the opening ¿. Spanish requires both punctuation marks.
✅ ¿Dónde vives?
Where do you live?
❌ ¿Dónde Pablo vive?
Subject before verb in a WH-question — calque of English. Spanish inverts.
✅ ¿Dónde vive Pablo?
Where does Pablo live?
❌ No sé donde vive.
Embedded interrogative dónde requires its accent even without question marks.
✅ No sé dónde vive.
I don't know where he lives.
❌ ¿Hace tú quieres venir?
No do/does auxiliary in Spanish — just rising intonation or subject-verb inversion.
✅ ¿Quieres venir tú?
Do you want to come?
❌ ¿Quién Pablo invitó?
Wrong word order for a WH-question; the verb comes right after the interrogative.
✅ ¿A quién invitó Pablo?
Who did Pablo invite? — Personal a + quién + verb + subject.
❌ Pasa la sal.
As a request to a stranger, bare imperative is gruff. Phrase it as a polite question.
✅ ¿Me pasas la sal, por favor?
Can you pass me the salt, please?
Key takeaways
- Yes/no questions in Spanish need only rising intonation (or subject-verb inversion) — no do/does auxiliary.
- WH-questions put the interrogative first, verb next, subject after the verb: ¿Dónde vive Pablo?.
- The opening ¿ is mandatory in writing — every question needs both ¿ and ?. The opening ¿ sits at the start of the interrogative portion, after any vocative or intro phrase.
- All interrogatives (qué, cuál, quién, dónde, cuándo, cómo, cuánto, por qué) keep their accents in embedded questions, even without question marks.
- Yes/no indirect questions use si ("if/whether"): no sé si viene.
- Multiple interrogatives can be coordinated with y: ¿quién y cuándo?, ¿dónde y cómo?.
- Echo questions (¿Que se va dónde?) signal surprise or request for clarification; rhetorical questions (¿Acaso te he mentido?) expect no answer.
- The pragmatic inventory (¿en serio?, ¿no me digas?, ¿qué tal si...?, ¿y eso?) is core to fluent conversation.
- For tag questions (¿no?, ¿verdad?, ¿vale?, ¿eh?), see the tag questions page.
Now practice Spanish
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Spanish→Related Topics
- Preguntas de sí o noA1 — How Spanish forms yes/no questions — pure intonation, no inversion required, the mandatory inverted ¿ at the start, the rising tone, and the everyday tag questions (¿no?, ¿verdad?, ¿eh?) that turn a statement into a check.
- ¿Qué?: preguntar por informaciónA1 — How to use ¿qué? to ask 'what' in Spanish — definitions, choices, qué + noun for selection, exclamatives, and the all-important written accent that distinguishes the interrogative from the relative.
- ¿Cuál? y ¿cuáles?: selecciónA2 — How to use ¿cuál? and its plural ¿cuáles? to pick one (or several) from a known set — and the critical contrast with ¿qué? that English-speakers get wrong almost every time.
- ¿Quién? y ¿quiénes?: preguntar por personasA1 — How to use ¿quién? and ¿quiénes? to ask 'who' and 'whom' in Spanish — including the personal a, the strict no-stranding rule for prepositions, and the plural that English doesn't have.
- ¿Dónde?: preguntar por lugarA1 — How to use ¿dónde? in Spanish — location, destination (¿adónde?), origin (¿de dónde?) and path (¿por dónde?), with the no-stranding rule and the no-inversion freedom that English speakers find surprising.
- ¿Cuándo?: preguntar por tiempoA1 — How to use ¿cuándo? to ask 'when' in Spanish — alone or with prepositions (¿desde cuándo?, ¿hasta cuándo?, ¿para cuándo?), the embedded-question accent rule, and the all-important difference from unaccented cuando.
- ¿Cómo?: preguntar por modo, estado y reacciónA1 — Cómo is the Spanish interrogative for manner and state. It asks 'how?' (¿cómo lo haces?), 'how are you?' (¿cómo estás?), 'what's it like?' (¿cómo es?), and as a standalone 'sorry?' / 'what?' Always with an accent — without it, como means 'like, as, since.'
- ¿Cuánto/a/os/as?: cantidadesA1 — Cuánto is the Spanish interrogative for quantity — 'how much / how many.' Unlike English, it has four forms that agree in gender and number with the noun (¿cuánto dinero? ¿cuánta gente? ¿cuántos años? ¿cuántas chicas?), and stays invariable masculine singular when it modifies a verb (¿cuánto cuesta?). Always with accent.
- ¿Por qué? vs porque vs porqué vs por queA2 — The classic four-spelling confusion of Spanish: ¿por qué? (why — question), porque (because — answer), el porqué (the reason — noun), and por que (relative, formal). One sound, four written forms, four jobs. Master this and you fix one of the most visible markers of a non-native writer.
- Coletillas: ¿no?, ¿verdad?, ¿vale?, ¿eh?A2 — Spanish tag questions — coletillas — are the short tags hooked onto the end of a statement to seek confirmation, agreement, or acknowledgement. Where English uses 'isn't it? right? eh?', peninsular Spanish has its own inventory: ¿no? (universal), ¿verdad? (seeking confirmation), ¿eh? (informal, skeptical or insistent), ¿vale? (seeking agreement on a proposal), ¿a que sí/no? (insistent).