A yes/no question in Spanish is, structurally, the easiest type of question in the language. You take a declarative sentence, raise your voice at the end, wrap it in ¿ and ?, and you are done. No auxiliary verb, no subject-verb inversion, no rearrangement of any kind is required. Tienes coche is "You have a car"; ¿Tienes coche? is "Do you have a car?" The same words, the same order — just intonation and punctuation.
This sounds almost too simple to English speakers, who are used to the do-support machinery (Do you have? Does she know? Did they come?) that English drags around for every yes/no question. Spanish has no equivalent. There is no auxiliary to insert, no "do/does/did" to conjugate. You ask with intonation, full stop. The hard part for English speakers is not learning the rule; it is learning to trust it — to stop reaching for an inverted auxiliary that doesn't exist.
The cardinal rule: same word order, rising intonation, inverted ¿
To turn a Spanish statement into a yes/no question:
- Keep the word order the same.
- Raise your intonation at the end of the sentence.
- In writing, open with ¿ and close with ?. Both are mandatory.
| Statement | Yes/no question |
|---|---|
| Tienes coche. (You have a car.) | ¿Tienes coche? (Do you have a car?) |
| Hablas inglés. (You speak English.) | ¿Hablas inglés? (Do you speak English?) |
| María vive aquí. (María lives here.) | ¿María vive aquí? (Does María live here?) |
| Han llegado ya. (They've already arrived.) | ¿Han llegado ya? (Have they arrived yet?) |
¿Hablas español? — Sí, un poco, estoy aprendiendo.
Do you speak Spanish? — Yes, a little, I'm learning.
¿Tienes hora? — Sí, son las cinco y cuarto.
Do you have the time? — Yes, it's quarter past five.
¿Vives en Madrid? — No, en Alcalá, pero trabajo en Madrid.
Do you live in Madrid? — No, in Alcalá, but I work in Madrid.
Optional inversion for emphasis
Spanish allows subject-verb inversion in yes/no questions, but does not require it. Inversion is used for slight emphasis or to make the subject explicit when it is otherwise ambiguous from context.
¿Tienes tú coche o tengo que llevarte yo?
Do YOU have a car, or do I have to drive you? — Inversion + pronoun for explicit contrast.
¿Sabes tú dónde está el museo?
Do YOU know where the museum is? — Slight emphasis on the addressee.
¿Va a venir Marta a la cena?
Is Marta going to come to the dinner? — Post-verb subject, which is the more usual position in Spanish for any non-pronoun subject.
In practice, subject pronouns are usually omitted entirely in Spanish questions, since the verb ending already tells you who. So you almost never need to decide between ¿tú tienes? and ¿tienes tú? — you just say ¿tienes?. Pronouns appear in questions only when they are needed for contrast, clarification, or emphasis.
For non-pronoun subjects (proper names, nouns), Spanish strongly prefers post-verb position in yes/no questions: ¿Viene tu hermano? (Is your brother coming?) sounds more natural than ¿Tu hermano viene? — though both are grammatical.
The inverted ¿ — mandatory in writing
Spanish uses paired punctuation: an inverted ¿ at the start of the question and a normal ? at the end. The inverted opener is not optional. It tells the reader, before they start the sentence, that what is coming is a question — which matters because Spanish word order itself doesn't change to mark questions.
¿Sabes a qué hora cierra el supermercado?
Do you know what time the supermarket closes?
¿No te lo dije ayer? Lo siento, pensaba que sí.
Didn't I tell you yesterday? Sorry, I thought I did.
The inverted ¿ goes only around the question itself, not the whole sentence. If a question sits inside a larger sentence (after a topic or vocative), the ¿ opens at the question, not at the start of the line:
Por cierto, ¿has visto las llaves?
By the way, have you seen the keys?
María, ¿puedes ayudarme un momento?
María, can you help me for a moment?
See the punctuation page for the full rules — including the parallel ¡...! for exclamations.
Intonation: the rising contour
In spoken Spanish, a yes/no question is marked by a rising intonation contour that peaks on the final stressed syllable. The contour is similar to English — both languages raise pitch at the end of yes/no questions — but Spanish does it more consistently and depends on it more heavily, because the words themselves don't change to mark the question.
¿Vienes?
Are you coming? — One word, rising tone, identifiable as a question by intonation alone.
¿Estás bien?
Are you OK?
¿Te gustó la peli?
Did you like the film? (informal Peninsular, 'peli' for 'película')
If you flatten the intonation, the listener hears a statement: Vienes with falling tone means "You're coming." This is why the punctuation matters in writing — the rising contour isn't visible on the page, so the ¿ does the work that intonation does in speech.
Tag questions: ¿no?, ¿verdad?, ¿eh?
A tag question is a short interrogative tail glued to the end of a statement to ask for confirmation. English has isn't it?, doesn't he?, right? — and they require matching the auxiliary verb to the main clause. Spanish has it much easier: a small set of invariable tags that work with any verb in any tense.
| Tag | Meaning / use | Register |
|---|---|---|
| ¿no? | ...isn't it? / ...right? — the everyday workhorse | neutral / informal |
| ¿verdad? | ...right? — slightly more emphatic, more polite | neutral / formal |
| ¿eh? | ...eh? / ...huh? — colloquial, conversational | informal |
| ¿no es así? | ...is that not so? — formal, almost rhetorical | formal |
| ¿a que sí? / ¿a que no? | ...don't you think? / ...do you bet not? — playful, child-like | informal |
Hace mucho calor hoy, ¿no?
It's really hot today, isn't it?
Tú eres de Sevilla, ¿verdad? Tienes un poquito de acento.
You're from Seville, right? You have a slight accent. (informal)
Está rico, ¿eh? Lo hizo mi abuela.
It's tasty, huh? My grandmother made it. (informal)
Usted está al corriente del asunto, ¿no es así?
You are aware of the matter, are you not? (formal)
The beauty of Spanish tags is their invariability. ¿no? works with any verb in any tense in any person — vienes mañana, ¿no?, fueron a la playa, ¿no?, trabajabas allí antes, ¿no? — all use the same ¿no?. English forces you to match: you're coming, aren't you?, they went, didn't they?, you used to work there, didn't you?. Each one needs a different auxiliary. Spanish doesn't make you do that work.
When the main clause is negative, ¿no? still works as a confirmation tag, though ¿verdad? sounds slightly more natural:
No has comido todavía, ¿verdad? Te preparo algo.
You haven't eaten yet, right? Let me make you something.
Negative yes/no questions: implication and politeness
A negative yes/no question (¿No vienes?, ¿No tienes hambre?) carries a different pragmatic flavour from a positive one. It typically implies:
- The speaker expects a "yes" answer, OR
- The speaker is surprised that the negative state is true, OR
- The speaker is politely offering / suggesting something.
¿No tienes coche? Pensaba que sí.
Don't you have a car? I thought you did. — Surprise at the negative state.
¿No quieres un café? Lo acabo de hacer.
Don't you want a coffee? I just made it. — Polite offer.
¿No vienes con nosotros al cine?
Aren't you coming to the cinema with us? — Mild persuasion / expecting yes.
The negative form softens the question and is often more polite than the positive one. ¿Quieres un café? is a neutral offer; ¿No quieres un café? implies "I'd really like to give you one — surely you do?" — warmer, more insistent. Spanish, like English, uses negative questions to do social work.
Responding to negative questions: a small trap
When you answer a Spanish negative question, sí and no work the way they do in English most of the time — but with one wrinkle. Sí affirms the truth of the underlying positive statement; no affirms the truth of the negative.
- ¿No vienes? — Sí, sí vengo. (Yes, I am coming.) The doubled sí clarifies the positive.
- ¿No vienes? — No, no vengo. (No, I'm not coming.)
The doubled-up version (sí, sí vengo or no, no vengo) is very natural in spoken Spanish for clearing up the polarity when a negative question is in play.
—¿No te apetece salir esta noche? —Sí, sí me apetece, pero estoy cansada.
'Don't you feel like going out tonight?' 'Yes, I do feel like it, but I'm tired.'
Indirect yes/no questions: si (not sí)
When you embed a yes/no question inside a larger sentence (I don't know if she's coming, He asked me whether I had eaten), Spanish uses the conjunction si (no accent). Don't confuse it with the affirmation word sí (with accent).
No sé si va a venir a la fiesta.
I don't know if/whether he's going to come to the party. — Indirect yes/no question; si without accent.
Me preguntó si había comido ya.
She asked me whether I had already eaten.
Pregúntale si puede prestarte el libro.
Ask him if he can lend you the book.
This is the same si used for conditionals ("if I had money, I would..."). The two uses are unrelated to sí (yes), which always carries an accent.
Common Mistakes
❌ ¿Tú tienes un coche?
Subject pronouns are usually dropped in Spanish questions. Including tú here sounds emphatic or contrastive, which is probably not what you want.
✅ ¿Tienes coche?
Do you have a car?
❌ ¿Haces tú hablar español?
There's no do-support in Spanish. You don't insert hacer to form questions. Just conjugate the main verb.
✅ ¿Hablas español?
Do you speak Spanish?
❌ Tienes coche?
The opening inverted ¿ is mandatory in written Spanish — it's not optional like in informal English.
✅ ¿Tienes coche?
Do you have a car?
❌ No sabe si o no viene.
To say 'whether or not,' Spanish uses si... o no (no accent on si). And it sits inside the clause.
✅ No sabe si viene o no.
He doesn't know whether he's coming or not.
❌ Eres alemán, ¿no eres?
Spanish tag questions don't repeat the auxiliary. The everyday tag is just ¿no?, invariant.
✅ Eres alemán, ¿no?
You're German, aren't you?
❌ ¿Has nunca estado en España?
No adverb fits between haber and the participle. The negative goes before haber (and the no is dropped because nunca is pre-verb).
✅ ¿Nunca has estado en España? / ¿No has estado nunca en España?
Have you never been to Spain?
Key takeaways
- No do-support, no inversion required. You turn a Spanish statement into a yes/no question with intonation and punctuation alone. Tienes coche → ¿Tienes coche?.
- The opening ¿ is mandatory in writing. The whole sentence is wrapped in ¿...?.
- Spoken yes/no questions rise on the final stressed syllable. The rising contour does the same work the inverted ¿ does in writing.
- Optional inversion (¿tienes tú coche?, ¿viene tu hermano?) adds slight emphasis or makes the subject explicit. For non-pronoun subjects, post-verb position is the more natural default.
- Subject pronouns are usually dropped in questions — ¿tienes?, not ¿tú tienes?, unless you want contrast.
- Tag questions in Spanish are invariable: ¿no? (everyday), ¿verdad? (slightly more polite), ¿eh? (informal), ¿no es así? (formal). No matching of auxiliaries required.
- Negative questions (¿no vienes?) carry implications of surprise, polite offer, or expecting a yes.
- Indirect yes/no questions use the conjunction si (no accent), distinct from the affirmation sí (with accent).
- No adverb fits between haber and the participle — also in questions. ¿Has comido ya? not ¿Has ya comido?.
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: guía completaA2 — A comprehensive reference of how Spanish forms questions: the master table of all interrogatives, yes/no vs WH-question structures, the inverted ¿…?, indirect (embedded) questions and their accents, multiple-question constructions (¿quién y cuándo?), echo and rhetorical questions, and the pragmatic landscape of asking — ¿en serio?, ¿no me digas?, ¿qué tal si...?.
- 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).
- Adverbios interrogativos: ¿cómo?, ¿dónde?, ¿cuándo?A1 — Spanish interrogative adverbs — qué, cómo, cuándo, dónde, quién, cuánto, por qué, para qué — all wearing a written accent that distinguishes them from their unaccented relative cousins. The accent IS the grammar.
- Puntuación española: ¿? ¡!A1 — How Spanish punctuates questions, exclamations, dialogue, lists, and quotations — including the inverted ¿ ¡, the dialogue dash, the three flavours of quotation marks, and the systematic absence of the serial comma.
- Entonación del español peninsularB1 — The melody of Castilian Spanish — descending intonation on statements and wh-questions, rising contours on yes-no questions, the characteristic 'staccato' rhythm of central Spain compared with the sing-song melodies of Andalusia, the Canaries, and Latin America.
- Negación en respuestas: 'sí pero no'B1 — How Spanish handles yes/no responses, emphatic agreement and disagreement, and the hedged middle ground. Covers the everyday expressions — qué va, en absoluto, ni hablar, para nada — that don't translate word-for-word into English.