¿Por qué caminas por la calle cada día?

¿Por qué caminas por la calle cada día?
Why do you walk on the street every day?
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Questions & Answers about ¿Por qué caminas por la calle cada día?

What is the purpose of the inverted question mark at the beginning of the sentence?
In Spanish every direct question is framed by ¿ at the start and ? at the end. This dual punctuation signals the upcoming question right from the first word, helping readers adjust intonation and meaning before they get to the end.
Why is por qué written as two words with an accent on the é, instead of as porque?

Por qué (two words, with an accent) introduces a question meaning “why.”
Porque (one word, no accent) gives a reason, meaning “because.”
Mixing them up can flip your sentence from asking “Why?” to stating “Because.”

What does caminas mean, and why is it used here?
Caminas is the second-person singular (tú) form of the verb caminar in the present indicative. It literally means “you walk.” Since our question is about you walking every day, we use caminas rather than another person or tense.
Why is the subject pronoun tú omitted in caminas?
Spanish verbs carry enough information in their endings to identify the subject. In caminas, the “-as” ending already tells us the subject is “you” (informal). Adding tú is grammatically correct for emphasis or contrast, but it’s not required.
Why is it por la calle instead of en la calle?

Por expresses movement along, through, or by something. Here, caminar por la calle means “to walk along the street.”
En la calle would focus purely on location—“in the street”—and might imply you’re stationary or simply present there, not moving along it.

What does cada día mean, and could I use todos los días instead?

Both cada día and todos los días translate as “every day.”

  • Cada día literally “each day,” often feels a bit more formal or rhythmic.
  • Todos los días literally “all the days,” is slightly more neutral.
    You can swap them freely here:
    ¿Por qué caminas por la calle todos los días?
Why does día have an accent on the í?
Día has two syllables (dí-a) and the stress falls on the first syllable. Spanish rules say that if a word ends in a vowel, “n,” or “s” but the stress is not on the final syllable, you must mark the stressed syllable with an accent.
Why is the question ordered as ¿Por qué caminas…? rather than putting the verb first?

Spanish question word order is flexible, but a very common pattern is:
1) interrogative phrase (¿Por qué…?)
2) verb (caminas)
3) (optional) subject
This order keeps the question word right at the start, signaling the type of information you want before the action or subject appears.