¿Dónde estará tu hermano? Tal vez alrededor del parque.

Where might your brother be? Maybe around the park.

Breakdown of ¿Dónde estará tu hermano? Tal vez alrededor del parque.

• estar: to be
• el hermano: the brother
• el parque: the park
• dónde: where

Questions & Answers about ¿Dónde estará tu hermano? Tal vez alrededor del parque.

Why does the sentence use estará (future) instead of está (present) if we’re talking about “where he is” now?

In Spanish, the simple future (here, estará) is often used to express guessing, probability, or wonder about the present.

• ¿Dónde estará tu hermano?
  = “I wonder where your brother is / Where could your brother be?”

Compare:

• ¿Dónde está tu hermano?
  = “Where is your brother?” (neutral question, just asking for information)

So estará here does not mean “will be” in the normal future-time sense; it means “must be / is probably” right now. This is called the “future of probability” in Spanish.

Can estará also refer to the future, like “Where will your brother be?” How do I know?

Yes, estará can also be a normal future:

• ¿Dónde estará tu hermano mañana?
  = “Where will your brother be tomorrow?”

In your sentence, there is no explicit time expression (like mañana), and the answer Tal vez alrededor del parque sounds like a guess about his current location. That context makes it clear that this is the future of probability about the present, not a literal future-time question.

So you decide based on context and any time words in the conversation.

Could we say instead? What would be the difference in tone?