La pregunta relámpago tiene un tiempo límite.

Spanish often uses the definite article where English might or might not use the. Here, la pregunta means the question and refers to a specific question.

• la = the
• pregunta = question

If you said just pregunta on its own, it would usually sound incomplete in this kind of sentence.

Here, relámpago is being used like a descriptive word after the noun, something like lightning or quick-fire in English.

So:

• pregunta = question
• pregunta relámpago = lightning question / quick-fire question

In Spanish, descriptive words often come after the noun, unlike in English, where they often come before it.

Because relámpago is not a normal adjective here. It is a noun being used adjectivally, and in that use it usually stays unchanged.

So you say:

• pregunta relámpago
• ronda relámpago
• entrevista relámpago

It stays relámpago, even with a feminine noun like pregunta.

Literally, relámpago means lightning flash or flash of lightning.

By extension, it can describe something very fast, sudden, or quick-fire. That is why pregunta relámpago gives the idea of a question that must be answered quickly.

Tiene is the third-person singular form of the verb tener (to have) in the present tense.

So:

• yo tengo = I have
• tú tienes = you have
• él/ella tiene = he/she has
• la pregunta tiene = the question has

The subject here is la pregunta relámpago, which is singular, so tiene is the correct form.

Because Spanish commonly uses tener in expressions where English might also use have:

• tiene un tiempo límite = has a time limit

Using es would not work here, because the sentence is saying that the question possesses or comes with a time limit, not that it is a time limit.

A learner may notice that límite de tiempo is the more common and natural expression in many contexts.

So these are both understandable:

• tiene un tiempo límite
• tiene un límite de tiempo

But un límite de tiempo is usually the more standard way to say a time limit in everyday Spanish.

So this sentence is understandable, but many native speakers would more naturally say:

• La pregunta relámpago tiene un límite de tiempo.

Because un means a/an, and the sentence is referring to a time limit, not a specific previously mentioned one.

• un = a/an
• tiempo límite = time limit

If it were a specific known limit, you might see el instead:

• tiene el tiempo límite establecido = it has the established time limit

But here, un is the normal indefinite article.

It is pronounced approximately:

reh-LAM-pah-go

The written accent mark shows that the stress falls on lá:

• re-LÁM-pa-go

That accent is important, because it tells you where to stress the word.

The given order is the most neutral and natural:

• La pregunta relámpago tiene un tiempo límite.

You could sometimes move parts around for emphasis, but in ordinary Spanish this standard order works best:

subject + verb + object

• La pregunta relámpago = subject
• tiene = verb
• un tiempo límite = object

So for a learner, this is a good basic pattern to follow.