¿Quién es tu amiga en la escuela?

Who is your friend at school?

Breakdown of ¿Quién es tu amiga en la escuela?

• ser: to be
• en: at
• la escuela: the school
• la amiga: the friend
• tu: your
• quién: who

Questions & Answers about ¿Quién es tu amiga en la escuela?

Why does ¿Quién have an accent mark?

The accent mark in quién shows that it is an interrogative word (used in questions or exclamations).

• Quién (with accent) = who? in direct or indirect questions:
  
  • ¿Quién es tu amiga? – Who is your (female) friend?
• Quien (without accent) is a relative pronoun meaning who / whoever in non-question contexts:
  
  • La chica, quien es mi amiga, va a la escuela. – The girl, who is my friend, goes to school.

In questions like this one, you must use ¿Quién with an accent.

Why is there an upside-down question mark ¿ at the beginning?

In Spanish, all questions are marked with two question marks:

• An inverted question mark at the beginning: ¿
• A normal question mark at the end: ?

So the pattern is: ¿ + question + ?

Example:

• ¿Quién es tu amiga en la escuela?
  Not: Quién es tu amiga en la escuela?

This helps readers know from the very beginning that the sentence is a question.

Why is it es and not está in this sentence?

Es and está both mean is, but they’re used differently:

• Es (from ser) is used for identity, essential characteristics, definitions:
  • ¿Quién es tu amiga? – You’re asking who she is, her identity.
• Está (from estar) is used for location, temporary states, feelings:
  • ¿Dónde está tu amiga? – Where is your friend?

In ¿Quién es tu amiga en la escuela?, the focus is on who she is, not where she is, so es is correct.

Why is it tu amiga and not su amiga?

Spanish has several words for your:

• tu = your (informal, singular you, like tú)
• su = his / her / your (formal usted) / their
• vuestro/vuestra = your (informal plural vosotros in Spain)

Here, tu amiga means your friend, speaking to someone you address as tú (informal you):

• ¿Quién es tu amiga en la escuela? – Who is your (informal) friend at school?

If you wanted to be formal with usted, you’d say:

• ¿Quién es su amiga en la escuela? – Who is your friend at school? (formal)

Why amiga and not amigo?

Spanish nouns usually have grammatical gender:

• amigo = male friend
• amiga = female friend

In this sentence, amiga tells us the friend is female.
If you were asking about a male friend, you’d say:

• ¿Quién es tu amigo en la escuela? – Who is your (male) friend at school?

Why is it en la escuela and not en escuela?

In Spanish, specific places usually take a definite article (el, la, los, las) where English often omits the:

• en la escuela = at school / in the school
• Literally: in the school

You normally say:

• en la escuela (at school)
  Not: en escuela (sounds incomplete or wrong here)

The article la agrees with escuela, which is feminine:

• la escuela (feminine singular)

Is en la escuela the same as “at school” in English? Could I say al colegio instead?

En la escuela usually corresponds to English at school or in school, yes.

In Spain, people often use:

• el colegio or el cole (more common than la escuela in many areas)
• el instituto / el insti = secondary school

So a very natural version in Spain might be:

• ¿Quién es tu amiga en el colegio?
• ¿Quién es tu amiga en el insti? (for secondary school)

All are understandable; la escuela is correct but may sound a bit more generic or less colloquial in some areas of Spain.

Why is there no subject like ella (“she”) in the question?

Spanish often omits subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows the subject.

• es can mean he is / she is / it is / you (formal) are, depending on context.

In a question like ¿Quién es tu amiga…?, quién itself is asking who the subject is, so you don’t add ella:

• ¿Quién es tu amiga? – Correct
• ¿Quién ella es tu amiga? – Incorrect (word salad)

You could, in some contexts, add ella for emphasis later, but not in this structure:

• ¿Quién es tu amiga en la escuela, ella o Marta? – Who is your friend at school, she or Marta?

Could I change the word order, like ¿Tu amiga quién es en la escuela?

That word order is not natural in Spanish for this kind of question.

The standard pattern when asking “Who is X?” is:

• ¿Quién es + [complement]?

So:

• ¿Quién es tu amiga en la escuela? – Natural and correct.

¿Tu amiga quién es en la escuela? might appear in very specific contexts for emphasis (and even then sounds awkward), but it is not the normal way to form this question. Stick with:

• ¿Quién es tu amiga en la escuela?

How would I answer this question in Spanish?

Some natural answers are:

• Mi amiga en la escuela es María. – My friend at school is María.
• Es María. – It’s María / She is María.
• Se llama María. – Her name is María.

If you want to keep the structure close to the question:

• ¿Quién es tu amiga en la escuela?
  Mi amiga en la escuela es Ana.