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Spanish (Latin America)

### Asking "How, When, and Why"

Just like we saw with **dónde** (where), all question words in Spanish carry an accent mark. Let's expand your toolkit with three essential question words for asking for details and explanations.

| Question word | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| **cómo** | how |
| **cuándo** | when |
| **por qué** | why |

### How: *Cómo*

Use **cómo** to ask about the way something is done, or to ask about someone's condition.

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### When: *Cuándo*

Use **cuándo** to ask about time, such as when an event happens or when someone arrives.

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### Why and Because: *Por qué* vs. *Porque*

When you want to ask for a reason, use **por qué** (why). Notice that it is written as two separate words, and the **e** has an accent mark.

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When you answer with "because", use **porque**. This is written as a single word, and there is no accent mark.

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Here is another example of a question and its explanation:

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How, when, and why (cómo, cuándo, por qué)

adjective

adverb

auxiliary verb

conjunction

determiner

expression

interjection

noun

numeral

prep

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and 'to be' (el, la, soy)

Masculine and feminine pairs (el hermano, la hermana)

Basic sentences and negation (no)

Indefinite articles (un, una)

Formal and informal you (tú vs. usted)

Plural pronouns and the verb to be (somos, son)

Making nouns plural (-s, -es)

Plural articles (los, las, unos, unas)

Noun gender exceptions

Adjective agreement

Invariable adjectives

State and location (estar)

Ser vs. estar

There is / there are (hay)

Hay vs. estar

To have (tener)

Possession (de)

Possessive adjectives (mi, tu, su)

Regular -ar verbs

Yes/No questions

What and who (qué, quién)

Regular -er verbs

Regular -ir verbs

Asking where (dónde, adónde)

How much and how many (cuánto)

Days of the week

Going to a place (ir a)

Preposition contractions (al, del)

In and by (en)

With me and with you (conmigo, contigo)

Prepositional pronouns (mí, ti)

Conjunctions (y, o, pero)

Giving reasons (porque)

Stem-changing verbs (e to ie)

Stem-changing verbs (o to ue)

Stem-changing verbs (e to i)

Irregular yo forms (hago, salgo)

To know (saber vs. conocer)

Weather expressions (hace, está)

Desires and plans (querer)

Ability and requests (poder)

Obligations (tener que)

Expressing likes (me gusta)

Plural likes (me gustan)

Verbs like gustar (encantar, doler)

Very vs. a lot (muy, mucho)

Numbers 0 to 15 (cero, uno, dos…)

Numbers 16 to 31 (dieciséis, veinte…)

Numbers 30 to 1000 (treinta, cien, mil)

Months of the year (enero, febrero, marzo)

Seasons and dates (el dos de mayo)

Telling time (es la..., son las...)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primero, segundo, tercero)

Reflexive pronouns and verbs (me, te, se, nos)

Direct object pronouns (lo, la, los, las)

The near future (ir a)

The present continuous (estar + -ando, -iendo)

Near demonstrative adjectives (este, esta, estos, estas)

Medium demonstrative adjectives (ese, esa, esos, esas)

Comparatives of inequality (más / menos ... que)

Comparatives of equality (tan ... como)

Indefinite and negative pronouns (algo, nada, alguien, nadie)

Affirmative commands

Far demonstratives (aquel, aquella)

Possessive pronouns (el mío, el tuyo)

Shortened indefinite adjectives (algún, ningún)

Adverbs of quantity (demasiado, bastante)

Adverbs of frequency (a menudo, a veces)

Adverb formation (-mente)

Exclamations (¡Qué...!)

Irregular comparatives (mejor, peor, mayor, menor)

Relative superlatives (el más... de)

Adjective intensification (-ísimo)

Indirect object pronouns

Pronoun placement with infinitives

Double object pronouns (me lo, te la)

The 'se lo' rule (se lo, se la)

Impersonal statements (se)

Impersonal obligation (hay que)

Personal obligation (deber)

Starting actions (empezar a)

Finishing and quitting actions (terminar de, dejar de)

Repeating actions (volver a)

Continuing actions (seguir + gerundio)

Complex prepositions of place (encima de, debajo de...)

Question	Answer
how	cómo
How are you today?	¿Cómo estás hoy?
very	muy
well	bien
I am very well today.	Estoy muy bien hoy.
when	cuándo
to arrive	llegar
When do you arrive at the city?	¿Cuándo llegas a la ciudad?
why	por qué
Why do you arrive early?	¿Por qué llegas temprano?
because	porque
Because I walk to school.	Porque camino a la escuela.
to finish / to end	terminar
the class	la clase
When does the class finish?	¿Cuándo termina la clase?
The class finishes today.	La clase termina hoy.
to do / to make	hacer
How do you do that?	¿Cómo haces eso?
Why do you study Spanish?	¿Por qué estudias español?
Because it is very important.	Porque es muy importante.
How do you make the bed?	¿Cómo haces la cama?
When do the boys make the beds?	¿Cuándo hacen las camas los chicos?
Why is the office closed?	¿Por qué está cerrada la oficina?
Where does the street end?	¿Dónde termina la calle?
You understand the class very well.	Comprendes muy bien la clase.
hard-working	trabajador
My mom is very hard-working.	Mi mamá es muy trabajadora.
The doctor is hard-working and nice.	El doctor es trabajador y simpático.
unpleasant, unfriendly	antipático
The teacher is very unpleasant today.	El profesor es muy antipático hoy.
My friend is not unpleasant.	Mi amiga no es antipática.