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Questions & Answers about ¿Dónde está el hotel?
Why do we use "está" instead of "hay" here?
We use está (from the verb estar) because we are asking about the location of a specific hotel. You can tell it is specific because it uses the definite article el (the). If we were asking about the existence of just any hotel, like saying "Is there a hotel around here?", we would use hay and an indefinite word like un (a).
Why does "Dónde" have an accent mark?
Question words in Spanish, like dónde (where), qué (what), and cómo (how), always carry a written accent mark. This helps distinguish them from the same words when they are used in statements rather than questions.
How do you pronounce "hotel" in Spanish?
Why is there an upside-down question mark at the beginning of the sentence?
Spanish uses an inverted question mark (¿) at the very start of a question. This gives the reader a heads-up that a question is coming, which is especially helpful for reading out loud or knowing how to change your tone of voice. It always pairs with a standard question mark (?) at the end.