Learn Spanish (Latin America): ¿Quiénes son los chicos?

In Spanish, the word for "who" changes depending on how many people you are asking about. Because we are asking about a plural group (los chicos), we have to use the plural form quiénes. English only has "who" for both singular and plural, so paying attention to the number of people is a new habit to build!

Why do we use the verb son here?

Son is the "they" form of the verb ser (to be). Since the answer to "who?" in this sentence is los chicos (the boys), we treat the subject as a "they" and use son to match.

Why is the word order ¿Quiénes son los chicos? instead of ¿Quiénes los chicos son?

In Spanish questions, the verb usually jumps to the front to sit right next to the question word. Because of this rule, the verb son has to come immediately after quiénes, pushing the subject (los chicos) to the end of the sentence.

Does los chicos only mean a group of boys?

Not necessarily! In Spanish, a masculine plural word is used for mixed-gender groups. So while los chicos can mean a group of only boys, it is also the standard way to say "the kids" or "the guys" when a group includes both males and females.