Learn Spanish (Latin America): ¿Por qué llegas temprano?

¿Por qué llegas temprano?

Why do you arrive early?

Breakdown of ¿Por qué llegas temprano?

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Questions & Answers about ¿Por qué llegas temprano?

Why is Por qué written as two words with an accent here?

In Spanish, por qué (why) is always written as two words with an accent mark on the é. It literally translates to 'for what'. When you want to answer and say 'because', you use porque, which is written as one single word without an accent mark.

Where is the word for 'do' in this question?

Spanish doesn't use helper words like 'do' or 'does' to make questions. Instead of saying 'Why do you arrive early?', Spanish simply asks 'Why you arrive early?'. The upside-down question mark at the beginning and the tone of your voice let people know you are asking a question.

I don't see the word for 'you' (tú). How do we know who is arriving?

The 'you' is built right into the verb ending. Because llegas is the tú (informal you) form of the verb llegar (to arrive), you don't actually need to say tú. You could say ¿Por qué tú llegas temprano?, but leaving the pronoun out is very common and natural in Spanish.

If a woman is arriving early, would temprano change to temprana?

No, it stays exactly as temprano. In this sentence, it is acting as an adverb because it describes the action of arriving, not a physical trait of the person. Adverbs in Spanish never change their endings to match gender or amount.