Learn Spanish (Latin America): ¿Cuándo termina la clase?

In Spanish, all question words—such as cuándo (when), cómo (how), and por qué (why)—carry a written accent mark. This helps distinguish them from their non-question forms, like when you use cuando to say 'I will go when it stops raining'.

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

Spanish doesn't use helper verbs like 'do' or 'does' to make questions! The single verb termina covers both 'finishes' and 'does finish'. You simply frame the sentence with question marks and use a questioning tone of voice.

Why is la clase at the end of the sentence?

In Spanish questions, it is very common to swap the order of the subject and the verb. Instead of putting the subject first ('When does the class finish?'), Spanish naturally puts the verb first, reading literally as 'When finishes the class?' (¿Cuándo termina la clase?).

Why is the verb termina instead of terminar?

Terminar is the base form of the verb, which means 'to finish'. Because the subject of the sentence is la clase (the class), we treat it as an 'it' (third-person singular). To match the subject, we drop the -ar from terminar and add -a, giving us termina.