Learn Spanish (Latin America): ¿Alguien está escondiendo la llave?

It can mean both! In English, we often switch to "anyone" for questions, like "Is anyone hiding the key?" In Spanish, alguien covers both "someone" and "anyone" without needing to change the word.

Does alguien change if we know we are asking about a female?

No, alguien is an invariable word. It never changes to be feminine or plural. Even if you are in a room full of women, you still use alguien and pair it with a singular verb like está.

Why use está escondiendo instead of just esconde?

Está escondiendo means "is hiding" and emphasizes that the action is happening right at this very moment. You could also ask ¿Alguien esconde la llave?, but the está plus the -iendo ending (the present progressive) puts more focus on the action happening right now.

Can I change the word order and put alguien after the verb?

Yes! You can absolutely say ¿Está escondiendo alguien la llave? In Spanish questions, it is very common to put the subject after the verb, though starting with alguien is also perfectly natural.