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Mamá, ¿dónde está papá?

Mamá, ¿dónde está papá?
Mom, where is Dad?
From Lesson 88:Family and partners (el suegro, casarse)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about Mamá, ¿dónde está papá?

Why do we use está instead of es to ask where Dad is?
In Spanish, we use the verb estar (to be) when talking about location, even for permanent places or people. Since you are asking about Dad's physical location right now, you use está instead of es.
Why are there accent marks on the last letters of mamá and papá?
The accent mark tells you to put the spoken stress on that last syllable. Without the accent, papa means potato or the Pope, and mama means breast. The accent tells you how to say the word and completely changes the meaning to mom and dad!
Why does dónde have an accent mark?
In Spanish, all question words (like qué, cuándo, and quién) carry an accent mark. Dónde has an accent because it is asking a question, whereas donde without an accent just means where in a normal statement (like the house where I live).
Why is the upside-down question mark placed in the middle of the sentence?
In Spanish, the inverted question mark always goes at the exact point where the actual question begins. Saying Mamá is just getting her attention, so the question part starts right before dónde.

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