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Question Words in Spanish – Lesson 21
In this lesson
(Lesson summary)
All the Spanish question words: qué, por qué, dónde, cómo, quién, cuándo, cuánto and cuál. With an example and a literal translation for each one, so you see exactly how Spanish questions work.
- All 11 Spanish question words
- Por qué vs porque vs para qué
- Cuánto, cuánta, cuántos, cuántas
- Qué vs cuál
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(The full lesson)
The Spanish question words
Today’s lesson is an important one: the question words. What, why, where, how, who, when… You use them all the time, in English and in Spanish. So pay full attention, and take notes!
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| ¿Qué? | What? |
| ¿Por qué? | Why? |
| ¿Para qué? | Why? (for what reason) |
| ¿Dónde? | Where? |
| ¿Cómo? | How? |
| ¿Quién? / ¿Quiénes? | Who? |
| ¿De quién? | Whose? |
| ¿Cuándo? | When? |
| ¿Cuánto? / ¿Cuánta? | How much? |
| ¿Cuántos? / ¿Cuántas? | How many? |
| ¿Cuál? / ¿Cuáles? | What? / Which? |
In this lesson I’ll show you the literal translation of each example too: what every word means on its own. That really helps you understand how Spanish sentences are built. And notice: from now on, we’re leaving out the subject pronouns, just like we learned in lesson 20.
¿Qué? What?
¿Qué quieres comer? literally: “what you-want to-eat” → What do you want to eat?
¿Qué pasa? literally: “what happens” → What’s going on? / What’s up?
Always write qué with an accent. Without it, que means “that”. You probably know ¿qué pasa? already: pasa comes from pasar, to happen.
¿Por qué? Why?
Por means “for”, so por qué is literally “for what”, which is “why”.
¿Por qué tienes hambre? literally: “for what you-have hunger” → Why are you hungry?
¿Por qué no? literally: “for what not” → Why not?
Remember tienes from tener? The -s ending tells you it’s “you”. Without the -s, ¿por qué tiene hambre? would mean “why is he / she hungry?”
Very important: por qué is two words, with an accent. Written as one word without accent, porque means “because”. Tiny difference on paper, big difference in meaning!
¿Por qué? Why?
porque because
¿Para qué? Why? (for what reason)
Para qué also means “why”, but more in the sense of “for what reason” or “for what purpose“. It’s not used as often as por qué, but it’s good to recognize it.
¿Para qué estás aquí? literally: “for what you-are here” → Why are you here? / What are you here for?
Notice it’s estás, from estar: being here is a state.
(Wes’s tip)
Don’t understand a Spanish sentence? Don’t look at the whole thing at once. Break it into parts, translate each part, and then put it together into proper English. After a while, you’ll recognize the parts automatically.
¿Dónde? Where?
¿Dónde estás? literally: “where you-are” → Where are you?
¿Dónde están? literally: “where they-are” → Where are they? / Where are you all?
Accent on the ó. And notice: in English we flip the words (“where are you“), in Spanish the order stays the same (“where you-are“).
¿Cómo? How?
¿Cómo estás? literally: “how you-are” → How are you?
You already know this one from lesson 1!
¿Quién? Who?
¿Quién es tu amigo? literally: “who is your friend” → Who is your friend?
When you ask about more than one person, it becomes quiénes, and the rest of the sentence changes with it:
¿Quiénes son tus amigos? literally: “who are your friends” → Who are your friends?
Es becomes son, tu becomes tus, and amigo becomes amigos. Everything goes plural together. Don’t worry if that’s a lot right now: we’ll go deeper into words like tu / tus (your) in a later lesson.
¿De quién? Whose?
De means “of” or “from”, so de quién is literally “of who”, which is “whose”.
¿De quién es esta casa? literally: “of who is this house” → Whose house is this?
In English we say “whose house is this”. In Spanish, the house goes at the end: ¿de quién es esta casa? Again, Spanish doesn’t flip the sentence around.
¿Cuándo? When?
¿Cuándo llega el tren? literally: “when arrives the train” → When does the train arrive?
Careful: cuándo (when) and cuánto (how much) look very similar. Only one letter is different!
¿Cuánto? How much? How many?
Cuánto changes depending on the noun after it: masculine or feminine, singular or plural.
| Singular (how much?) | Plural (how many?) | |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine | cuánto | cuántos |
| Feminine | cuánta | cuántas |
¿Cuánto dinero tienes? literally: “how-much money you-have” → How much money do you have?
¿Cuánta energía tienes? literally: “how-much energy you-have” → How much energy do you have?
¿Cuántas personas? literally: “how-many people” → How many people?
Dinero is masculine, so cuánto. La energía is feminine, so cuánta. And you saw ¿para cuántas personas? in the restaurant lesson!
You’ll probably mix these up at first, and that’s totally normal. Take a second to think before you say it. After using them a few times, you’ll get the hang of it.
¿Cuál? What? Which?
¿Cuál es tu favorito? literally: “which is your favorite” → Which one is your favorite? / What’s your favorite?
¿Cuáles son tus favoritos? literally: “which are your favorites” → Which ones are your favorites?
In the plural, cuál becomes cuáles, and again everything else goes plural too.
Qué or cuál?
Both can mean “what”. As a simple rule for now: use qué for “what” in general (¿qué quieres?), and cuál when you’re choosing between options, like “which one” (¿cuál quieres? = which one do you want?).
All question words have an accent
Did you notice? Every question word has an accent (in Spanish: a tilde): qué, por qué, dónde, cómo, quién, cuándo, cuánto, cuál. It’s important to get this right from the start.
Recap: Spanish question words
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| ¿Qué? | What? |
| ¿Por qué? | Why? |
| ¿Para qué? | Why? (for what reason) |
| ¿Dónde? | Where? |
| ¿Cómo? | How? |
+ 6 more words & phrases
Get all 11 words & phrases on one printable page, with examples and my tips. Free, straight to your inbox.
Get the free PDF ↓Practice: which question word?
Fill in the question word. Say it out loud, then click to check.
1. ¿___ estás? (How are you?)
¿Cómo estás?
2. ¿___ estás? (Where are you?)
¿Dónde estás?
3. ¿___ quieres comer? (What do you want to eat?)
¿Qué quieres comer?
4. ¿___ tienes hambre? (Why are you hungry?)
¿Por qué tienes hambre?
5. ¿___ es tu amigo? (Who is your friend?)
¿Quién es tu amigo?
6. ¿___ llega el tren? (When does the train arrive?)
¿Cuándo llega el tren?
7. ¿___ personas? (How many people?)
¿Cuántas personas? Personas is feminine and plural.
8. ¿___ es esta casa? (Whose house is this?)
¿De quién es esta casa?
Quiz: Spanish question words
10 questions. ¿Listo? ¿Lista?
Frequently asked questions
What’s the difference between por qué and para qué?
Por qué is the normal “why”, asking for a cause. Para qué asks for the purpose: “what for?” In daily life, por qué is used much more.
Do question words keep the accent in normal sentences?
Yes, when they still ask something, even indirectly: no sé dónde está (I don’t know where it is). Without a question meaning, they lose the accent: la casa donde vivo (the house where I live). Don’t worry about this for now; just always use the accent in questions.
Before you go to the next lesson
Question words are super important: you’ll use them every day. Practice them until you know them by heart, and try asking yourself questions in Spanish during the day: ¿qué quiero comer? ¿dónde estoy? Grab the free reference sheet below. ¡Hasta la próxima!
(Free reference sheet)
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