Key points about asking questions in Spanish
- You can ask questions using question words like 辩耻茅, 辩耻颈茅苍, 肠耻谩苍诲辞, por 辩耻茅, 肠贸尘辞, 肠耻谩濒, 肠耻谩苍迟辞, and 诲贸苍诲别.
- You can also use declarative sentences, inversion of The person or thing doing the action or being described. and Word used to describe an action, state of being or an occurrence. or voice inflection to ask questions.
- All questions in Spanish begin with an upside-down question mark 驴 and end in a question mark.
How to ask questions in Spanish
There are four different ways of asking questions in Spanish.
Use question words, such as 鈥楬ow much is 鈥?鈥.
Use a declarative sentence, such as 鈥業 would like 鈥 please鈥.
Invert, or swap the order of, the verb and the subject to form a question, such as 鈥楥an I have 鈥?鈥.
Use voice inflection.
Remember
When writing any type of Spanish question, don鈥檛 forget the upside-down question mark 驴 at the start of the sentence.
Asking questions with question words
The main question words in Spanish are:
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. - what
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. - who
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. - when
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. - why
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. - how, what like
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. - which
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again./Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. - how much/how many
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. - where
Notice that the question words all have an accent. This indicates that the syllable needs to be emphasised when speaking.
For example:
驴C贸mo se dice 'tree' en espa帽ol? - How do you say tree in Spanish?
驴Por 辩耻茅 no te gusta el chocolate? - Why don鈥檛 you like chocolate?
驴Cu谩nto cuesta? - How much does it cost?
驴顿贸苍诲别 est谩 el banco? - Where鈥檚 the bank?
How to say how much or how many in Spanish
驴颁耻谩苍迟辞? and 驴肠耻谩苍迟补? mean how much.
驴颁耻谩苍迟辞? is used when the word following it is masculine singular. 驴颁耻谩苍迟补? Is used when the word following it is feminine singular.
For example:
驴Cu谩nto cuesta el libro? - How much does the book cost?
驴Cu谩nta gente fue a la fiesta? - How many people went to the party?
驴颁耻谩苍迟辞蝉? and 驴肠耻谩苍迟补蝉? mean how much or how many?
驴颁耻谩苍迟辞蝉? is used when the word following it is masculine plural. 驴颁耻谩苍迟补蝉? Is used when the word following it is feminine plural.
For example:
驴Cu谩ntos hermanos tienes? - How many siblings do you have?
驴Cu谩ntas manzanas tienes? - How many apples do you have?
A common use of 驴颁耻谩苍迟辞蝉? is to ask how old someone is, which is formed in a different way to English and literally means 鈥楬ow many years do you have?鈥
驴Cu谩ntos a帽os tienes? - How old are you?
Asking questions - Mini quiz
Which is the correct question word to use here?
驴____ en tu bolso?
What鈥檚 in your bag?
驴蚕耻茅 en tu bolso?
蚕耻茅 means what.
Which is the correct question word to use here?
驴____ est谩n los chicos?
Where are the boys?
驴顿贸苍诲别 est谩n los chicos?
顿贸苍诲别 means where.
Using declarative sentences
You can ask questions by making a declaration of what you want.
When asking for something in a shop, for example, use鈥quisiera鈥痺hich means鈥業 would like鈥.
For example:
Quisiera un kilo de manzanas por favor. - I would like a kilo of apples please.
Another way to ask if you can have something, is to use鈥辫辞诲谤铆补 plus an infinitive.
For example:
驴Podr铆a servirme una hamburguesa por favor? - Can I order a burger please?
Common declarative question phrases include:
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | I would like鈥 |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | Could I have鈥 |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | I would like鈥 |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | Can I go鈥 |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | Can I order鈥 |
For example:
Me gustar铆a un helado de fresa por favor. - I would like a strawberry ice cream please.
驴Puedo ir al servicio, por favor? - Can I go to the bathroom please?
驴Podr铆a servirme un caf茅 con leche por favor? - Can I have a white coffee please?
Inverting the noun and subject
If the sentence has a subject in it, you can ask a question by inverting the order of the subject and the verb. Start with the verb then follow it with the subject.
While it鈥檚 good to know this exists, you won鈥檛 hear this way of asking questions very often in everyday speech.
For example:
驴Tiene usted hambre? - Are you (formal) hungry?
Using voice inflection
You can ask a question in Spanish by making a statement and changing your voice so that it sounds like a question.
Do this by making your voice sound higher in tone at the end of a sentence.
驴Tienes hermanos? - Do you (informal) have any brothers or sisters?
You need to write the sentence with the correct punctuation and say it appropriately.
Quiz - Asking questions
Practise what you've learned about asking questions in Spanish with this quiz.
Now you have learned about asking questions in Spanish why not explore the position of pronouns in Spanish?