Spanish Interrogatives 101: Who, What, When, Where, Why, and More

What is that? Who is she? Where are we going? Why is it raining? When is it going to stop? These core questions are used all the time. In this post, we’ll cover how to say these Spanish interrogatives and more.

What in Spanish: ¿Qué?

Qué is used to ask for general information like, objects, the time etc.

Examples:

• What is that? – ¿Qué es eso?
• What did Juan say? – ¿Qué dijo Juan?
•  What time is it? – ¿Qué hora es?

Which in Spanish: ¿Cuál/ Cuáles?

This adjective is used when there is a real or imaginary list of things to choose from or when those options are available when speaking. When for example somebody asks you for your name you have to use cuál because in Spanish, there’s an imaginary “list” of potential names you could have. Basically, you use “qué” when you have no idea what something is, but “cuál” when there’s an understood variety of options.

Examples:

• Which is your coat? – ¿Cuál es tu abrigo?
• Which is your car? – ¿Cuál es tu carro?
• What is your favorite food? – ¿Cuál es tu comida favorita?

In Spanish we use “cuál” for a lot of situations where you would typically use “what” in English.
Best way to pick this up though is by speaking with a native and seeing where they use it, as there’s no hard rules about it.

When in Spanish: ¿Cuándo?

We use cuándo to ask for dates or any point in the time.

Examples:

• When is your birthday? – ¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños?
• When is Independence day? – ¿Cuándo es el día de la independencia?
• When are we going to go out? – ¿Cuándo vamos a salir?

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How in Spanish: ¿Cómo?

We use cómo to ask for any type of description or to ask for detailed information about somebody or something.

Examples:

• How are you? – ¿Cómo estás?
• How’s the weather? – ¿Cómo está el clima?

TIP: ¿cómo? is a common way to say “huh?” in Spanish.

Where in Spanish: ¿Dónde?

We use this exactly like “where” in English.

Examples:

• Where are you? – ¿Dónde estás?
• Where is the store? – ¿Dónde esta la tienda?

Who in Spanish: ¿Quién/ Quienes?

Again, super easy! This is used exactly like “who” in English.

Examples:

• Who is she? – ¿Quién es ella?
• Who’s at the door? – ¿Quién está en la puerta?
• Who are those people? – ¿Quiénes son esas personas?

Why / Because in Spanish: ¿Por qué? / Porque

When you want to ask for any kind of explanation you have to use ¿por qué? (separate words, with the accent), which is “why?”.
To answer these types of questions you use porque (one word, without the accent), which is “because”.

Examples:

• Why are you sad? – ¿Por qué estás triste? / Because I’m sick – Porque estoy enfermo
• Why are you here? – ¿Por qué estás aquí? / Because I’m on vacation – Porque estoy de vacaciones.

Whose in Spanish: ¿De quién/ De quienes?

De quién is used to express possession. For example, whose jacket is that? (Basically, who owns that?)

Examples:

• Whose house is that? – ¿De quién es esa casa?
• Whose TV is that? – ¿De quién es el televisor?
• Whose shoes are those? – ¿ De quiénes son esos zapatos?

Unsure what to learn next?

Download the exact curriculum that thousands of BaseLang students have used to become fluent in Spanish.

 

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Spanish Interrogatives Quiz

Use the correct word based on the context.

1. ¿__________ es tu fruta favorita? (___________is your favorite fruit?)
2. ¿__________ es tu cumpleaños?) (___________is your birthday?)
3. ¿__________ están mis llaves? (_________are my keys?)
4. ¿__________ estás tú? (________are you?)
5. ¿__________ está Valentina feliz? (___________is Valentina happy?)
6. ¿__________ es el presidente de los Estados Unidos? (_________is the president of the U.S?)
7. ¿__________ color prefieres, verde o rojo? (__________color do you prefer, green or red?)
8. ¿__________ es Navidad? (__________is Christmas?)
9. ¿__________ es tu nombre? (___________is your name?)
10. ¿__________ está el baño? (___________is the bathroom?)
11. ¿__________ estás hoy? (_________are you today?)
12. ¿__________ quieres comer? (_________do you want to eat?)

Key:

1. Cuál (this is not “qué”, because there are potential answers that you are “choosing from”)
2. Cuándo
3. Dónde
4. Cómo
5. Por qué
6. Quién
7. Cuál
8. Cuándo
9. Cuál
10. Dónde
11. Cómo
12. Qué

TIP: Click here for free access to our Private Memrise flashcards, where you can train every lesson, including this one. They’re the same flashcards our students use! Click here for that.