Spanish questions

You have probably heard the saying that “ask and you shall learn” or that “if you don’t ask, you don’t get”. These popular Spanish sayings refer to the fact that, if you have any questions, the best thing to do is to ask and learn from them.

So, if you've ever wanted to ask a question in Spanish but didn't know how to structure it or how to start a conversation, don Quijote has the perfect article for you. Discover how to ask questions in Spanish, how to ask and answer Spanish questions, the most basic and easy questions you should master in the language, and much more!

You can also read this article in Spanish, French, Italian or Dutch.

Interrogative pronouns in Spanish

Asking questions in Spanish is essential for communicating on the street, in class or in a supermarket. So, you need to master how to ask questions in Spanish in order to talk to native speakers, answer questions from your teacher in class or simply give directions in Spanish.

Before you start asking questions, you need to know the interrogative pronouns in Spanish used for asking questions:

• Qué (what): used to ask about things or general information.
• Quién (who): used to ask about people.
• Cuándo (when): used to ask about time.
• Por qué (why): used to ask about reasons or causes.
• Dónde (where): used to ask about places.
• Cómo (how): used to ask about states, forms or manners.
• Cuánto (how much/many): used to ask about quantity.

Most Spanish questions begin with these Spanish interrogative pronouns, which allow you to formulate questions depending on the context. These 7 particles are essential for formulating questions in Spanish, and they always have a tilde to differentiate them from Spanish relative pronouns.

However, Spanish is such a flexible language that it also allows you to ask questions without having to use them. Here are the types of questions that can be asked in Spanish.

Basic Spanish questions

Not all questions in Spanish require an interrogative pronoun. Therefore, we can distinguish two main types of questions in Spanish:

Open questions in Spanish

Open Spanish questions require more detailed answers and cannot be answered with yes or no. In addition, this type of Spanish questions usually uses interrogative pronouns, and the answers vary depending on the information needed:

• ¿Qué haces el fin de semana? (What do you do on the weekend?)
• ¿Cómo se llama tu madre? (What is your mother's name?)
• ¿Dónde vives?) (Where do you live?)

Closed questions in Spanish

On the other hand, closed Spanish questions do not use interrogative pronouns and short answers are expected. These questions can be answered with yes or no and are formed by simply adding the question marks to the sentence:

• ¿Te gusta el chocolate? (Do you like chocolate?)
• ¿Está ocupado este asiento? (Is this seat taken?)
• ¿Vives en Madrid? (Do you live in Madrid?)

Ask a question in Spanish

Knowing how to formulate questions in Spanish correctly will help you obtain information, clarify doubts and maintain fluent conversations, which is why it is an essential skill in any language.

If you want to learn Spanish in Spain it is useful to start with simple questions that will help you in everyday life. Here are some phrases with an answer as an example:

• ¿Cómo te llamas? or ¿Cuál es tu nombre? – Mi nombre es María (What is your name? - My name is María)
• ¿Cuántos años tienes? – Tengo 28 años (How old are you? - I am 28 years old)
• ¿De dónde eres? – Soy de Asturias (Where are you from? - I'm from Asturias)
• ¿Dónde está el baño? – Al fondo a la izquierda (Where is the bathroom? - At the back left)
• ¿Qué es eso? – Un regalo de cumpleaños (What is that? - A birthday present)
• ¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños? – Mi cumpleaños es el 3 de octubre (When is your birthday? - My birthday is October 3rd)
• ¿Dónde vives? – Vivo en Guadalajara (Where do you live? - I live in Guadalajara)
• ¿En qué trabajas? – Trabajo de camarero (What do you do for a living? - I work as a waiter)
• ¿Dónde aprendiste español? – Aprendí español con don Quijote (Where did you learn Spanish? - I learned Spanish with don Quijote)
• ¿Te gusta la comida española? – Me encanta, sobre todo las croquetas (Do you like Spanish food? - I love it, especially croquettes)

• ¿Qué hora es? – Son las 23:45pm (What time is it? - It's 11:45pm)
• ¿Puedo ayudarte? – Si, ¿puedes decirme cuánto cuesta esta camiseta? (Can I help you? - Yes, can you tell me how much this T-shirt costs?)
• ¿Cuánto cuesta esto? – Son 20 euros (How much is this? - It's 20 euros)
• ¿A qué te dedicas? – Soy traductor (What do you do? - I'm a translator)
• ¿Qué día es hoy? – Hoy es martes (What day is it today? - Today is Tuesday)
• ¿Puedes hablar más despacio, por favor? – Si, claro (Can you speak more slowly, please? - Yes, of course)
• ¿Qué has dicho? – Decía que si te gusta la pizza (What did you say? - I said: Do you like pizza?)
• Puedes repetir eso último, ¿por favor? – Por supuesto. ¿Me pasa la sal? (Can you repeat that last one, please? - Of course. Can you pass on the salt?)

Learning to formulate questions in Spanish is fundamental to improve your communication. Using interrogative pronouns correctly and practicing open and closed questions will help you speak fluently.

With don Quijote you will find it easy to ask basic questions and increase in complexity over time. Remember that the key is to practice and not be afraid to ask questions.