Question word for do in spanish

Not knowing how to ask questions in Spanish might get you more raised eyebrows than answers.

Here, you’ll learn all about Spanish questions: the Spanish interrogative pronouns, tips on their usage and plenty of example sentences.

Now, let’s get curious! What are the Spanish question words?

Contents

• 1. ¿Quién/es? (Who?)
• 2. ¿Qué? and ¿Cuál? (What?)
• 3. ¿Cuándo? (When?)
• 4. ¿Dónde? (Where?)
• 5. ¿Por qué? and ¿Para qué? (Why?)
• 6. ¿Cómo? (How?)
• 7. ¿Cuánto/a? (How much?), ¿Cuántos/as? (How many?)
• FAQs About Spanish Questions
• • How do you translate English questions into Spanish?
  • What is the sentence structure for Spanish questions?
  • Do Spanish question words need accent marks?

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1. ¿Quién/es? (Who?)

The Spanish interrogative pronoun quién is one of the easiest ones to master because it can only refer to people. It means “who” and it has two forms: quién (singular) and quiénes (plural).

¿Quién eres?
(Who are you?)

¿Quiénes son tus padres?
(Who are your parents?)

Quién can be accompanied by many prepositions. To change from “who” to “whom,” add a before quién (or quiénes). For instance:

¿A quién estás buscando?
(Whom are you looking for?)

¿A quién le enviaste la carta?
(To whom did you send the letter?)

There’s also con quién, meaning “with whom.”

¿Con quién estás?
(Who are you with?)

And lastly, use de quién to ask about who something belongs to or who something came from. You need to know the context to know which meaning the speaker intends. For example:

¿De quién es esta comida?
(Whose food is this?)

¿De quién es este libro?
(Whose book is this? / Who is this book from?)

Example sentences:

2. ¿Qué? and ¿Cuál? (What?)

In English, we use “what” in any context. In Spanish, you’ll need to choose between two words: qué and cuál.

Use qué when you’re asking for a definition, fact or explanation about something that’s generally well known.

¿Qué es un martini?
(What is a martini?)

¿Qué significa “bailar”?
(What does “bailar” mean?)

As you can see, the Spanish interrogative pronoun qué must be followed by a verb. (If it were followed by a noun, it would actually be an adjective, not a pronoun.)

Qué can also be modified by prepositions. So, a qué means “to what.”

¿A qué te refieres?
(To what are you referring? / What are you talking about? / What do you mean?)

Next, there’s con qué for “with what.” This is used to say you have done something with the use of an object.

¿Con qué has escrito la carta?
(What have you written the letter with?)

There’s also de qué, meaning “what about” or “what flavor/material.” 

¿De qué estáis hablando?
(What are you talking about?)

¿De qué es ese helado?
(What flavor is that ice cream?)

Lastly, there’s en qué. Use en qué when you want to know about means of transportation or when asking about a specific day, month or year.

¿En qué has venido?
(How did you get here?)

¿En qué año naciste?
(What year were you born?)

Now, we use cuál when asking someone to make a selection or to provide more personal information.

¿Cuál es tu número de teléfono?
(What is your phone number?)

¿Cuál es tu restaurante favorito?
(What is your favorite restaurant?)

Cuál can also be translated as “which.” It’s important to remember that cuál will always be an interrogative pronoun and thus followed by a verb.

¿Cuál quieres?
(Which one do you want?)

If you’re inquiring about something plural, you’ll need to use cuáles instead of cuál.

¿Cuáles quieres?
(Which ones do you want?)

You may see cuál or cuáles preceded by a preposition. For example, a cuál means “to which one,” like if you’re asking about the specific place someone is going to.

¿A cuál vas?
(Which one do you go to?)

You might also see con cuál, or “with which one,” for discussing the use of an object (among a specific group of objects).

¿Con cuál lo hiciste?
(Which one did you do it with? [as in: which tool did you repair the radio with?])

Example sentences:

Note: Verbs with an asterisk (*) are in the vosotros (plural “you”) form used in Castilian Spanish. There are other instances of this form in the examples below.

3. ¿Cuándo? (When?)

Cuándo is the word we use for “when” in a question. It doesn’t change with context, so this one’s nice and simple!

¿Cuándo quieres ir?
(When do you want to go?)

Besides seeing cuándo in isolation, you’ll also often see these two phrases at the beginning of a question:

• desde cuándo (since when / for how long)
• hasta cuándo (until when)

Use desde cuándo to find out when something started, like how long a friend’s been living in his new home.

Use hasta cuándo to ask how long something should or will last until it’s over, like how long you have to sit in the doctor’s waiting room.

Example sentences:

4. ¿Dónde? (Where?)

Dónde is another Spanish interrogative pronoun. That means dónde substitutes a noun—specifically, it substitutes a place (like a hospital, a house, a table or a spaceship) and is used to inquire about a location.

Dónde is often followed by a form of “to be,” as in “Where is…?” so you’ll need to choose between ser and estar.

Use dónde está to inquire about the location of something or someone. Use dónde es to ask for the location of an event.

For instance, you’d use dónde está to ask where the park is, but dónde es to ask where in the park the birthday party is being held.

Next, we have adónde / a dónde which means “to where.” (Both spellings are correct!)

¿Adónde / a dónde fuiste?
(Where did you go [to]?)

Lastly, we have de dónde, which means “from where.”

¿De dónde eres?
(Where are you from? Literally: “From where are you?”)

Example sentences:

5. ¿Por qué? and ¿Para qué? (Why?)

¿Por qué? and ¿Para qué? are two ways you can ask “why” in Spanish. As always, they depend on context.

If you’ve already learned the differences between por and para, then learning when to use these “why” phrases should be easy. I’ll break it down for you in case you need a refresher.

Por qué is used to inquire about the direct cause of something, which is simple, specific or generally well known. Porque is the non-question version of the word, and it’s used for “because.” You can use porque to answer por qué questions!

¿Por qué estás acostado?
(Why are you lying down?)

Porque me siento mal.
(Because I feel bad.)

On the other hand, para qué inquires about intention or purpose.

¿Para qué estudias español?
(Why do you study Spanish? / What do you study Spanish for?)

Do you see how the first question (with por qué) was a question about a cause and the second one (with para qué) inquires about a purpose?

It’ll take some practice, so be sure to read up more about the differences between para and por to master your Spanish questioning skills.

Example sentences:

6. ¿Cómo? (How?)

You likely already know a few examples of cómo in use already. Think of your basics, like ¿Cómo estás? (How are you?)

This interrogative pronoun never modifies a noun. Use it to ask about how or in which way something is done.

¿Cómo lo has hecho?
(How have you done it?)

Cómo can also be translated as “what,” as in ¿Cómo te llama? (What is your name? [literally: How are you called?])

This word is fairly simple and unchanging, but if you want to ask “how many,” then you’ll need a different word, which you’ll learn in the next section.

Example sentences:

7. ¿Cuánto/a? (How much?), ¿Cuántos/as? (How many?)

Cuánto is the Spanish word we use for “how much” and “how many,” and this word will change depending on what you’re asking about.

Here’s what you need:

• cuánto is used for a singular masculine subject (uncountable)
• cuánta is used for a singular feminine subject (uncountable)
• cuántos is used for a plural masculine subject
• cuántas is used for a plural feminine subject

Here are a few examples:

¿Cuántos dólares cuesta la chaqueta?
(How many dollars does the jacket cost?)

¿Cuánto dinero cuesta la chaqueta?
(How much money does the jacket cost?)

Example sentences:

FAQs About Spanish Questions

How do you translate English questions into Spanish?

In English, the words “do” and “does” are very commonly used when we ask questions.

You may have noticed that, in Spanish questions, there isn’t usually a word that takes the place of “do” or “does.”

For example, let’s examine the question: “Does she eat Mexican food?”

In Spanish, it would look like this: “¿Ella come comida mexicana?” Notice how there isn’t a word that replaces “does.” The Spanish interrogative pronoun provides that meaning on its own, but it reads more literally as “She eats Mexican food?”

What is the sentence structure for Spanish questions?

One other difference is that in English, it’s very important to put your words in the right order to ask a question. In Spanish, question syntax is a lot less strict.

To expand on the previous example, the following sentences would also be acceptable as questions:

¿Come ella comida mexicana?

¿Come comida mexicana ella?

Do Spanish question words need accent marks?

Yes! All these question words have accent marks on them.

When they’re used in a non-question context, the accent mark is dropped! Note the differences between these sentences:

• ¿Cuándo quieres ir? (When do you want to go?) This is a classic interrogative sentence in Spanish.
• Necesito saber cuándo quieres ir. (I need to know when you want to go.) We find no question marks here, but the meaning is still interrogative. There’s missing information that’s being requested.
• Cuando llegues, llámame. (When you arrive, call me.) No interrogative meaning here.

An example of this can be found in the song, “Cuando Me Enamoro” by Enrique Iglesias, which translates in English to “When I Fall in Love.” Notice how, since the word isn’t interrogative, it’s spelled as cuando instead of cuándo.

Give yourself a pat on the back. You’ve learned the basics of asking questions in Spanish, and the Spanish interrogative pronouns you need to be successful.

Buena suerte (good luck) with your future interrogations in Spanish!

Download:
This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you
can take anywhere.
Click here to get a copy. (Download)