Asking Questions
In this lesson you'll learn how to ask questions in Spanish. You'll also learn some Spanish words for parts of the human body.
Online flashcards are included at the end of the lesson to help you learn the Spanish vocabulary included in this lesson.
Read Spanish
Read and listen to the section below where Lucas talks about his family and where he lives.
After you have read it, write about your own family and where you live.
Spanish
Hola. Mi nombre es Lucas. Tengo quince años.
Tengo un hermano. Su nombre es Martín y tiene dieciséis años. También tengo una hermana. Su nombre es Sofía y tiene catorce años.
Mi familia vive en una casa en Madrid. Nuestra casa tiene cuatro dormitorios y tres baños. Hay dos manzanos y un pequeño jardín en nuestro patio trasero.
English
Hi. My name is Lucas. I am fifteen years old.
I have a brother. His name is Martín, and he is sixteen. I also have a sister. Her name is Sofía, and she is fourteen.
My family lives in a house in Madrid. Our house has four bedrooms and three bathrooms. There are two apple trees and a small garden in our back yard.
Spanish Grammar
There are three ways of asking questions in Spanish:
- starting a sentence with a question word
- emphasizing the end of a sentence
- changing the word order of a sentence.
Each of these ways will be discussed in this lesson.
In the written language, questions start with a ¿ and end with a ?.
Question words
In the spoken language, sentences can be turned into questions by emphasizing the end of the sentence. As in English, Spanish also has words that indicate a question.
The following table lists some common Spanish question words.
| ¿Cómo? | How? |
| ¿Cuánto? | How much? |
| ¿Cuántos? | How many? |
| ¿Qué? | What? |
| ¿Cuándo? | When? |
| ¿Dónde? | Where? |
| ¿Adónde? | To where? |
| ¿Por qué? | Why? |
| ¿Para qué? | What for? |
| ¿Quién? | Who? |
Examples
| ¿Quién es usted? | Who are you? (speaking to one person) |
| ¿Qué es? | What is it? |
| ¿Qué dijiste? | What did you say? |
| ¿Por qué están ustedes aquí? | Why are you here? (to more than one person) |
| ¿Dónde está ella? | Where is she? |
| ¿Adónde vas? | Where are you going? |
| ¿Cuánto cuesta? | How much does it cost? |
| ¿Lo tiene usted? | Do you have it? |
| ¿Van allí? | Are they going there? |
| ¿Podemos ir? | Can we go? |
| ¿Trabaja Carlos mañana? | Is Carlos working tomorrow? |
Emphasizing the end of a sentence
To ask a question in Spanish that can be answered by sí or no, all you need to do is raise the pitch of your voice at the end of the sentence.
Examples
| ¿Hablas español? | Do you speak spanish? |
| ¿Es profesor? | Is he a professor? |
| ¿Tú lo has hecho? | Did you do it? |
Changing word order
A common way of asking a question in Spanish is to put the verb, including any present or past participles, before the subject of the sentence. The subject of the sentence also goes after any direct or indirect objects.
Examples
| ¿Lo has hecho tú? | Did you do it? |
| ¿Te estaba visitando tu padre? | Was your father visiting you? |
| ¿Vio la película tu hermano? | Did your brother see the movie? |
Spanish Vocabulary
In this section you'll learn some common Spanish words for people and parts of the body.
| la cabeza | the head |
| la cara | the face |
| el cabello | the hair |
| el ojo | the eye |
| la oreja | the ear |
| la nariz | the nose |
| la boca | the mouth |
| el diente | the tooth |
| el cuello | the neck |
| el brazo | the arm |
| la mano | the hand |
| el dedo | the finger |
| la pierna | the leg |
| el pie | the foot |
| la piel | the skin |
Flashcards
Here are some flashcards to help you learn the Spanish words included in this lesson.
Practice
Write the Spanish translation for each of the following sentences.
Who are you? (polite)
What is it?
Where is she?
Where are you going?
How much does it cost?