Spanish question words are qué (what), quién (who), cuál (which), dónde (where), cuándo (when), cómo (how), cuánto (how much or how many), por qué (why) and para qué (what for). They always carry a written accent, come right after the opening ¿, and are followed by the verb. Any preposition goes in front: ¿Con quién vas?
¿ + (preposition) + question word + verb + subject?- All the WH question words
- Qué, quién, dónde, cuándo, por qué
- Build questions correctly
Every conversation you will ever have in Spanish starts with a question, and every question starts with one of a dozen little words. Spanish question words — qué, quién, dónde, cuándo, cómo, cuánto, por qué — are the first tool I hand my students, because once you can ask, the people around you become your teachers.
Here you get the full list in one table, the accent rule almost everyone skips, the word order that makes a question sound Spanish, and the qué vs cuál problem I have re-explained more than any other in 40 years.
The big pictureWhen to use Spanish question words
Question words (in Spanish, palabras interrogativas) open the questions that cannot be answered with sí or no. English calls them wh- words. Each one stands in for the piece of information you are missing:
- qué — what. ¿Qué necesitas? (What do you need?)
- quién / quiénes — who. ¿Quién llama? (Who's calling?)
- cuál / cuáles — which, and very often "what" before ser. ¿Cuál es tu apellido? (What is your last name?)
- dónde / adónde / de dónde — where / where to / where from. ¿De dónde es tu familia? (Where is your family from?)
- cuándo — when. ¿Cuándo empieza la reunión? (When does the meeting start?)
- cómo — how, and also "what?" when you didn't catch something. ¿Cómo se escribe? (How do you spell it?)
- cuánto / cuánta / cuántos / cuántas — how much / how many. ¿Cuántas maletas llevas? (How many suitcases are you taking?)
- por qué — why (the reason). para qué — what for (the purpose). ¿Para qué es esta llave? (What is this key for?)
They also work inside statements (indirect questions): No sé dónde está el hotel (I don't know where the hotel is). No question marks, but the accent stays.
The formsHow to form questions with Spanish question words
Here is the full set. Notice the third column: most question words never change, and only three of them agree with anything.
| Question word | English | Changes form? | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| qué | what | never | ¿Qué quieres tomar? — What do you want to drink? |
| quién / quiénes | who | singular / plural | ¿Quiénes son ellos? — Who are they? |
| cuál / cuáles | which, what | singular / plural | ¿Cuáles prefieres? — Which ones do you prefer? |
| dónde | where | never | ¿Dónde está la salida? — Where is the exit? |
| adónde | where (to) | never | ¿Adónde van ustedes? — Where are you going? |
| de dónde | where (from) | never | ¿De dónde eres? — Where are you from? |
| cuándo | when | never | ¿Cuándo sale el tren? — When does the train leave? |
| cómo | how | never | ¿Cómo se dice "receipt"? — How do you say "receipt"? |
| cuánto / cuánta / cuántos / cuántas | how much / how many | gender and number | ¿Cuánta agua necesitas? — How much water do you need? |
| por qué | why | never | ¿Por qué llegas tarde? — Why are you late? |
| para qué | what for | never | ¿Para qué sirve esto? — What is this for? |
Cuánto agrees with the noun it counts (cuántas maletas) but stays as cuánto before a verb: ¿Cuánto cuesta? — How much does it cost?
The accent mark is not decoration: qué vs que
Every question word carries a written accent, and it is doing real work. The accent tells the reader that the word asks something. Without it, the same letters mean something else: que = that, como = like or as, donde = where (linking two ideas), cuando = when (linking two ideas).
The upside-down ¿ and the word order
Spanish has no "do" or "does", so the opening ¿ is the reader's warning that a question is coming. Then the pattern is fixed:
- ¿ + question word
- the verb, immediately
- the subject (if you say it at all), then everything else, then ?
¿Dónde trabaja tu hermano? (Where does your brother work?) — the verb trabaja comes right after dónde, and the subject tu hermano follows the verb. ¿Dónde tu hermano trabaja? is English wearing a Spanish costume. Since the verb carries the subject inside its ending, most of these questions are built directly on the Spanish present tense: ¿Cuándo comemos? (When do we eat?)
Preposition + question word
English lets the preposition dangle at the end: "Who are you going with?" Spanish never does. The preposition goes first, glued to the question word:
- ¿Con quién vas? — Who are you going with?
- ¿A quién le diste las llaves? — Who did you give the keys to? (that le is one of the Spanish object pronouns)
- ¿De qué hablan? — What are they talking about?
- ¿Para quién es el paquete? — Who is the package for?
The big oneQué vs cuál: the question I get asked most
Both can mean "what" and both can mean "which", so English speakers guess. Three rules cover almost everything:
- Before a noun → qué. ¿Qué libro recomiendas? (Which book do you recommend?) You will hear cuál libro in parts of Latin America, but qué is correct everywhere.
- Before ser: qué asks for a definition, cuál asks you to identify or choose. ¿Qué es una tapa? (What is a tapa? — explain it to me.) ¿Cuál es tu dirección? (What is your address? — pick it out of all possible addresses.) Almost every "What is your…?" in daily life is cuál.
- Before de ("which of") → always cuál. ¿Cuál de los dos hoteles es más barato? (Which of the two hotels is cheaper?)
Ask yourself what kind of answer you expect. A definition or an explanation → qué. A piece of data, a name, a choice from a group → cuál. "What is your phone number?" wants data, so it's ¿Cuál es tu número de teléfono? Say ¿Qué es tu número? and a Spanish speaker hears "Define the concept of your number."
In real lifeSpanish question words in real conversations
From the classroomCommon mistakes English speakers make with question words
- Dropping the accent. ¿Que quieres? reads as "That you want?" Write ¿Qué quieres? The accent is part of the spelling of every question word, in direct and indirect questions alike.
- Using qué for "What is your…?" ¿Qué es tu apellido? asks for a definition of your last name. The natural question is ¿Cuál es tu apellido? Data and choices take cuál.
- Leaving the preposition at the end. ¿Quién hablas con? is impossible in Spanish. Move it to the front: ¿Con quién hablas? (Who are you talking to?)
- Keeping English word order. ¿Dónde tu madre trabaja? → ¿Dónde trabaja tu madre? Question word, then verb, then subject — and no "do".
- Forgetting that cuánto agrees. ¿Cuánto personas vienen? → ¿Cuántas personas vienen? (How many people are coming?) Match the noun: cuántos hermanos, cuántas horas, cuánta leche.
Sound-alikesQuestion words vs their unaccented twins: por qué, porque, qué, que
Each question word has a twin without an accent that means something different, and the pair you will meet most is por qué / porque:
| With accent (asks) | Without accent (links) | Together in one exchange |
|---|---|---|
| ¿por qué? — why | porque — because | ¿Por qué no vienes? — Porque estoy cansado. (Why aren't you coming? — Because I'm tired.) |
| qué — what | que — that, than | ¿Qué dijo? — Dijo que sí. (What did he say? — He said yes.) |
| dónde — where | donde — where (the place in which) | ¿Dónde comemos? — En el bar donde comimos ayer. (Where do we eat? — At the bar where we ate yesterday.) |
| cómo — how | como — like, as | ¿Cómo está la sopa? — Como siempre. (How's the soup? — Like always.) |
| cuándo — when | cuando — when (at the time that) | ¿Cuándo llamas? — Cuando llegue. (When will you call? — When I arrive.) |
Accent when the word asks, no accent when it connects. Once that clicks, por qué vs porque stops being a spelling test and becomes a meaning test.
Question words are the front door of basic Spanish grammar: they force you to use the verb, the word order and the little words that come after them. Master this list, then build the verb that follows each question with the present tense, and you can hold a real conversation with only what is on this page.
PracticeQuick quiz: spanish question words
Six questions from the lesson. Answer in your head, then open to check.
