Question words or interrogative words in Spanish (palabras interrogativas) are used to gather information about any topic. All question words in Spanish have an accent mark and are preceded by an inverted question mark.
Are you always seeking answers to questions like: Who? What? When? Where? Why? Take a look below to find out how to use these interrogative words in Spanish to find out the details of life that you need to know!
Using interrogative words in Spanish is very similar to the way we use them in English. Here are a few key points to remember when using question words in Spanish:
- Word order of interrogative sentences in Spanish: interrogative word + verb + subject
- To indicate that you are asking a question when speaking, you will raise the tone of your voice at the end of the question.
- To indicate that you are asking a question when writing, you will use an upside-down question mark at the beginning of the question as well as one at the end.
- For example: ¿Cómo estás?
- For example: ¿Cuándo es la fiesta?
- When writing these words, remember that their accents must be used when they are written in an interrogative statement.
Take a look at the Spanish interrogative words below:
| Spanish | English |
| ¿Qué? | What? |
| ¿Quién? (singular) ¿Quiénes? (plural) | Who? |
| ¿Cómo? | How? |
| ¿Cuál? (singular) ¿Cuáles? (plural) | Which? |
| ¿Cuánto(a)? **this interrogative word agrees in gender and number with the noun it describes. | How much? |
| ¿Cuántos(as)? **this interrogative word agrees in gender and number with the noun it describes. | How many? |
| ¿Cuándo? | When? |
| ¿Dónde? | Where? |
| ¿Por qué? | Why? |